I feel that my cage is boring, any advice?

[SFailed186]

I feel that my cage is very boring, and I fear that my girls are bored too, so I need some help. We have three females (the first is one year, the second is two months younger than the first, and the third is two months younger than the second) in a 2x5 cage with fleece bedding. We try to make the cage as fun as possible, but it is very hard when you have piggies that think everything you give them is food... They receive unlimited amounts of hay (Kaytee brand Timothy and Bermuda and Oxbow Orchard Grass) and they receive a total of 3/4 cups of Oxbow pellets a day. They also get green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, green bell pepper and cilantro everyday, but they get tomatoes, carrots, and wheat grass occasionally.

Right now we have the following items in our cage;
- Three water bottles and food bowls
- One hay rack that is attached to the top of the cage
- One large pigloo
- Three stuffed animals
- One large cuddle sack
- One grid tunnel covered in fleece (might add two more)
- One Nut Knot Nibbler
- One set of fiddle sticks

In the past, we have had several items that the pigs have eaten and they are;
- One cat cube and tunnel set
- Two large cat beds (one eaten, the other fell apart in the wash)
- One plain cat cube
- Countless cardboard boxes and tunnels

We refuse to give them anymore cardboard because we fear that they eat it too much. We are sure that they actually eat it and not just chew. They also seem to really enjoy nylon or canvas materials. So please, give me some ideas for what I can do to make their cage more exciting and stimulating. Me and my piggies will greatly appreciate it!

 

[Emberlyn]

I have christmas lights around mine. It's been a new experiment--but shockingly, the guinea pigs don't seem interested. Every once in a while one of them will have an exceedingly high popcorn on the upper level and they'll skim into them but otherwise it's an adorable out-of-the-way decoration. We have blue lights around the purple coroplast with blue grids and alternating blue and purple fleece. They're on here and there throughout the day and in the evening when the light starts fading out, especially since winter's coming. :]

 

[SFailed186]

I am past the editing window now, or else I would do so to clarify my post.

Emberlyn, I appreciate your post and I think that that is a wonderful idea for spicing up my cage for my pleasure, but my original post was meant to be asking for ideas on sprucing up my cage for my piggies pleasure and stimulation. I am terribly sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[JD In Van]

My boys LOVE towel tents. I use cotton hand/dish towels and just binder clips to attach them to the side of the cage this way I can move it around so it's in a differant place every time I change the cage. Some times I push their pvc pipes (also a favorite) so that they go into the towel tent.

Using towel tents and PVC pipes (I have three that are pretty much exactly big enough to hide a pig from nose to rump) I can change around the cage pretty dramatically. I try and do so every time I clean it and they seem to enjoy exploring it anew every time I do. I understand for some pigs they don't like this (they like everything where it usually is) but if yours are adventurous it might spice things up for them.

 

[akstrohm]

I second the recommendation for towel tents. Make sure you have at least four places for them to use as hideys.

I would add more variety to their diet (veggies) as well.

 

[1frankie7]

If for pellets you mean per pig I highly recomend that you start limiting their pellets to 1/8-1/4 cup of pellets per pig per day

 

[SLS5173]

If they enjoy tubes and you're worried about them eating cardboard they have tubes made of vegetable parchment which is safe for them to eat. They come in a ton of colors and sizes and are not expensive.GuineaPigSupply.com. Super Pet Chewbular Play Tube, Large

Oxbow also sells huts made of hay that your pigs can chew on without eating something they shouldn't.Oxbow Animal Health | Accessories

 

[TwilightStar]

If for pellets you mean per pig I highly recomend that you start limiting their pellets to 1/8-1/4 cup of pellets per pig per day

That's the total per day for three pigs. (3 bowels)

 

[TwilightStar]

I second the recommendation for towel tents. Make sure you have at least four places for them to use as hideys.

I would add more variety to their diet (veggies) as well.

We also have a sheet that we have clothes pined at the end of their cage. We have their pigloo and then the stuffed animals, and it creates a little nap area that's dark and covered.

We'd like to, we're still working on new things for them.(They don't take to new things easily.)

 

[SFailed186]

I second the recommendation for towel tents. Make sure you have at least four places for them to use as hideys.

I would add more variety to their diet (veggies) as well.

