right now he's so inactive, he's recovering from a URI... i let him play on the floor in the living room occasionally (not much since he's trying to get better), but other than that, he seems quite bored. i plan on getting him a cagemate a month after he's recovered (along with a 3 week quarantine), until then, how can i entertain him?
Answers:
Well done for getting him a cagemate - that will be the best thing to do to keep him entertained. Brown paper bags, toilet rolls, tunnels, lots of hay and dangly toys which hang from the top of the cage keep mine entertained.
NEVER put guinea pigs in a giant hamster ball (like the first answerer suggested), a guinea pig's spine will not tolerate this - same goes for a hamster wheel.
Also, read here http://guineapigcages.com/toys.htm...
Good luck!
You could try one of those hollow large plastic balls like hamsters have. I have seen giant ones in petstores so you woulnd't have to continously watch his when he is out of his cage.
Wow, I haven't had a guinea pig in a million years, but your question reminded me of something we used to give my gps when I was a kid and they loved it: The rinds from oranges used to make orange juice. They love to gnaw at them to get every little bit of pulp off the rind, and it keeps them busy for a while.
Few people make their own orange juice anymore, but you can still find a simple hand juicer at the store for under $5. Plus you get to drink fresh juice!
*Get a really big (as in wide, not long) tube for him.
*A wooden house.
*Chew sticks.
*A big, old shoe or boot.
Ah! a playmate. and yes, quarantine is good to start out that way they get use to seeing and smelling each other. Since they are socialable animals, a playmate will help. I give my guinea pigs toilet paper rolls, and they like to throw them around as well as chew on them. When they chew on cardboard, this keeps their teeth short. They also like chewing on small pieces of paper. It's fun to watch them throw the paper around. It's quite comical.
That's great that you're piggie is recovering! Some things that really entertain my pigs: plastic spoons, toilet paper/paper towel rolls, empty tissue boxes, piles of hay... They seem to really have a ball when I let them run around the living room (supervised, of course).
Maybe he'd like a bigger cage? This might especially be a good idea if you're getting him a cagemate shortly...
I would absolutely stay away from those big hamster balls- they're bad for pigs' backs and potentially feet. I've found it's usually the simple, mundane things you have lying around that usually entertain them the most.
I suggest that you make sure he gets his rest and then play with him for an hour. Cover a golf ball in his food and then roll it around. He will chase the food not knowing that he is playing with a ball, it will also be a good experience for him.
card board rolls from empty toilet paper or papertowel rolls is fun for them and cheap for you.
We give our piggies carboard boxes, toilet rolls, those green strawberry cartons, ice cream cartons with the bottom cut out, and pretty much just anything we find laying around the house that is safe for them. We usually put hay in some of these boxes and such so that they go exploring for it. Some people say that guinea pigs like playing with toys that have bells in them. Congratualtions on the recovery and soon to be new cage mate. Your cavy will be ecstatic! I'm so glad you've already done your research about quarantining, you won't regret it. Once he has a friend, they will probably play and chase each other around the cage, so they can have fun.
Never buy your dears harnesses or plastic roll around balls. They will surely be hurt from them, and we don't want that now do we!
About adding a cage mate--if you have a male, you can not put another male in with him, they will fight. If you put a female in with him, you will probably have babies to deal with. They do fine alone if you spend time holding him, brushing him, giving him lots of timothy hay to chew on, toys as suggested above. Mine love those edible fake logs they sell at pet stores, and wooden huts to crawl in and chew up.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment