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putting sleeping house back in cage ?

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khadijah

Hi,

I have 2 new piggies and had to remove the sleeping house so they would get used to me.

It has worked fabulously.... they became friendly more tame and happily popcorn every night I'm so pleased it was the right thing to do.

BUT obviously I need to replace it at some point so they will have that complete privacy when they need it.

Its been removed now for about a week so do u think its time now to replace it.... or do I need to make sure they are really hand tame first ?

Thanks in advance !
 
I am not the right person to ask I am afraid, as I am completely against removing it in the first place.

And I just dont get it.

Sorry to go a little bit off topic, but I just cant understand.
Say someone gets a new cat, which is a bit shy.
Cat hides underneath the couch, or a wardrobe. Everyone would try and get the cat interested with some toys that make exciting noises, or put some really nice smelling food somewhere near to try and coax them out.
Some people suggest sleeping in that room for the first few days, because while you sleep is the longest period of time that a cat will ever see you not move, and being completely harmless, and they get used to you better.

Now would anyone just go and move the couch, or reach underneath, to try and force the cat out? No?
Cat has a reason for hiding, yeah? Being scared an all? And we give it the time to come out of its own accord, because trying to catch it will scare it even more?

So if we arent doing it with pets like cats, or dogs, why would we do it with guinea pigs? Why do we force them to get tame super fast?
And not let them decide when they trust us? Ah, yes, I see, because they cant scratch or bite you like a cat or dog might.
Because we respect other bigger pets a bit more. Guinea pigs dont do much, they freeze.
So we think we can force them to do what we think is expected behaviour.

I think taking the hiding place of a scared pet away, just for the selfish reason of getting it tame quicker, just because we are too impatient to wait a bit longer for the pet to get tame in its own time - is cruel.

This is not directed at you, khadijah.
You recently started with your piggies, youre not to blame. but that there are "experienced" piggy owners on this forum who teach that to begginers as "the right, quick and easy way to tame a piggy" - that is a shame.

/rant

Sorry, but I had to let that out... :-\
 
So glad it helped by moving it for a bit. I am sure it will be ok to replace it now. It has helped you boned with your guinea pigs, so good for you!

Mary
 
I agree with moving it, I did with Fudge and it worked brilliantly and in the long term he's a happier pig for it. I always gave it back to him at night though, and now he stands on top of it in the day being nosey. I'd def let them have it at night and when you're out, just remove it when you're in and want to play with them :)

Kathryn x
 
The trouble with some guinea pigs if you do not push a little contact you might have ended up with them always runing into their house. I have some that always run a mile when I put my hand in, but once they are on my lap they enjoy it!

Mary
 
I know what you are saying Abnoba about giving a cat time to come out. Cats are totally different to guinea pigs, naturally curious so will come out of its own accord . In the wild the only form of defense for a piggy is to run and hide. If you give the guinea pig that chance he will do it all the time and never get used to you. I think it is in best interest of the animal to get over its fear as quick as poss so as not to prolong the anxiety. It will soon learn that there is nothing to fear, but not if its allowed to cower away. I also agree that the sleeping house should be put back in on an evening or when you are out as its a bit of cosiness.
 
Abnoba said:
I am not the right person to ask I am afraid, as I am completely against removing it in the first place.

And I just dont get it.

Sorry to go a little bit off topic, but I just cant understand.
Say someone gets a new cat, which is a bit shy.
Cat hides underneath the couch, or a wardrobe. Everyone would try and get the cat interested with some toys that make exciting noises, or put some really nice smelling food somewhere near to try and coax them out.
Some people suggest sleeping in that room for the first few days, because while you sleep is the longest period of time that a cat will ever see you not move, and being completely harmless, and they get used to you better.

Now would anyone just go and move the couch, or reach underneath, to try and force the cat out? No?
Cat has a reason for hiding, yeah? Being scared an all? And we give it the time to come out of its own accord, because trying to catch it will scare it even more?

