Have you ever thought of making a lego run for guinea pigs? I made one today for Pumpkin and Popcorn. I think Popcorn liked it better. It’s simple to make. Just get some legos and make walls wide enough for a guinea pig to crawl through. You can add arches to it also. You might want to put a treat such as a carrot or some hay at the end to encourage your piggie to walk through.
An enrichment toy is something to get animals’ bodies and brains working. It helps to make their day more interesting and enjoyable. Guinea pig enrichment toys are easy to make. For instance, you could stuff a paper towel tube or a hard plastic ball with holes in it with hay. Your piggies will enjoy the challenge of getting to the hay and you will get to watch some fun behavior. Try making your own enrichment toy and send a picture to us. We’ll post it. Just make sure your toys are piggie-safe (no plastic pieces that can break off and cause choking, for example). Also remember that guinea pigs can’t use exercise wheels, since their backbones are not designed to bend in those directions.
Chocolates? No. Roses? No. If you want to work your way into your guinea pigs’ hearts on Valentines Day, try a heart-shaped apple treat like this one. Happy Valentines Day!
When we give our pigs floor time, my sister and I usually like to set up something we call “Piggie World.” This involves setting up chub tubes (thick, hollow cardboard tubes that pigs can crawl through), towels, cozies (fleece bags that pigs like to crawl up in), lego tunnels, lots of hay, and whatever else comes to mind. The pigs love to walk around and explore and we’re beginning to use this time to train the pigs to come when called. So far, we’ve had more success with the babies. Guinea pigs also like emptied oatmeal containers with the plastic tops removed and the bottoms cut out. PVC pipes make good tunnels as well. This is all lots of fun for the guinea pigs but not for us when we have to clean it all up!
Guinea pigs popcorn when they’re happy. They do it by jumping in the air. Some give a spin, too. Our babies do this behavior much more often than Wilma and Betty. Surprisingly, what gets our guinea pigs to popcorn the most is a full cage clean. Right when the brand new litter goes into the cage, they popcorn like crazy! Check out the video section. There’s a new video showing our herd jumping around.
Ever since changing to this new litter, I haven’t seen much of the guinea pigs, especially Betty. You see, now they can burrow underneath the litter and only come out for food. This morning, I didn’t see Betty, but then I noticed a large mound of litter moving across the cage to get to the treats. Maybe it’s time to switch back to our old brand...
You may be surprised to know that guinea pigs can do tricks. With hay, I get them to climb up on their tunnels and stand on their back legs. I’ve read that you can also teach them to come when called and to walk in a circle. It’s very cool when you see it happen. Check out the new video posted on the Piggie Movies page.
Our parakeet Violet (yes, we also have a parakeet!) is one of the strangest parakeets you could imagine. She likes to be pet on her back and wings. The strangest thing about Violet is that she thinks she’s a guinea pig. I think it’s because she watches them all day!! Usually when she comes out of her cage, Violet flies into the piggie cage (or tries to). When she’s there, she likes to run around and bite all the piggies’ noses!
Guinea pigs love treats! That’s why our guinea pigs wheek when my mom comes in the room. You see, I’m room service and their waitress because I clean their cage and feed them hay, but my mom is the chef. She makes them carrots, lettuce and other yummy stuff too. ”Mm... mm... very yummy!” say the guinea pigs when they get their treats.
This blog will be my daily thoughts about the awesomeness of guinea pigs.
