hiding places?

[daleksarah]

i have a nero 4 cage and i use the yellow house however i feel it takes up too much room and is a nuisance especially when Mac and Rascal decide they want a back door! so for xmas they are getting different bits to sleep in. they have hay trays they like to sleep in but sometimes they feel the need to hide especially when scary mini humans are around (Audrey must be scary as well as they hid from her! ) so if i take the yellow house out that means they have nowhere to hide and feel safe in.am i being mean by doing that or will they be ok?

 

[Wiebke]

A) You could saw a back door into your yellow house (sandpaper the cut afterwards). That's what we have done with my grey house that came with the cage.

B) You could peg old dish cloths or mount a barbecue grill over the hay trays to give them a feeling of security.

 

[daleksarah]

the grill idea is good i would like to add a floor to the cage need to look at how to do it. when i say they make themselves a back door they wiggle the house so that it comes away from the bars and they peek out from the back.its funny but with the house having no back to it it falls over!i want to take the house out to give them a bit more floor space

 

[KingBoris&HisFollowers]

i think they would be fine without hideys the GP rescue here usually takes all hideys out in summer because of the heat and the piggies get used to it quickly although being the UK i would probably keep them for warmth
here is what i have in the nero 4's

mine leave more room but I'm not sure its enough really

 

[skrikopanik]

I know mine really like their hideys... Chicken especially is very scared still and liks a roof over her head. How about some kind of tunnel/fiddlesticks (automatic back door ), or just drape some fleece over their hay trays as a tent?

 

[Joey&Gizmo]

I have the same cage and i dont use the yellow hidey as it takes up so much room! But i have added a small corner which are made from wood and they hide under those. Here is a link to my cage you can just see the corners in the photo.http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=41266
Mine arent to bothered about hiding only Joey, sometimes he likes to hide away but he loves his corner. The corners are dark and i fill them with lots of hay and they love them.

 

[elle100]

When mine are in the playpen they sometimes don't have hidies but I always make sure there's a sheet of fleece pegged to the top over one corner hanging down to the floor so they can sneak behind it when they want some privacy. It goes down a storm, they seem to love pushing it about, running in and out of the space and mostly trying to pull it down |)|)

 

[teadragon]

If your guinea pig (or one of them) panics when you approach them or they seem displeased then I don't think it's fair to force them to stay in the open. Guinea pigs feel safe when they can hide - I'm not sure that it's kind to take that away from them as permanent residents in your home.

You could try giving them fiddlesticks to hide under: they have a "front" and "back" door. Alternatively if you take out all of the hidey holes and still want to give them a safe area you can drape a towel or fleece over one end of the cage to give them shelter after taking out the house.

Or: just let them play with it how they do.

 

[daleksarah]

santa is going to bring them a new tunnel and a bed so they do have places to go to.they are not as scared as they used to be but will still run when giants loom over their cage although they are generally happy to lie in their hay trays out in the open.I'm going to try the a fleece draped over the hay trays what should i use to attach it to the cage?

 

[teadragon]

I just let mine drape free, you could use clips (clothes pens.. anything clip-like) or sit a heavy book on top of the cage.