Do Guinea pigs get bored?
Yes! Just like people Guinea pigs get bored and need enrichment to keep their brain active and to keep them healthy. Its important to do your research before providing any enrichment to ensure it is suitable for animals first.
Bored guinea pigs can:
Over groom
Become aggressive ,Bite the bars on their enclosure and damage their teeth
Over drink
Spend most of their time hiding
Will move around less causing issues with bones and muscles
But where should I start?
When thinking about enrichment for an animal you
need to know about where the animal originally
came from how to encourage those natural
behaviours.
Guinea pigs naturally live in dense high vegetation
areas in large grasslands, they would naturally run
through the vegetation to escape predators and
spend their days forging in short bursts.
Enrichment ideas:
- Stacking cups
- Forage Matts
- Puzzle feeders
- Cardboard toys
- Treat balls
- Toy rotation
- Change things around in their enclosure
Don’t forget a friend!
Guinea pigs are social animals and being able to interact and communicate with each other is another great form of enrichment.
Do you always have to give treats in enrichment?
No! Its important not to give to many treats when providing enrichment. You can use their daily allowance of nuggets or hay and offer it to them in different ways. For example, you can keep back a portion of their nuggets from their breakfast and put them in a treat ball in the afternoon.
What about hay rotation?
Hay rotation is a great way to keep your piggies interested in their hay and provide them with different taste and textures. You can add in a small handful of different hays such as timothy hay and Redi grass along with their normal hay. A good way to encourage foraging behaviour is to add their nuggets in to the hay for them to find.