We do offer a variety of veggies. The ones that I listed (green/red lettuce, green bell pepper, cilantro, tomatoes, carrots, and wheat grass) are the main items that they get on any given day (of course the things that are meant to be every other day or every few days is given in accordance to Ly's chart), but we also get extra items when they are available to us. These "extra" veggies/fruits include yellow/red/orange bell pepper, Italian parsley, romaine lettuce, orange peel (not quite as often), apple, grapes, cucumber and zucchini.

I would also like to add that the wheat grass is new as of Sunday. We bought one planter (so far) and they received one cut of that. Already, it has grown an inch, so they will be getting more soon. We plan on get 2 or 3 more pots and planting them in a window sill box to put in our bay window. : )

 

[Buddy4]

I have some bent grids that I cover with a towel or piece of cloth and attach with binder paper clips. They love them. I line them up next to each other and they run in and out of them. (I have a play/run area attached to their main cage. 12 grids that form a circle)

 

[Bamysmum]

Just changing the arrangement of the cage perks my girls up. When I position hideys differently they start popping and reinvestigating the new routes round their pen.

I also just purchased a hay holding ball which stands alone in the middle of the pen. To my suprise they love pulling hay from the ball and flipping it round to get a new eating angle. It's brought a lot of fun to what used to be a boring activity (they were so lazy they were lying down chewing hay).

 

[JD In Van]

Just changing the arrangement of the cage perks my girls up. When I position hideys differently they start popping and reinvestigating the new routes round their pen.

I also just purchased a hay holding ball which stands alone in the middle of the pen. To my suprise they love pulling hay from the ball and flipping it round to get a new eating angle. It's brought a lot of fun to what used to be a boring activity (they were so lazy they were lying down chewing hay).

Oh please take the ball out. These are very very dangerious. Pigs have been known to be seriously injured by them.

I suggest stuffing paper towel rolls with hay if you want something to amuse them while they're eatting.

Also I have a hidy that has steps up to a platform on the roof. I put all their greens on top of it which makes them have to exerises a bit cause they grab a peice and then skitter away then go back to grab more and have to stretch or do the steps to get it.

 

[AmandaErlandson]

Oh please take the ball out. These are very very dangerious. Pigs have been known to be seriously injured by them.

Really? I don't have one but was thinking of getting one. What is wrong with them? How do they get hurt? I know you aren't supposed to give the balls to run in but I didn't know about the hay balls. Thanks for the info!

 

[SFailed186]

I suggest stuffing paper towel rolls with hay if you want something to amuse them while they're eatting.

As I stated before, our girls have a weird obsession with eating cardboard, so we do not give them any anymore. We have not received a clear answer for our question regarding the safety of our pigs after eating great amounts of cardboard, so we rather be safe than sorry and not give them any.

 

[JD In Van]

Really? I don't have one but was thinking of getting one. What is wrong with them? How do they get hurt? I know you aren't supposed to give the balls to run in but I didn't know about the hay balls. Thanks for the info!

They get their heads and limbs trapped inside of them trying to get the hay out and some cases cavies have gotten completely inside of them and been stuck. They're not considered safe.

 

[JD In Van]

As I stated before, our girls have a weird obsession with eating cardboard, so we do not give them any anymore. We have not received a clear answer for our question regarding the safety of our pigs after eating great amounts of cardboard, so we rather be safe than sorry and not give them any.

Well then perhaps make some kind of hay rack out of bent grids?
The balls are far less safe then cardboard (many of us have paper towel roll eatting cavies and no health problems).

 

[TwilightStar]

Well then perhaps make some kind of hay rack out of bent grids?
The balls are far less safe then cardboard (many of us have paper towel roll eatting cavies and no health problems).

Um, we never mentioned a ball of any sort, and we have a grid hayrack and a grid hidey. My sister mentioned the hay rack in her original post.

 

[JD In Van]

Sorry I confused you with Bamysmum who had suggested the ball intially and whom I was telling they were unsafe to.

 

[Heady]

As I stated before, our girls have a weird obsession with eating cardboard, so we do not give them any anymore. We have not received a clear answer for our question regarding the safety of our pigs after eating great amounts of cardboard, so we rather be safe than sorry and not give them any.

Just my thoughts, so please don't take it as medical advice, but I think if they eat too much it would cause some sort of intestinal blockage... I believe a little is okay... I tend to not give my pigs any cardboard or paper, really, unless it's during play time. They do have a "chube" that is always in their cage, but unlike your girls, they rarely chew on it.