New guinea pig mom

[jaxson1]

I brought home my pigs 2 months ago and really enjoy them. One question I have is regarding the hay. I give them Timothy hay in a feeder. They typically only eat half of it and never finish. If I put more in, they will eat that. It seems like half of the bag is going to waste. Is this typical pig behavior? Thanks all?

[Bean]

It does seem that hay that's straight out of the bag/box is better than stuff that's been sitting in a rack for a few hours - even when the bag or box of hay is open in the same room as the rack! I can never quite figure it out...!

Mine also like to pull it out of the rack for entertainment, but then don't eat it if it's been on the floor! They love to play in mounds of it too so I just buy big bales of meadow hay (which is really cheap and good quality) and supplement it with smaller amounts of other hays and grasses for variety. Then I don't mind if it doesn't all get eaten!

Welcome to Wheekers by the way!

[jaxson1]

Thanks for the reply. I'm deciding on a new cage for the boys. They have quickly outgrown their current home and don't have much room to exercise. They currently have a shelf where I feed them their vegetables and hope to get a new home that has two levels and a larger area for them to feed from.

[3piggles]

Hello and welcome Based on the distance up the cage walls where I wipe off sprayed pee, I think it's possible the layer of hay at the bottom of the rack has gotten soiled. They do really spray their pee as a weapon and just to make a point, and if they spray the hay, they won't eat it. I have tried rearranging the hay in the hay hold, but since they really enjoy playing in the hay so much, I've given up on trying to save on hay, and just put in enough for them to eat all they need, and have a lot to play in, too. If you're worried about hay quality, buy some good Timothy hay, and get some cheaper hay to put on the floor of the cage. They'll love you for it

[jaxson1]

Thanks for the insight. That makes sense as to why they wouldn't eat it. I still have a lot to learn. I've been debating on changing up the bedding. I have been using carefresh but think I might try the fleece linings I've been reading about. Any opinion on whether I should just do the fleece or fleece and wood pellets?

[jolovespiggies]

A very warm welcome to our happy family love.

Hugs
Jo xx

[jaxson1]

I have been reading a lot about members letting their pigs roam about. I would love to do this but..when I even let my boys out in a separate area on newspaper to clean their cage, they pee so much I don't know anyone lets their piggies run free without a major cleanup afterwards. Am I missing something?

[3piggles]

Letting the pigs roam free depends on the type of flooring, value of furniture they might chew, ability to get electrical wires up and out of their way, and the ability to get to the pigs under furniture, should they decide to go under and stay there. I hope to have vinyl floors in my next house. All easily washable and able to be spot cleaned. Hubby wants carpet, but I hate how it gets all matted down and needs washing before the first year is even done. I let my roam in their piggy room, when we first moved here, because the wall to wall carpeting in the room was so awful, we planned to replace it from the day we looked at the house. It had bleach stains and other issues, so cleaning up after the piggies wasn't a problem. I have a rug cleaning machine, and I cleaned the carpeting about every six months. Vacuumed daily, etc. It just became part of the routine, and the pigs loved being able to free range. I had a feeding station under a bureau, so they could get food, water and hay. They would flop down in the middle of the floor, and go to sleep, so no hiding places needed. Generally, I just used extra grids to keep them out of the places I couldn't clean very effectively.

If you have wall to wall carpeting, and want the pigs to have a large roaming area, use a painters drop cloth or a large, vinyl table cloth to cover the area where the pigs will roam. There are many types of play pens available to help keep them in a special area. I use zip ties and extra cage grids to make large play areas, just zip tie the grids together in a long line, and use something to connect the ends once they're surrounding the play area. If you keep them out of the main traffic flow, you don't have to put away the play pen after each play time.

[jolovespiggies]

We have ours permanently in a large pen on the sitting room floor and the floor is washable underneath. I know people think we are a bit strange sharing our living room like this, but they are happier and we get to see them and interact with them. It is after all their home too.

Hugs
JO xx

[Bean]

Little ones are often a bit dribbly-bottomed, especially if they're excited! But some pigs just get the whole litter training thing and others don't.

At one point I had 6 pigs who free roamed (alternately in groups of 3) and they were great - hardly every a wee or a bean anywhere. I'd started off watching them closely and just returning them to the cage with their business if they did anything, and they caught on really quickly. As I left their cages open, they'd just return to them to toilet an come back out again.

The two boys we have now used to live together (they're now neutered and live with their wives) never got the hang of this - they would constantly scent mark and leave dribbles of wee around. We have a wipe clean floor, but although they'd have supervised gadding about in the living room, for most of the time we ended up just attaching a run of grids around the cage (which we left open) and then covering the floor under this area with a blanket we could thrown in the wash.

However, since they've been with their wives, I think they feel less need to mark their territory and they're mostly fine - just the odd dribble which we can easily wipe up. The girls have (who we got when they were already teens/ adults) have never needed to be reminded and just go back to the cage to toilet.

Just play it by ear, but having a clear place they can toilet does help - whether it's returning freely to the cage or some kind of an enclosed pigloo - we use these type of ones as resting/ toilet pods about the room, with an old towel in for absorbancy and comfort!

[jaxson1]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I usually have a towel on my lap when I'm holding them and usually one or both of them soil it. I also noticed when I was cleaning the floor around their cage that there was spray marks on the wall. I had been putting newspaper against the wall then putting the cage against it to hold it up. But they were chewing it. I don't have a sense of smell so I try to be very diligent about checking for marks and spot cleaning the cage every few days then total cleanup once a week. I ordered a new C&C cage and once that comes, I might try fleece.

[Bean]

I usually find girls are the worst offenders for spraying - my boys tend to dribble!

I'm sure they will love their new C&C cage. I tend to split the week bedding wise - they have fleece for a few days then that goes in the wash and they have disposable bedding for the rest of the week. It works well for us.

[jolovespiggies]

We have a house bunny so it would be difficult for the piggies to be completely free-range as she may accidentally hurt them, they have big pens though.

Hugs
JO xx

[3piggles]

Try putting self-adhesive plastic on the walls behind the cage. It's easy to wipe clean, and if you need to replace it, peel off one piece and put on another. Since it adheres to the wall, the pigs can't get to it to chew it. If you use clear, they won't even know it's there. I doubt there is much of a smell about the urine sprayed on the walls. Their urine smell varies by the foods they eat, and if they are marking their territories, and usually isn't too bad. If anyone complains about the smell, you only need to change what they're eating, and the smell will change. Some people claim to be allergic to guinea pigs, which is unlikely. Guinea pigs have the same type of hair we have, so no dander to cause allergic reactions. Usually, they are allergic to the hay, and to the hay byproducts in the urine. Fleece is a wick that carries the water/urine off the bedding surface to the absorbent layer below. It's a good way to reduce the smell and allergic reactions the urine can cause.