Anyone Else Have Guineas Who Hate Being Let Out Their Hutch For Exercise?

[Amba]

I will let my guineas out every day in the hopes they walk around, but they walk straight back to their hutch and wait for me to lift them up and put them inside. If I delay this they get quite desperate and bite the bars and try to push their heads through. Even now I have them in my room with the door closed and they are whining loudly staring at the door. They're waiting for me to open it so I can let them through and they can go back to their hutch. Once back in their hutch they purr loudly. I used to leave them in the bathroom for an hour to exercise but they started biting off the paint on the door and worked out a way to push the end of the door and squeeze through. I was sitting watching TV and was surprised to see them come walking through the lounge room! I'm starting to think of just leaving them in their hutch and not forcing them to exercise? I will still put them on the floor and they'll have a minute while they walk back to their hutch every day. It's a 4x2 c+c cage with a 1x1 hammock corner.

 

[Betsy]

How long have you had them for? Do you put out hideys that they can run in between. It's a big scaaaaary world if you are a prey animal with nowhere to hide. Do you let them have free access all areas? Or do you put them in a run?

 

[Merab]

My girls don’t always like to come out to play.
I open the door and sometimes they come out, sometimes they don’t.
Merab, my eldest only comes out when I take her out for cage cleaning.
The 2 younger ones will come out and run around if they feel like it.
As with all piggy behaviour- let them make their own decisions

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! If guinea pigs are given the choice, they like nipping in and out of their cage.

Always create a hidey corner or two for them to sit, sleep and toilet during run time. A hay filled seed tray with a log tunnel for instance is ideal, and so are cheap children's stools.