My Outside Exercise Run

Outside Exercise Run !

In the warmer months of the year it is good for your guinea pigs to get outside in the fresh air for a scamper round, and to enjoy nibbling on lovely fresh grass ! We constructed an outside exercise run - here it is ! It measures just over 6ft x about 3ft

We still have to construct the lid ! Make sure that your piggies are safe and secure when they are outside in the garden and supervise them at all times to ensure they don't escape and predators don't get in the run. Don't put your piggies out in very hot weather as they can easily succumb to heatstroke - always ensure there is a shady area so they can get out of the sun if they want to. Do not put them out when it is too cold and wet/windy or they may catch a chill - especially if they are used to living in a nice warm centrally heated house !

In these photos I don't show anything in the run as I had them out just to take the photo, but please make sure you provide water & shelter [I use my lovely pink piggy carrier lined with newspaper and some hay for nibbling].

Make sure you check the lawn for any poisonous plants for eg, they shouldn't have access to buttercups or plants grown from bulbs - and don't put your piggies on chemically treated lawns ! Happy grazing !

Below you will see the various stages of constructing the run......

	This is the wire we used called 'Petmesh' We bought this from our local pet supplies shop - it has nice neat square 'holes'
	Carefully cut to size with wire clippers.... We measured carefully so we got the most panels of wire out of the roll....
	Be very careful of your fingers, trimmed wire can be quite vicious - it has a tendency to curl up and get you !! All cut !
	Here is the untreated wood.....We took our measurements to the woodyard and they trimmed the planed [smooth] wood to size for us and bundled it up nicely for us to take home ! Much cheaper than the DIY stores.
	The nice green treated wood ! We treated the wood with 2 coats of a pet safe wood protector which was green coloured. The solid panel you can see was for one end of the run to provide shelter.
	Carefully attaching the wire The side panels had an upright support halfway along the length. The wire was neatly trimmed so no sharp tags could possibly damage my piggies. We attached the wire with fencing 'loops'
	All ready ! We attached all the panels together with 2 strong internal hinges at each corner [at the top and bottom], this allows the run the fold flat so I can easily carry it in and out of the garage !