Behavior attitude problem?? Flipping her house every time i put it right side up.

[Muffinsmommy]

Hey guys! First time guinea owner here!
i adopted my baby girl Muffin and she has quite the attitude-
she refusues to use chew sticks or blocks and will only chew on her hidey house-
origionally i bought her the plastic ?pigloo? but felt weird about her chewing on plastic, so i switched her to a wooden house.
she LOVES to chew on her new house but will flip it across her cage any chance she gets..
i?m not sure of its because shes too hot (we live in hawaii) or shes just being sassy..

opinions anyone??
should i drill some holes in the sodes so some extra air flow?
or do guinea pigs typically want their hidey houses to be dark?

help! Lol

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Your baby girl Muffin is having fun.

Every single pig I've had has been, so some degree or other a house flipper. My big boy now, Punkin, flips his houses constantly, multiple times a day. He'll flip them both at times, then lie out in the open and give me big sad eyes.

Both Punkin, and my previous boy Pooper, both liked to taste their pigloos. Poopy would literally taste his house before he went into it, almost every time. They have all liked to chew toilet paper tubes with all the glue and paper removed. None of my boys have ever liked chew sticks period. Stuff some toilet paper tubes with timothy hay and watch the fun begin! Drilling holes in those plastic pigloos will help improve airflow, yes. Muffin won't care if it has holes in it. Just make sure to deburr any of the holes so there's no stray plastic for her to ingest.

What are the temperatures like in your home, on a consistent basis?

 

[Muffinsmommy]

Right now in the summer its about 90 degrees every day and VERY HUMID- i do keep the fan on for her to help with the hot stagnant air

 

[bpatters]

If it's that hot, take any hidey with sides out of the cage. You can make some fleece forests that will have better air circulation, or use foot stools (available at most dollar stores). You should also freeze water in some soda bottles, wrap the bottles in cloth and put them in the cage so she can get cool.

Guinea pigs can die of heat stroke at anything above 85 degrees.

 

[Muffinsmommy]

I do have a frozen water bottle in her cage on very hot days, such as when it reaches the 90's around here. But most times she seems okay.. Thats a great idea about the foot stool in place of her house! I don't want to deprive her of any house flipping fun by taking it away all together!