Popcorning and Space. A happy Guinea Pig?

[Ricky]

Soon we may have Guinea Pigs of our own so meanwhile, I am just living on Guinea Pig media on the internet. I just wish to know how important is the area which the Pigs have for them to Popcorn?

Could you please share your experiences and advice?

 

[piggieminder]

The more space guinea pigs have the better.

Cage Size Guide

This link is just a taster of what's available in the guides in the green bar above. I like to read through some of them whenever I have a bit of time to remind myself what's there. There is a whole section for new owners and wanna be owners which would really interesting for you.

 

[Merab]

Happy guinea pigs like to run and popcorn so give them as much space as you possibly can.
I have 3 sows in a 2x5 with a 2x2 extension C&C cage.
This will be extended again next week with another 2x2 piece to accommodate my boar when he joins the herd.
This is as big as I can fit into the room

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your piggies when they arrive.
It’s very exciting.

 

[Fantasimo]

Agreed that space is important for overall health and happiness, but popcorning can also be for a number of reasons; change of scenery, the sound of a bag rustling, fresh hay etc. Mine love being put inside an old fleece hoodie. They’ll popcorn and roll like mad in there, even though it’s a squish and they end up kicking each other in the head at times when they get overexcited

But space is a great invitation for them to popcorn, or do laps, which is my favourite thing to watch. They love a good round circuit!

 

[Caris]

I agree with what's already been said so far. The more space, the better. Piggies are ground roaming animals, so I would go for the biggest cage you can get to fit wherever it is you're going to keep your piggies (boys need more space than girls). I'm on my 3rd cage (technically my 3rd and 4th as it's a 6x2 stacking C&C) in less than 6 months! Started off with a 120cm for my boys (was planning on sows), and then quickly moved onto a 5x2 C&C, then got a pair of sows in the 120, and have finally just got a 6x2 stacking (all I can fit in the room) to give the girls more space. The extra grid length also adds quite a bit more space for the boys! It's wonderful to see how much happier they are and how much they enjoy the space.

Basically, space equals happy pigs, and happy pigs equal popcorning pigs.