Floor time for raised cages/many piggies?

Wheeksers

Wheeksers

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey all-

I've been wanting to give my herd some floor time, but have been very hesitant and thought I'd ask to you all:

For those who have raised cages (e.g., your cage is not directly on the ground, maybe on desks/tables/etc), how do you take your piggies out for floor time? Do you "capture" them while in a hidey or tunnel and bring them out of the cage?

Secondly, for folks with multiple piggies - do you allow all pigs out at once or do you do "shifts"? I have limited space for floor time, so having all six would make less space available. I want to ensure they have plenty of roaming, fun, enrichment - but have been to hesitant/scared to do floor time because I'm not sure what best practice would be with so many piggies, limited space, and fear of truamatizing piggies who hate being taken out of the cage.

Thanks
 
I have 6 pigs, 2 pairs and sadly now 2 singles. I floor time the separately. A pair or a single at a time. My older pair don't like free roam so they have a pen in the kitchen, while another pair or single gets free roam in the living room. I lift them out in a hidey, they get some grass or dry forage while they are out so are quite happy to jump into a hidey, they know what's coming! In the summer they have runs outside on the lawn, to take them out I use pet carriers as it's safer to take them down the steps. Again they soon get to know why the carrier is coming into the cage and are eager to jump in. In the winter tend to only get floor time every other day as i don't have time to accommodate them all in one day.
 
I have two pairs and a trio. We have split our living room into three runs they are not large (but bigger than their cages), we do this as the piggies seem to like to interact with one another through the bars of the runs. The girls all check out the boars in the other runs and the boys have a bit of a rumble strut, there has never been any aggression shown. I lift them out of their cages using a fleece bag and pop them in one of those big buckets to carry them downstairs.
 
My piggies' cage is on a table so I used a fleece tunnel to pick them up. It didn't take long for them to realise the tube means fun things so they willing walk into it when I hold it out in front of them. If you do start using a tube be careful they don't try and get out before it's on the floor by putting the end their face is at against your chest.
 
I have two pairs. They used to come out separately for floor time in the sitting room. Do they all live together? Is there a room (kitchen or hallway) that you could block off and make safe for them to roam in? When taking them out perhaps pick one hide to use so they can get used to it - if that makes sense.
 
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