How to Entertain Your Guinea Pig

Guinea pigs are great furry little companions. Like all animals, it's great for them to have something to do during the day when you are out and while you're at home. This article will cover both entertainment and chewing.

Try putting apples, oranges, carrots, etc. on a bit of string and hang it from yourguinea pig's cage.

Take a paper towel tube and cut it open (this is...so that your guinea pig will not get stuck in it). Place it in your guinea pig's cage so they can chew on it. Hide somefood in it while you feed them, it's great fun.

Take one or two paper bags for your guinea pigs to hide in, they are a big hit, for a better experience, try cutting a little hole or peek hole in the back or on the sides.

Put your guinea pig's cage somewhere people go often or go to see it often.Remember, in the wild, cavies live in family groups, so guinea pigs can easily get lonely.

Build a small, sturdy shelf for your guinea pig, above the level of the plastic bottom of its cage, if it has that style of cage. It will be able to watch people go by.

• Make sure it can't use the shelf to jump out of the cage. Some guinea pigs will actually kick droppings out of the cage this way.

Take a blanket or towel and bring your guinea pig outside the cage to let it run around. Even better, barricade off an area, or an entire room, and allow the guinea pig to have some "floor time" in a large area.

Bring your guinea pig outside. If it's about 60-70ºF (15-21C), and no higher than 80ºF (26C), and your lawn has not been treated with any chemicals, you can take your guinea pig out onto the grass. You can put them in a towel and hold them, they love to be outside! Just make sure you keep watch over your piggy. They can pick up bugs and run away!

• Watch them carefully, and if they show signs of overheating, bring them inside quickly.
• Watch out for hawks, cats, dogs, foxes and other predators
• Guinea pigs also have a risk of hypothermia. Always be careful and use common sense!

f you own a hairless guinea pig, most of them are ticklish.

Tents made out of "clean" old shirts (be careful to remove all buttons) can be great fun, they love jumping in and out of the tent! If you are going to leave your guinea pig unattended with a tent, just make sure it's suspended securely, and not too much of the shirt is touching the ground, you don't want your little friend to get all tangled up

Give the guinea pig some wood from an apple tree, it is safe and keeps their teeth down.

Get a plastic litter box or a plant tray and fill it with wood shavings, then get some of your guinea pig's favorite veggies, cut them up into small chunks and mix them in with the wood shavings. This should create a tasty snack for sure! Your guinea pig will have a good time searching for the food!

Take a plastic spoon and drag it on the floor. Many guinea pigs will have hours of fun with the plastic spoon. Make sure it does not chew the plastic though.

Always pet your guinea pig.

The best thing for your guinea pig is another pig, the more the merrier!

Take your guinea pig down to the neighborhood park! Only do this if you have a travel cage (don't ever use a harness or leash it can hurt them and it is easy for them to run away). Please make sure to keep a careful eye on them/him/her at all times.

Build a play place out of cardboard and other things your pig likes! Make holes so it can stick its head out too! In side of it, put fruits and veggies in, they will love it! Make sure you put veggies that they CAN eat.

Also, you could try putting fruit in a small container, mixing it in with the food pellets, and you can also freeze it.

Never put your guinea pig in an exercise ball or wheel. This could damage their spine and cause stress to your pig. But if they don't roll in it, it should be fine. Also, their legs are a little too short to run anyways.

Thread food through the cardboard of a toilet roll or cut one into a few separate rings (O), push them through each other to create a ball with holes in it and put some of yours piggies favourite treats inside the ball. Guinea pigs love to roll the ball around and get their yummy treats out of it!

Place some small treats (strawberry tops are ideal) above the ground just in the little spots where you can place them, I like to use the cage mesh, obviously have them in your guinea pig's reach, Some guinea pigs will go on their back legs to grab a treat off a shelf etc. Its a good stimulation and it uses the guinea pig's natural instinct to find food as it would in the wild.

TIPS

• Place a large, smooth stone in their cage. They love to jump on it, lie on it and even lick it! Make sure the stone is left in boiling water for 10-15 mins first to kill off any germs.
• Put lots of interesting things around them. And make sure these things are not made out of any harmful materials, or that you are not to attached to any of these things, as your pig will most likely chew them.
• When making the shelf, leave a tunnel underneath. This will provide your guinea pig(s) with a place to hide as well as something to climb.
• Always give your guinea pig lots of different foods, treats, and toys so they don't get bored with the same thing.
• Try putting a range of teddies on the floor. Also, try to give you guinea pig lots of attention. If you have other pets, don't forget to give them attention too, or they will feel neglected or left out.
• You can also make a little piggy hut out of a shoe box.
• Keep electric wires away from the guinea pig- they can get badly injured.
• When you feed your guinea pig, try hiding food around the cage. This simulates its natural feeding behavior. Simulating foraging in the wild is similar to what zoo keepers do to keep their animals happier and entertained.
• The best materials are wood, hay, or cardboard. Try to avoid plastics if you can.
• Guinea pigs love friends, so the best entertainment for them is a cage-mate of their own gender.
• Be sure to "pig proof" any space you let your pigs run through. Tie up wires, block off harmful hiding places, put up other pets food dishes, etc.
• Remember that the bigger the cage , the less bored they will get; buy a cage as big as you can afford and fit.
• The more simple the toy, the better
• Get an old T-shirt, cut it in strips, and get a long stick. Glue or tape the strips of shirt on the long stick and hang the stick in the piggies' cages! In this way, you have improvised an area where they can run through.

WARNINGS!!

• When doing "floor time", ensure there is nothing the guinea pig could hurt itself on.
• Never get an exercise ball or wheel for your guinea pig. While they may be suitable for hamsters, they are bad for guinea pigs and can permanently damage their back, spine, and feet.
• Do not give a guinea pig treated wood (they could be poisoned if they chew it).
• Do not bring hairless guinea pigs outside, it is very hard to regulate their body temperature and if you bring them outside to anything above or below their body temperature it could be damaging or even fatal to the pig.

THINGS YOU'LL NEED

• A towel or blanket
• A paper bag or two
• Paper towel tubes
• Shelf materials (no plastic or flimsy material!)
• Tools to build the shelf
• a plastic letterbox for hard plastic plant tray (no thin plastic)
• wood chippings or wood shavings
• a plastic spoon
• A guinea pig
• a big space for floor time!