I'm asking a lot of questions lately as i'm finding myself in new territory recently.
In my previous threads, i posted about the bond between my guineas (Griffin and Felix) that it was really strong and then hormones happened and essentially after trying everything, it has been determined that they can't live together (but also can't live apart).
Piggies have been living "together-apart" for the past few days (in their old cage, which was made out of a book shelf, with their metal play pen bars separating them). Before they had to be separated, the cage was 5 feet x 2 feet. Their space was NOT big enough once split into 2 but was a temporary solution until we could fix it (2.5 feet x 2 feet). They seemed quite calm and fine in that situation. except they couldn't run around much or popcorn at all.
We bought materials to make a C&C cage. Both piggies have the same amount of space (approximately 4.5 feet x 2.5 feet) with bars separating them. We built it last night and moved them in this morning.
Anyway, since we moved the piggies into their new space, Griffin seems quite content. He was popcorning, and happily eating his hay, rumbling at Felix when he came to the bars, etc. Felix however, seems OBSESSED with chewing on one corner of the cage on the bars that separate the 2. He has been chewing none-stop since they moved in (only the one spot though). Sometimes he seems to test if he can squeeze through, so its like he's trying to chew to get through to the other side. I put a chew toy (a round willow ball) in front of the spot to distract him with something to chew on, and he pushed right passed it. I put his wooden block hidey in front of it, but then he began climbing it and i was worried he'd climb up and jump over to the other side (which would be a nasty fall ending in an argument with Griffin). I tried taking him out for some floor time but he just kept trying to get to that corner when we did floor time near the cage. When i tried to take him away for floor time somewhere else, he seemed to freak out.
I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations to stop the chewing? I know its metal but the bars aren't extremely thick and i'm scared he might chew through it and then hurt himself trying to get through. Or even just hurt his teeth and gums from chewing it so much. He has chew toys, places to hide, full hay, and even fresh veggies only distract for a little bit.
I attached a photo of the new cage.
In my previous threads, i posted about the bond between my guineas (Griffin and Felix) that it was really strong and then hormones happened and essentially after trying everything, it has been determined that they can't live together (but also can't live apart).
Piggies have been living "together-apart" for the past few days (in their old cage, which was made out of a book shelf, with their metal play pen bars separating them). Before they had to be separated, the cage was 5 feet x 2 feet. Their space was NOT big enough once split into 2 but was a temporary solution until we could fix it (2.5 feet x 2 feet). They seemed quite calm and fine in that situation. except they couldn't run around much or popcorn at all.
We bought materials to make a C&C cage. Both piggies have the same amount of space (approximately 4.5 feet x 2.5 feet) with bars separating them. We built it last night and moved them in this morning.
Anyway, since we moved the piggies into their new space, Griffin seems quite content. He was popcorning, and happily eating his hay, rumbling at Felix when he came to the bars, etc. Felix however, seems OBSESSED with chewing on one corner of the cage on the bars that separate the 2. He has been chewing none-stop since they moved in (only the one spot though). Sometimes he seems to test if he can squeeze through, so its like he's trying to chew to get through to the other side. I put a chew toy (a round willow ball) in front of the spot to distract him with something to chew on, and he pushed right passed it. I put his wooden block hidey in front of it, but then he began climbing it and i was worried he'd climb up and jump over to the other side (which would be a nasty fall ending in an argument with Griffin). I tried taking him out for some floor time but he just kept trying to get to that corner when we did floor time near the cage. When i tried to take him away for floor time somewhere else, he seemed to freak out.
I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations to stop the chewing? I know its metal but the bars aren't extremely thick and i'm scared he might chew through it and then hurt himself trying to get through. Or even just hurt his teeth and gums from chewing it so much. He has chew toys, places to hide, full hay, and even fresh veggies only distract for a little bit.
I attached a photo of the new cage.
I did make what i call a "car wash" (bottom right corner of my photo) and i showed felix that he could go through it. That did distract him for a while. He enjoyed laying in it, so hopefully he'll realize he has lots of fun things to do!