Do guinea pigs prefer their cage arrangement to stay the same or for it to change every day?

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I give my guinea pigs different houses and layouts every day.

Could these be uncomfortable for them?
 
Hi!
A change in scenery can be highly enriching, but I would do so with caution. Changes in layout can lead to dominance issues (especially with boars), as they need to re-establish hierarchy in a "new" area. Keep an eye on them and see if they enjoy it. :)
 
Yes, both can be true
New items can provide interest and keep them occupied but changing the territories around too much can cause problems particularly if your piggies are boys
What I do with my boys is keep all their main hideys in the same place but to give them enrichment, I add in a destroyable item such as a carrot cottage or a hay cube. That way, their territories aren’t changing but they have something new which they can actually do something with rather than just giving a different hidey
 
My three tend to reearrange their cage as it suits them, so I often wake up in the mornings to find an entirely new set up to the one I saw last thing at night. If the territory feels too new it can cause dominance issues to resurface, but guinea pigs love to explore. Maybe change a couple of things but keep some things (like beds or hideys) in the same place.
 
Mo & Stubbins & Vani said:
Hi!
A change in scenery can be highly enriching, but I would do so with caution. Changes in layout can lead to dominance issues (especially with boars), as they need to re-establish hierarchy in a "new" area. Keep an eye on them and see if they enjoy it. :)
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I've felt this for a few weeks, but being a newbie to piggies I wasn't sure. Thanks for the tip.
 
I give my boys a new layout after their deep clean once a week and I keep a close eye on them while they explore just until spud finds the best spot to sit and snooze and gundham finds a good spot where he can spy on the fridge hopefully.
 
I tend to change around the furniture in Ollie and Tallulah's cage because its smaller and they enjoy a change... but my main cage I always keep the 3 main big wooden hidey houses and the hay trays and water bottles in exactly the same spots because Blodwen pig is somewhere between very short sighted/blind as a pink eyed bat... I just vary the type and positioning of the fleecy houses a bit there but not too much or poor Blod gets a bit lost! She usually follows her friends about but if they dash off fast she gets a bit confused...
 
I never change the location of the hay trays, water or food bowls. But at weekly full cage clean time it’s anything goes for everything else. I change what houses and hideys mine have and also where I put them. They love having a cage cleaning day explore. I always see loads of popcorns on full cage clean out day.
 
My boys get excited when there’s a change, but I’ve recently realised it doesn’t even have to be a big change. I took a tube out the other day and they pranced around like mad 🤷🏻‍♀️

I had a colleague who used to say she would hate to be a guinea pig in a cage that kept changing. She likened it to when you go into the supermarket and they’ve swapped all the aisles about 😂
 
Fantasimo said:
My boys get excited when there’s a change, but I’ve recently realised it doesn’t even have to be a big change. I took a tube out the other day and they pranced around like mad 🤷🏻‍♀️

I had a colleague who used to say she would hate to be a guinea pig in a cage that kept changing. She likened it to when you go into the supermarket and they’ve swapped all the aisles about 😂
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Ralph, Holly and Hazel have today got their dolls bed back again after 3 weeks without. And the excitement was very vocal.
 
This is where 120 x60 cages wind me up. They might be big enough unless you have 2 boars, but you can't re arrange anything atall
 
Betty and Winnie have their hay and water in the same place but other stuff moves a bit. Betty makes a happy purring noise when she finds anything new or different in their house and wants to explore it straight away. She likes to rearrange things herself by doing a body slam on everything (including humans when the mood takes her). Last night a new cardboard box was met with lots of excitement. Betty seems to enjoy novelty, she’s an explorer and climber, and an extremely nosey pig who wants to get involved with everything. If you’re ever doing anything to the cage when she’s in it, she’s climbing all over your hands and shoving her face in the middle of the action. She will also run from one side of the cage to another to check out a new development.

Winnie likes to zoom and sometimes it seems like the more stuff you put in their space, the faster she wants to zoom around it. She seems to love doing quick three point turns to avoid obstacles. She used to be a bit nervous and wanted Betty to try everything first but a few months into her time here Winnie’s quite happy exploring things herself and is much braver. She’s quite acrobatic and likes to jump and skip a lot, sometimes appearing on top her hidey when no one’s looking.

I also notice that when a new or differently positioned thing goes in their space, they’ll often go in or through the same thing multiple times, backwards and forwards, again and again, making their little grunting noises.
 
LucyP said:
Betty and Winnie have their hay and water in the same place but other stuff moves a bit. Betty makes a happy purring noise when she finds anything new or different in their house and wants to explore it straight away. She likes to rearrange things herself by doing a body slam on everything (including humans when the mood takes her). Last night a new cardboard box was met with lots of excitement. Betty seems to enjoy novelty, she’s an explorer and climber, and an extremely nosey pig who wants to get involved with everything. If you’re ever doing anything to the cage when she’s in it, she’s climbing all over your hands and shoving her face in the middle of the action. She will also run from one side of the cage to another to check out a new development.

Winnie likes to zoom and sometimes it seems like the more stuff you put in their space, the faster she wants to zoom around it. She seems to love doing quick three point turns to avoid obstacles. She used to be a bit nervous and wanted Betty to try everything first but a few months into her time here Winnie’s quite happy exploring things herself and is much braver. She’s quite acrobatic and likes to jump and skip a lot, sometimes appearing on top her hidey when no one’s looking.

I also notice that when a new or differently positioned thing goes in their space, they’ll often go in or through the same thing multiple times, backwards and forwards, again and again, making their little grunting noises.
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I love watching and listening to their chatter as they explore.
 
I change my floor time run around every other week... i find if i change their c & c, Winny in particular gets even more mardy.. she likes her corner and her box has to go there! she is a funny one !
 
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