New guinea-parent with questions!

[GlamChick]

Hi all,

I;ve been browsing through the forums all day and found loads of information - thanks guys! Got a couple of extra questions though:

1. I see a lot of you use fleece inside the cage. I'd never heard of these before! How exactly does this work as it seems like a great idea for the winter. Do you use it all year round or just when it's frosty? Do you have to change it everyday when it gets soiled? And is there an issue with them getting their feet caught in it? Very intrigued by this, it certainly looks a lot nicer (and less messy) than wood shavings.



2. On reading some of the previous posts about indoor runs etc I have just ordered the ELC ball pit and am quite excited about that coming! We currently have this cage:

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/rabbit-100-guinea-pig-and-dwarf-rabbit-cage-by-ferplast-37559

Due to a lack of space in our flat, we can't really get a bigger cage so I wondered how much time we should give them in the run. My husband works shifts so between us, there's only about 4 hours a day when one of us isn't in the house. I was going to put the guinea pig in the run thw whole time that someone is at home. How does that sound?



3. Toys -what kind of things can you recommend as toys? I;ve seen some horror stories on other sites about guinea pig toys having small bits that can break off. What are the best kind of things to keep them occupied?


Thanks for your help, any advice much appreciated!

x

 

[lily 74]

Hi there

I use fleece as a bedding all year round, towels underneath then a layer of fleece on top.

I change it about every 2 -3 days less if they use the littertray.

I have the cage like you have but the 120cm one and a corner cage.

I also have the elc ball pit and it's very spacious. I leave mine in there for a few hours a day and they don't seem to chew it.

 

[AudioHeart]

. I see a lot of you use fleece inside the cage. I'd never heard of these before! How exactly does this work as it seems like a great idea for the winter. Do you use it all year round or just when it's frosty? Do you have to change it everyday when it gets soiled? And is there an issue with them getting their feet caught in it? Very intrigued by this, it certainly looks a lot nicer (and less messy) than wood shavings.


I personally don’t use fleece, however I was going to when my boys were inside (also in a ferplast 100 cage : ) ) So i found out a couple of things, people who use fleece usually have either incontinence pads or puppy pads or even towels underneath the fleece to soak up the pee so the top stays dry, fleece will need changing depending on the size of the cage every 2-3 days I’d say otherwise it’d start to smell a bit funky!
I’m not so sure on setting up the fleece, I believe you ‘tuck’ the fleece in so the piggies don’t make a mess of everything :

2. On reading some of the previous posts about indoor runs etc I have just ordered the ELC ball pit and am quite excited about that coming! We currently have this cage:

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/rabbi...ferplast-37559

Due to a lack of space in our flat, we can't really get a bigger cage so I wondered how much time we should give them in the run. My husband works shifts so between us, there's only about 4 hours a day when one of us isn't in the house. I was going to put the guinea pig in the run thw whole time that someone is at home. How does that sound?

I’d say that’s dandy, the ELC Ball pit makes a fab piggy run, and they’ll both enjoy their time in it!

3. Toys -what kind of things can you recommend as toys? I;ve seen some horror stories on other sites about guinea pig toys having small bits that can break off. What are the best kind of things to keep them occupied?

Wooden cabins, plastic ‘pigloos’ they can hide in, wooden play sticks that can bend to make bridges or stair ways. Toddler plasatic stools also make good cheap toys that they can hide under and climb ontop. Also my boys love their tubes, you can gets lots of different types of tubes, paper based ones, ones made from grass or you could go to your local DIY store and pick up underground drain pipe which makes a fab play tunnel.

 

[AudioHeart]

Oo and also this is my boys set up, just to give you a few ideas of toys:

Indoors:

Summer Time:

I found that they love cardboard boxes which you can pick up for free on your weekly shop