Which Guinea Pig Run? » Indoor Runs

Indoor Runs

admin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:51:45 +0000

There’s no reason why you shouldn’t buy or make an indoor run for you guinea pig. In guinea pig care, this is known as Floor Time and they need it every day, especially if their house is at the minimum size recommended by experts (7.5 square feet per guinea pig). Even if their house is bigger, include Floor Time as part of their daily routine for enrichment and exercise. You may reap the rewards with delightful displays of ‘popcorning’ where guinea pigs make crazy-looking little flips and turns – this is a sign of a happy ‘piggie’.

How big should it be?

They key to it all is space. Guinea pigs need to be able to really run about to properly exercise and stay healthy – imagine housing a mini-athlete. You theoretically could construct an indoor run using modular Cubes and Coroplast (C&C) caging. C&C cages are made from modular grids, which you need to connect together to make the enclosure using cable ties rather than connectors. The grids are sold in many standard outlets in the US but be aware that the square spaces on the inner grids must not be more than 1.5 inches. This is vitally important as one expert author warns guinea pigs have died after becoming trapped in grids with larger spaces (1). We think you’d need a fair amount of grids to make it ‘worthwhile’ – bigger than the house so they can really zoom about. One guinea pig rescue organisation has an entire site devoted to guinea pig housing and recommends Sue’s C&C cages (2), with some of the profits from the sale going to support the rescue work.

Make sure the square spaces are less than 1.5 inches across

One of Sue's C&C coroplast enclosure bottoms

One of Sue's C&C Cages assembled

Some tips

If you construct a large modular space for them to run in, be aware of potential hazards. The floor should not be wire. For other types of run, whether you buy one from a pet store or build on yourself, check for:

Sharp edges (cut wires, splinters, etc)

Treated wood – chemicals could be harmful if ingested

Small enough wire or mesh ‘spaces’ – could feet, or noses etc become caught? Could the guinea pig become trapped in anyway?

Some of the runs we’ve seen in pet stores are simply not big enough – the idea is to have the freedom to exercise outside the house and if the run isn’t big enough, in essence you just wasted your money. Buy the biggest size possible – experts seem to recommend a minimum living space of 7.5 square feet, for which they will need a bigger space to have floor time to exercise in.

Never place the run over or near to electrical wires or sockets or appliance wires, there is a real risk of electrocution. Guinea pigs are chewers and they will literally chew through electrical cables. Check the area under the run for anything that could cause injury, and don’t place it over freshly shampooed carpets as chemicals may cause harm. You may want to invest in a dedicated cheap rug to place underneath it, which you can keep clean just by popping in the washing machine. Droppings are not a huge issue with guinea pigs but they may leave some from time to time plus a little urine, so you may want to pop plastic bin liners under the rug – but make sure they can’t get to it to chew it as plastic can be harmful.

Some household substances and houseplants are poisons for pets (3,4). Easiest policy = no houseplants plants at all in, on or touching the run, or anywhere a piggie could get to!

Think about who is around in the home. Pet dogs and cats do live peacefully alongside guinea pigs but should always be supervised, for the following reasons:

Pet dogs – no matter how well behaved, they may have an uncontrollable instinct to chase! Even if your dog seems ‘normally ok’ with your guinea pig, never leave them alone together. Should some canine instinct overtake your well-mannered dog, a hyped-up, excited dog will break into an indoor run, even if only ‘playing’. Could they poke an inquisitive nose or paw through a grid, mesh or wire space?

Pet cats – again, no matter how normally well they seem to get along with your guinea pig, ultimately, both are animals. Pet cats may just want to ‘play’ but this can still seriously hurt a defenceless guinea pig. Do not leave them alone together and again, be careful that their paws could not swipe into the run through the grid, mesh or wire spaces.

And of course, we’re sure we don’t need to tell more exotic pet owners about the dangers of leaving snakes, ferrets, rats, etc unsupervised.

If you have other pets, the bottom line is the run needs a roof and to be both escape proof to keep the guinea pig in and ‘predator proof’ to keep the other guys out.

Be aware especially of children, well, just being children. Younger children quite naturally express affection for their teddies, toys, mummies and daddies by hugging and cuddling. And they will not be able to realise that their enthusiastic ‘cuddles’ can hurt the guinea pig. They may also want to ‘feed the nice piggie’ inappropriate items (5), or attract its attention by banging on the run, or making other loud and unfortunately traumatic, scary noises for their new found friends in the run. Always supervise children and gradually teach them good careful handling skills.

Hidey Places

Guinea pigs like to be able to hide to make them feel secure, so placing something they can safely hide in into the run is going to make them a whole lot happier. Pet stores do sell hidey ‘toys’ and some owners have simply opted for durable plastic ‘stools’ – the low-level type you might use to stand on to reach a high shelf. The space between the stools legs is great for hiding out in.

