Igloo trouble

[Pablosmummy]

I just bought Pablo an igloo but now he wont come out at all. Hes been in there for over 24 hours now (well apart from his floor time) Theres even some parsley out for him but nope, nothing. He ate his food last night when he was out and had a drink aswell so he has eaten dont worry.
The bad thing is though as its the kind with the plastic bottom, as he is weeing and pooing in there, hes just sitting in it! I've cleaned it out twice as it was disgusting. What should I do? take it out or try and tempt him out with more veggies etc.

 

[Tulia&Susie]

What else does he have in the cage? Does he have any other accesories? Maybe make a veggie trail out of his favorite veggies and place it in a line going out of the pigloo. Also maybe if he had other toys or something to play with. Does he have a friend? Maybe he's lonely and just feels like sitting around all day.

 

[envisionary333]

If you got him fairly recently he is probably still scared and wants a hiding place. As for the igloo, I use small cats beds or fleece blankets inside all of my piggies hiding places. The pee goes into the fabric rather than sitting there and getting the piggy wet. They still poo in them, but I just vacuum or dump it out once a day. I wash the cat beds every two or three days, but I always have extras to replace them with. Putting some bedding in there would work too, if you use bedding.

 

[Pablosmummy]

I've had him about 6 weeks now and before the igloo he was fine, used to sleep under his stick thing (the wooden log thingy) and come out all the time and run around. I've put fleece in there now and am going to make a cushion for inside later on today.
My cubes just arrived so tonight he will have a huge cage so hopefully when he has more room he'll come out more

 

[Pablosmummy]

well Ive just given up on the igloo. I took him out to scoop up the poo earlier and hes soaking! just been lying in his own wee. Hes had several different hidies and has never done this before so im giving up. maybe i can take the top off and use the bottom as a toilet as he wont go near his proper toilet.

I think he is lonely and I'm doing everything I can to find him a buddy, but i cant adopt a guinea pig who doesnt exist! I've callled all the rescues round here, searched local ads, I even called rescues where my boyfriends family lives as we are going there this weekend but nothing. Loads of young males the same age as him available but people say this would lead to fighting. He's around 4 months old now.

 

[ljm0104]

what kind of igloo do you have? Is it like the pigloos that you buy at pet stores? The bigger cage will problay help. If you have no toys in there than he could be depressed. Two males would not lead to fighting. Is you piggie dominant. Try to get a younger piggie. That usually cuts down and dominance can be established faster.

 

[Pablosmummy]

He's got two different cosies, a stuffed zebra, two small balls he likes to push around and a sock he is rather attached to.
My cubes arrived this morning. I've just put it together. Need to get something for the flooring tonight then he can go in and run around. When hes out he seems fine though. Its just the igloo

 

[pignewton]

You said you might just take off the top and use the bottom for a litter box. Why not just remove the bottom leave the top in the cage? Then he can hang out in there but not sit on dirty plastic.

 

[piggiesinpa]

He is just four months? Introducing him to a pig his age won't be bad as they are both still young! Boars don't really 'fight'. They will tiff over dominance and who's in charge, but it is actually very rare that they will fight each other and harm one another.

Check https://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm#Introductions for more info on that. I think you should go ahead and get him a friend. One his age should be fine as long as you do intros the proper way. He sounds super lonely. Make sure he will have a place to hide, but I think cutting the bottom out will be good so he won't soak in his own pee.

 

[Pablosmummy]

Ah Flat Stanley is being quarantined as we speak! Got him through an ad in the paper last weekend so in two and a half weeks they can be introduced.

My igloo problems have been solved. I've taken the two halves apart so he now uses the bottom part as his toilet and the top half has been turned upside down and filled with hay which he loves. He just sleeps in the cozy I made him now.