Are They Bored? + Shed And Hay Advice

[sirpuggingtons]

Hi everyone! Just wanted some advice/answers to a couple of questions.


Firstly – hay. I give my two girlies loads of hay every day, in two different places, and also in a hay rack. I read that guinea pigs won’t eat hay that they’ve gone to the toilet in, but my girls seem to just go to the toilet in all of it. They even pull the hay out of the rack and then go to the toilet in it. I do see them eating hay sometimes, but I worry I’m doing something wrong and they’re not getting enough. Do I need to present it in a different way?


Secondly, I just want to check that they’re not bored. They’re indoors at the moment, in a play area, and they have a cardboard tunnel, a little wooden cabin, their hay, water and food, and treats. They get fresh food every day and I put hay in left over kitchen roll tubes and a play ball, as well as getting them out every day to snuggle. They spend a lot of the time running around and jumping and interacting with things and each other, but they also sometimes just lie around on the hay, sometimes with their eyes half closed or fully closed, and sometimes fully open. Is this because they’re bored or are they just lazy?


Lastly – my girls have been living inside during the winter months, and they go outside when it’s warm enough. This summer we’re going to get a shed built so that the piggies can live outside during the slightly colder months (they’ll still come in when it gets too cold), but I just wanted to ask about how to regulate the temperature inside the shed. It will just be a simple wooden thing with no windows, we’ll have a light in there, and I just don’t want it to get too hot. Is this a problem or do sheds regulate themselves pretty well?


Thanks everyone!

 

[Guineapigfeet]

Sheds can get incredibly hot if they’re in the sun. I used to have mine in a guineapig shed for spring and autumn but in the sun the temp soared to over 35 degrees very quickly. It is now just a shed and the pigs live perminantly indoors!

I would make sure the shed is in the shade and has a window for natural light and has some ventilation

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

It sounds like your piggies are very well looked after and I very much doubt they are bored. lazing about on their hay is a sign of a happy, contented pig.

Sheds do not regulate themselves at all and if not insulated and ventilated will heat up quickly when the sun is on them,even if it is not that hot outside, like cars do, quickly becoming dangerously hot. I would opt for a shed with a window that can open and have it insulated. My shed is insulated with kingspan.

 

[Merab's Slave]

Your piggies sound happy and contented.
Mine spend a lot of time just chilling and dozing.
It’s a piggy thing.

 

[piggieminder]

Mine all sleep in their hay trays, hay is a natural bedding for them. They also seem to believe wee and poop in the hay makes it taste better!