DIY guinea pig playground
Like 2 Dislike 0 Published on 11 Nov 2019
The guinea pigs receive a new DIY cardboard box house that induces something we call the guinea pig limbo! One large cardboard box can make so many guinea pig toys!
This time we gave them an experimental low ceiling home. We weren't sure they could even crawl low enough to fit under. But they never cease to amaze! They love crawling around underneath even though they barely fit. Mr. Spaghett even likes to crawl under then violently lift the whole thing.
Then we put a second box on top to make a double decker hidey. Or maybe a bunk bed? Either way they were excited and started jumping on the roof too. So it turned out to be a cave for resting and an obstacle for exercise all in one. Guinea pig life hack!
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THE PIGS HAVE A TEESPRING STORE!
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WHAT’S PIGS?
We publish daily highlights of the adorable antics of our guinea pig herd. Subscribe to see what they do tomorrow!
In June 2019 we adopted five pigs from Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue. They are cute herbivorous pets with funny social interactions. We film all their behaviors, from cute guinea pig noises to eating sounds, playing with their food to sleeping with their eyes open, and occasional fighting. So far they have been most popular for their loud wheeking and rumblestrutting and their ridiculous guinea pig fights!
MEET THE PIG FAMILY
Spaghett is the boar of the herd. The rest of the pigs are females, but he’s a neutered male so they won’t be breeding. Sorry, no pregnant or baby guinea pigs! Spaghett has orange-brown fur with a white crest on his head and cute red eyes. He goes on morning romps with entertaining popcorning and zoomies. He does a hilarious rumblestrutting dance for the ladies while purring. When other pigs argue he trots over to comfort them. He likes burrowing through hay and standing on his back feet like a goofy dinosaur. He enjoys petting, especially scratching behind the ears. Spaghett is a very good pig!
Acorn is the youngest. She has white, black, and gold fur with a cute mousy face. She’s inquisitive, always wants food, and talks to herself while exploring hay piles. Little Acorn’s special talent is jumping on houses to go on rooftop adventures.
Butternut appears either confused or deep in thought. She has white and gold fur. She’s the lowest ranking pig so she stares into space while waiting for other pigs to move. Her hobbies include sleeping and yawning while flopped over with her feet sprawled out. She continues wheeking, squeaking, and squealing at us after we have already given her food.
Pumpkin has black fur except for white back toes. She looks like a cow, a non-guinea pig, and a rabbit. She has noisy standoffs with Acorn when Acorn gets feisty. Pumpkin is receptive to Spaghett’s rumblestrutting and occasionally she chases him around instead.
Zucchin is the oldest and grumpiest. She has white and gray fur with cute red eyes. At first Zucchin fought with Spaghett. There were teeth chattering, nose raising, and hair puffing battles. Now they get along, but Zucchin is still a grouch to the others. Her main hobby is being an eel and lunging at anyone who comes near. She likes to chase other pigs out of their homes, then follow them to another home and chase them out of that one too. But she looks like a cute rat!
THEIR HOME
The pigs live in a custom 4 by 6 foot cage we made by merging 3 MidWest Guinea Habitat cages. We cut the seams of the cage bottoms and joined them into one large cage liner with duct tape and super glue. Now we have a MidWest cage of triple the size! The pigs first lived in the same 3 cages connected by ramps with DIY ramp covers we made by sewing blankets.
Their bedding is fleece blankets with towels underneath and newspaper on the bottom. Each day we change one third of the bedding and spot clean several times. Their cage is on cheap folding tables so we can easily interact with the pigs.
The pigs prefer free stuff to actual guinea pig toys. They love to hide under packing paper. A DIY guinea pig house made from a cardboard box is a favorite hidey. They are not interested in most chew toys.
THEIR DIET
Their favorite hay is 3rd cutting timothy hay from Small Pet Select. They also nibble hay cubes. But they get most excited about fresh grass. They also gobble up guinea pig pellets.
They eat nearly any vegetable. The only thing rejected so far was zucchini. Their favorites are parsley, kale, collard greens, kohlrabi, carrot tops and roots, beets, bell peppers, corn with the husk, cucumbers, and pumpkin. They go wild for homemade wheatgrass sprouts.
Their water bottle is a 26 ounce Living World Eco+ glass bottle. They drink most of it in a day.
THEIR CINEMATOGRAPHY
The pigs are filmed with the latest GoPro Hero 8 Black in 4K. Their videos are edited in iMovie. We use free music from the YouTube audio library.