So if we arent doing it with pets like cats, or dogs, why would we do it with guinea pigs? Why do we force them to get tame super fast?
And not let them decide when they trust us? Ah, yes, I see, because they cant scratch or bite you like a cat or dog might.
Because we respect other bigger pets a bit more. Guinea pigs dont do much, they freeze.
So we think we can force them to do what we think is expected behaviour.

I think taking the hiding place of a scared pet away, just for the selfish reason of getting it tame quicker, just because we are too impatient to wait a bit longer for the pet to get tame in its own time - is cruel.

This is not directed at you, khadijah.
You recently started with your piggies, youre not to blame. but that there are "experienced" piggy owners on this forum who teach that to begginers as "the right, quick and easy way to tame a piggy" - that is a shame.

/rant

Sorry, but I had to let that out... :-\

I totally agree. :C

I got my piggies a big log cabin straight away so that they'd have privacy when they got fed up with me socialising them, but also for comfort when I wasn't.

It's unfair to say, "You're not allowed a nice place to sleep until you're used to me."

You can take guinea pigs out of their cage and put them into a neutral smelling place for taming - or you can remove the top of their sleeping place if you have a log cabin like I do or something similar, so they can run into it but you can still pet them and see them, and then you simply replace the roof afterwards.
 
Or something like this:

marvinmilka1.jpg


we built that ourselves, costs a pound or two for the wood, took us ten minutes to nail together.

three pieces of wood, they love to sit on top of it, under it, move it about - and we can always see them, yet they feel like they have " a roof over their head"...
 
To be honest I wasnt asking for the opinion of people who do not agree with removing the sleeping house.

And what I want to say to you is you are so wrong, your hearts are complelety in the right place and I take my hat off to you.

To be honest with you I treat animals with far more love and kindness thatn I do humans because they are innocent.

I would never cause any harm to ANY creature.

But the truth is you dont know if its bad unless you actually tried it..... and have you ?

Because I am telling you they wernt frightened AT ALL ! they came to me to get food , they let me stroke them.


Unless you have experience of doing this yourselves I dont really think you can comment on it.

I'm just a bit offended to be honest.
 
sorry I forgot to ask...

For those who had young (untamed) piggies and didnt remove the sleepiong house how long did it take them to come to you and let themselves be picked up ?

do you have any tips you can share ?

Because I just so want these animals to be happy. Its not my selfish need to pet them, I just want them to be happy, to be able to come out of the cage several times a day, to run and play and be free. and I just cant see how on earth I'm ever gonna acheive it if I let them hide all day. :(
 
So how can you say we do not know if they are going to be frightened or not? For all you know, friends, siblings, neighbours might have done the same things like you, and we saw it...

My guinea pigs are happy, and yes, it took some of them over a month to get completely comfortable.
Now they come to the door of the cage whenever I open the fridge or start talking to them, and eat out of my hand.
It is def. possible to tame them even when you dont take their house out.
All I did was give them time - which I think is fair enough.
No piggy will stay forever in their house - its far too boring for them!

Anyway, even if you do feel like a house is making them retreat too much, we have been posting other options aswell - half open houses for example, that will still give the piggy a feeling of security, and give you the opportunity to keep an eye on them.
I think this would be a good compromise for the ones that insist on that method...

Anyway, as for your original question - people have already answered - the house should DEF. go back into the cage during night time, when you are not around anyway, simply so they can snuggle up somewhere.
As for, when to put it back in for good - well, do you feel you have tamed them enough that they will still come to you even though they have the opportunity to hide from you? Just do the test, put it in, and see for yourself. If they are so used to you now that they come to you out of their own accord, congratulations.
If not, well, you got different options. Continue with your method of taking away their shelter, or try to tame them with food and patience.
 
khadijah said:
To be honest I wasnt asking for the opinion of people who do not agree with removing the sleeping house.

And what I want to say to you is you are so wrong, your hearts are complelety in the right place and I take my hat off to you.

