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Entertaining
Your Piggy....
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If your piggy is kept on her own in an empty pen with nothing to amuse herself with, no trips out for scampers around and not a lot of human contact, she will probably be a sad piggy, therefore it is up to us human slaves to make sure our piggies are entertained, stimulated and happy !
Ways in which we can entertain and make our piggy's happy are:
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PROVIDE YOUR PIGGY
WITH THINGS TO HIDE IN
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One of the best ways to keep your guinea pig amused is to provide her with something to do (as well as eating, [pooping] and sleeping of course...) - a good idea is to provide her with tunnels and things to run through (so she can daydream and pretend she is running through little trodden down pathways in the grasslands of South America...) - Cardboard 'Chubes' (above) from petshops are ideal for them to hide in and nibble.
Piggies love to go in and out of things so you can either buy your pig one of the 'pigloos' available in petshops or get a variety of cardboard boxes / shoe boxes which you can cut openings in (make sure you don't leave any sharp edges), your piggy can go in and out and if you link them together she can run between them, stopping in each box, where you could hide bits of food as a surprise or a handful of hay for her to nibble / snuggle in. Your piggy will also get great enjoyment from chewing the boxes, try and use plain brown ones if you can (just to be on the safe side).
The Wheekies also love playing in brown paper grocery bags, they go in one end, sometimes all of them together, squashed in, and eventually nibble their way out the other end.
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PROVIDE YOUR PIGGY
WITH MORE THINGS TO HIDE IN !
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The Wheekies also really enjoy 'playing' with cardboard toilet roll tubes, they pick them up and wave them around and also nibble them - try stuffing them with hay or hiding treats in them and watch your piggy sniff their treat out.
Some piggy owners have found their piggy's enjoy the type of toys made for birds that are wooden and have bells on the bottom - hung over the piggy's cage, just in their reach so they can 'nose' them and make the bell ring - I haven't actually tried this myself yet but I did give the Wheekies a cat ball which had a bell in it and they completely ignored it so I gave it to the hamster who ignored it too ! See if your piggy likes them, they're all different !
When the Wheekies are out I make the tunnels under a spare double duvet for them to run under and hide in, they often fall asleep under there where it's nice and warm - you could make them a little maze to run through from maybe bricks if they are in the garden, add little boxes as rooms and hide treats around for them to find. They will also enjoy running between all your bits of furniture.
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PROVIDE YOUR PIGGY
WITH THINGS TO NIBBLE ON
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Warning: In order that your piggy can play safely and not harm herself:
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FLOORTIME
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Your piggy needs regular exercise to stay fit and healthy, if you can, let her run around a room in your house that you have made secure - cover electric cables (they love to nibble these), remove any plastic carrier bags from the floor (they love to nibble these too, and if ingested these could cause a very dangerous blockage). If they have a pen that is sited on the floor and has a door fitted as my pen does, you can just open the door and let them come and go as they please - this is what I do and I find that they never pee on my carpet, they always go back to their pen. They do deposit quite a few poops around though, but I don't mind these. If you need to put your piggy on the floor and they do not have access back to their pen / cage then you can try placing little cardboard boxes in your room, maybe under a table, with a little of their hay / soiled bedding / a few poops, to encourage them to do their poops and pee's in there, they will most likely learn to do this eventually and become reasonably litter trained.
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LET
YOUR PIGGY OUT FOR REGULAR EXERCISE
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Your piggy will love to run around and they love to explore, and she will popcorn (happy jump) and dart from under table to table to under the settee, making the happy little 'bouncy-grunting' noise they make. I always sit on the floor with some chopped celery and wait for my piggy's to come over and take it out of my hand, a great way of making friends with your piggies.
Piggies are not always the easiest things to catch to put back - I leave their pen door open and just put a fresh handful of hay in there, then I rustle it so the pigs can hear and within a minute or so they have all scampered back in to feast on the hay ! (and I quickly go over and shut their door !) However, if you cannot do this and have problems picking your piggies up then you can try either cornering them under something like a coffee table where they cannot escape as you bend down to pick them up, or place a cardboard box / front loading pet carrier on the floor in the corner with some newspaper / hay and you should find they'll go in there ok, so you can pick them up from there and put them back.
You can also let your piggy outside for exercise and grass nibbling - see our outside exercise run - great fun & healthy !
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GIVE
YOUR PIGGY A FRIEND !
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Get your piggy another piggy to play with ! Remember, piggy's are herd/pack animals and very social with their own kind, so, if it's females - the more the merrier (well, in my experience..) - if it's males, either 2 together (if they get on - without a female in the vicinity) or in adjoining pens if they don't get on - so they can still 'wheek' and interact with each other ! You will have lots of fun watching your piggy's run around in 'piggy trains' and chasing each other around, pinching food off each other and generally just being happy piggy's together !
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HAVE
A LOT OF CONTACT WITH YOUR PIGGY
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If you havn't got the time to do this, what's the point of you having a pet guinea pig at all ?
Make sure that you regularly stop by her pen and sit and talk to her, gently offering a hand or a tit-bit to let her know you are her friend, when you hear her 'wheek' at you, pop over to her and say 'hello little piggy, what are you after?' and give her a little treat (a piece of cucumber, a handfull of Readigrass, or something else she likes), she will soon learn that if she wants you (or more likely a treat to eat) all she has to do is 'wheek' and you'll come running ! - I often just sit on the floor by my piggy's pen, just tickling them and talking to them and tending to their needs (yes, they are very spoilt!)
Make sure you pick her up every day and spend quality time with her sitting on your lap and feeling secure and loved, you can use this opportunity to carry out little healthchecks. Your pig will soon feel happy and relaxed and if you're lucky she will give you little 'piggy kisses' on your hands, arms or chin, this makes you feel very happy too !
If at first your piggy is nervous about being handled just take it slow and pick her up for a little time and put her back before she gets too wriggly and worried, sometimes just stroke her and talk to her in her pen rather than picking her up each time you go near. Offer her some food so she comes over to you and learns you are safe rather than chasing her around to pick her up each time, she will soon learn. Pick her up in a towel if she is very nervous as this may help her feel more secure. If you have an older tamer pig, get them both out together on your lap so the nervous one will learn you are not to be feared. Some take longer than others but she will get there in the end ! If she doesn't, you may have to accept she just doesn't like being handled but make sure you still spend time talking to her and stroking her and entertain her in other ways [check out the New Arrival page for more tips].
Above all, enjoy your piggy and she will enjoy you !
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Page Last Updated: 29/09/04