Jules Hanson

IMPORTANT:

None of this information is intended to replace the advice of a knowledgeable professional vet on guinea pig care. These articles are intended as a general introduction to the topics only. Every single animal has different needs – so whilst efforts have been made to provide helpful information, we respectfully advise you to check with your vet to accommodate your individual pet’s needs. Thank you.

Useful resources

1. Guinea Lynx [online] Housing for Health and Happiness.

http://www.guinealynx.info/housing.html

2. Guinea Pig Cages [online] – site provided by Cavy Spirit guinea pig rescue [online].

Your Guinea Pig’s Home.

http://www.guineapigcages.com

3. Guinea Lynx [online] Poisonous Plants.

http://www.guinealynx.info/forages_poisonous.html

4. ASPCA [online] Animal Poison Control Centre

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/

5. ASPCA [online] A Poison Safe Home

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/a-poison-safe-home.html

6. ASPCA [online] People Foods To Avoid Feeding Your Pets

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/people-foods.html

General indoor run information:

Guinea Pig Cages [online] – site provided by Cavy Spirit guinea pig rescue [online] Floor Time

http://www.guineapigcages.com/floortime.htm

Photo Credits – meet the artist at:

1. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/lieke 2. http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=profile&l=sue_r_b

More Ideas For Indoor Floor Time

admin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:41:29 +0000

Some guinea pig owners have gone one step further – and given their guinea pigs the run of an entire room in their home. This allows the guinea pig plenty of space to exercise in, plenty of mental stimulation and plenty of interaction with their human friends. We recommend the Useful Resources below for plenty of tips on how to do this. If you can’t dedicate a whole room, you may be able to section some of a room off just for them, using the grids from C & C caging. These are grids which you connect together using cable wire and must have square spaces in the grid no bigger than 1.5 inches to avoid serious or fatal injury to your pet (1).

You will need to clean up occasional urine and droppings – although these are not prolific with guinea pigs, think carefully about what type of flooring is underneath – can you protect it with a cheap, washable rug?

Slippery flooring is probably not a good idea, as they need a bit of ‘grip’ to not stressfully slide about.

Watch out for tight spaces they could squeeze themselves into and get stuck. A bit like cats, they are capable of getting into spaces you would not believe possible.

Chewing is an issue:

Watch out for electrical wires – they will chew them

Little bits of plastic flex, wire or similar chewable ‘small bits’ can seriously hurt their insides

‘Poisons for pets’ are also an issue. Houseplants can be poisonous to animals – see useful resources for some ideas on staying safe. Easiest policy is probably to avoid plants in the area altogether while your ‘piggies’ are out and about. Also be aware of chemicals used to clean surfaces and floors. Plants and products vary by region, so please see Useful Resources for expert opinions.

They will need a ‘hidey place’ to tuck themselves away in – they have a natural instinct to hide and this will make them feel more secure. You can buy them at pet stores or see Useful Resources for ideas on making them on the cheap! Also place a bathmat in one corner to make a psychologically secure ‘home base’ for them and other familiar items.

Exactly like using indoor and outdoor runs, you will definitely need to be aware of who and what is around in the house at all times. This includes:

Other pets – although cats and dogs can get on great with guinea pigs, they shouldn’t ever be left unsupervised or in the ‘run’ or ‘room’. Just to re-iterate: animals are instinctual creatures and your generally beautifully behaved family dog or cat could unpredictably be overcome by the urge to chase, play or worse attack. Other pets may also see your guinea pig as a tasty snack.

Kids – children need to learn good animal handling and be supervised by an adult at all times. They may want to ‘cuddle’ the guinea pig, perhaps accidentally drop it causing serious injury, or feed it harmful foods (2). They may accidentally frighten it by getting its attention in the wrong way – perhaps by tapping or banging on runs or grids or calling it too loudly.

Guinea Pig Toys – although there are many marketed for guinea pigs and some cat toys will be ok, some experts warn not all are necessarily safe due to chewing and small parts becoming detached. Toys are a great idea for preventing boredom. The market is constantly changing so we would suggest getting expert advice on which products to buy – if your vet is experienced in working with guinea pigs, they may be able to recommend. There are also of course organisations who work with guinea pigs and animal welfare charities who can give their experience on specific products. For example, some advise large exercise balls and exercise wheels can cause serious injuries (see Useful Resources).

Maggie & Claire Down

IMPORTANT:

Useful Resources

1. Guinea Pig Cages – site provided by Cavy Spirit rescue [online]. Cubes & Coroplast.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/cubes.htm

2. ASPCA [online] People Foods To Avoid Feeding Your Pets

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/people-foods.html

Cheap and not-so-cheap hidey place and toys information:

http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/519/page/7

http://www.guineapigcages.com/toys.htm

Floor Time advice:

http://www.guineapigcages.com/floortime.htm