Snuggle safe - advice needed

I

ImmyH

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all, was hoping someone might be able to give me some advice.
I really wanted to get my girls a snuggle safe pad for the winter, and (after a mad rush to three different pet shops!) I managed to track one down. Unfortunately, my girls seem to be really scared of it! They fled when they saw it yesterday!
I tried putting some of their favourite treats next to it today, and they ate the food but still seemed wary.
I know loads of people use snuggle pads and speak really well of them and I was just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with their piggies or any tips!
Thank you!
(Relatively new pig owner, based in Exeter)
 
They’ll see it as a stranger in their cage!
You could try putting it underneath their bedding for the first few times as they then won’t be able to see it quite so easily and hopefully they come to realise it’s a nice thing!
 
Ah thank you! I wasn’t expecting them to react like that, but it does make sense.
Silly question, but is safe to put under hay?
 
Completely safe (Not a silly question) and this is why snugglesafes are so good
Mine live in a hutch in my shed. They are bedded fully on hay with four snugglesafes underneath all the hay along the full length of their hutch
 
Guinea pigs are wary of anything new in the cage. They are prey animals and they are wired that way. Anything new may eat them! One of them will be brave enough to sniff it and go up to it and realise that it won't hurt them. Give them a bit of time to realise it's a nice thing. You could try rubbing something that smells of them on it and it may seem a bit friendlier to them.
 
Thank you both so much for your help! Definitely going to persevere with it and try your tips 😊
 
Hi, ours were weary at first too but we have taken to putting them in the same spots and now they both go and sit on them. We only wash the actual covers once a week, we take the pads out each night, clean them, warm them up and the put them back in the covers and back in the usual places. Anything new is suspicious to them :-) now temps have dropped we are warming them twice a day x
 
My two girls are pretty wary of anything new, so I tend to introduce new hideys, snuggle items and the like during floor time. I just put the new toy somewhere in the room and let them go to it in their own time, sniff it, explore it, and when they've done that (and their scent is on the item) I put it in the cage.
 
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