To be honest with you I treat animals with far more love and kindness thatn I do humans because they are innocent.

I would never cause any harm to ANY creature.

But the truth is you dont know if its bad unless you actually tried it..... and have you ?

Because I am telling you they wernt frightened AT ALL ! they came to me to get food , they let me stroke them.


Unless you have experience of doing this yourselves I dont really think you can comment on it.

I'm just a bit offended to be honest.

I think if you ask a question on any forum you will get differing opinions. As I said I took Fudge's house away in the day as he'd been hiding for weeks and not getting any better and I had tried offering food etc and it didn't work, and I believe this was the right thing to do for him. I've ended up with a cheeky inquisitive pig who doesn't hide all the time now, he uses his house to sleep in, not hide in. You know your piggies and if you feel it's the right thing for them and they're not frightened then that's ok, don't get offended because others have a different view, after all the forum is there for people to share their views and not everyone will agree. If I don't agree with some things said on a forum I have the choice to wade in and express my view or keep quiet and generally I will keep quiet unless it's something I feel strongly about.

I'm pleased it worked for you, and your piggies are happier and you can enjoy them more.
 
Thanks everyone for all your help. And I do apologise for my horrible response. I'm afraid its just hormones.. I am pregnant and am totally irrational.. i cry at the slightest thing and take thihngs far too personally.


Anyway the good news is that I have changed the bedding to shredded paper and they have been burrowing and hiding in there... yes is does mean I dont see them very much but I think its more kind.

And dont worry I havnt been leaving them totally exposed all day and night, I would cover half of the cage with a drape in the day time and then compleltey covered at night.. and it has really worked. Cause I read somewhere that they think if they cant see you then you cant see them. It was better than the sleeping house as then I couldnt even check if they were ok without putting my hand in the cage and freaking them out more.


I think I learnt from all this that I need to give them time and I need to learn a little patience.....thanks for helping me realise.
 
I mean, that sounds *alot* better than what you previously described - it sort of sounded like you had the plain cage without ANYTHING for them to hide in...

I see the point with checking on them to see if they are alright - we had the discussion once on another forum about baby piggies, where people said you shouldnt touch them etc for quite some time, as not to freak them out and the mother.. and people just HAD to, because often the baby would have died if they had just let it with the mother, because there were some problems.
Also, you have to weigh them to see if they are properly gaining weight, to spot possibly problems.

Which is why I would be interested in the exact house Darky mentioned, where you can take the roof off. I mean, I used houses with windows in (which I have been advised against for various reasons) where I could see if they were alright in there, or selfbuilt ones. But those sound neat. How much did you pay for your house, Darky, where did you buy it from?
 
I like your wooden house Abnoba, I'm going to make a couple of these, I paid £8 for a wooden one for Fudge and he loves it, stands on top, sleeps in it etc, but I can't really afford that for each piggy and they've got those plastic pigloos which take up a lot of room in their cage and it's slippery to stand on top. Thanks for the idea!

Kathryn x
 
I just don't understand why you couldn't have done it, and have given them a place to sleep. =/

I mean, why couldn't you put somewhere for them to sleep in there - but remove it at times when you were going to spend a lot of time socialising with them and taming them?

Or my idea of the removing of the roof, if you get something like that.

No matter how happy your piggies are - you're admitting to not bothering to provide them with a place to sleep, other than the floor.

But yes - your added information does make their situation sound much better. :C



And Abnoba - that's a really cute little house. :D
 
If you look at the pic of the wooden house darky, you will see that although they have a roof over they head they are indeed still sleeping on the floor! I think that the op is very bothered about her piggies as she has "bothered" to post on this forum.
 
As I said - the information added does make their situation sound better.

I think I'm just unreasonably fussy at times - sorry. ^^;

In that wooden house, they may be on the floor - but they have shelter, and a place to hide for privacy. That's more what I mean. :C
 
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