Playing “chase” is one of the main ways guinea pigs play with each other. Guinea pigs also enjoy wrestling and climbing on one another. By themselves, guinea pigs burrow and climb to keep themselves entertained.
What You'll Learn
Just like people, Guinea pigs like to have fun too! They like to play with each other and enjoy exploring, especially when food is involved.
Creating a fun environment for your cavy can help them satisfy their instincts and exercise needs, resulting in a more happy and healthy guinea pig.
Even though guinea pigs don’t play like dogs or cats, they have their own ways of having fun. This is the best part about being a cavy owner…you get to help them have fun!
How Do Guinea Pigs Like to Play?
With Each Other
When you have two or more guinea pigs, they like to play with each other. They do this by climbing on each other, chasing each other, and following each other around. It’s always more fun to explore new things with a friend!
In the wild, guinea pigs live in small groups. As a result, they feel more comfortable with a friend or two in captivity. They act somewhat like siblings, racing to be the first one to the treat, the one that can get the most hay out of the rack, etc.
These social behaviors make facilitating a fun and explorative environment even more exciting.
Puzzles
When you play with guinea pigs, you can use a variety of cavy safe hiding places. Guinea pigs can’t play like dogs or cats. However, they are highly food-driven and still need exercise.
By using these facts, you can create puzzles or make your cavy work for their food. Materials such as cardboard, toilet paper tubes, paper bags, or even just a string can be used to create puzzles and make your guinea pig work for their food.
Some suggestions include:
Cardboard Tube
You can use a cardboard paper towel or toilet paper tube stuffed with straw or other treats. The ends can be scrunched or folded so that it’s harder for them to get the treats out.
The tube can also be left open and stuffed full of straw. This will make it harder for the guinea pig to get the hay out of the tube.
Hanging Veggies With a String
Vegetables can be hung from the top of the cage with a string so that your cavy has to work for its treat.
If you string the vegetables higher on the cage, the guinea pig will have to stand on its hind legs to reach them.
You can also hang them above climbing structures to lure them higher on play structures. This is an excellent opportunity to give you a guinea pig more exercise and a healthier lifestyle.
Create Climbing Structures
You can create climbing structures with cardboard, food-grade plastic, or pine wood and use treats, food, or hay to motivate exploration.
Cardboard and wood can be used to make ramps and hideouts. To make a hideout, all you have to do is find a small cardboard box and cut an opening in it.
Fill the box with hay, treats, or even a blanket. Put some treats inside the box to help your guinea pig find the opening. Guinea pigs are very good at sniffing out treats! Enjoy watching your guinea pig try to find the opening and explore its new hideout.
Hide Treats
Guinea pigs love to dig and burrow. Hiding hay or treats in a cloth or brown paper bag can help satisfy this instinct. Guinea pigs will get lost in the folds of the bag as they search for their special treat.
This digging and rummaging gives guinea pigs a good amount of exercise. It helps them stay true to their instincts and provides them with a sense of satisfaction once they have found their special treat.
Encouraging Play
When guinea pigs play, sometimes they need a little extra help. You can help pique their curiosity by using a few different techniques.
As mentioned before, guinea pigs are not dogs or cats. They play differently. They require help with hints along the way.
Some ways you can better facilitate play include:
1. Tapping/Moving
Tapping or moving areas of the play structure/area can draw attention to specific items or areas.
For example, when using a paper bag that has hay inside, you can crinkle the edges of the opening to show your guinea pig where it’s at.
You can also tap on the ramp, tube, or ladder when using a play structure. Once they’ve found the entrance, you can tap on the next section, encouraging them to explore the play structure.
This will encourage your guinea pig to explore the area. After stuffing a cardboard tube full of treats or hay, you can also draw attention to it by tapping.
Tapping isn’t the only way to encourage your guinea pig to play and explore.
2. Using Food
Food is another way to encourage your guinea pig to exercise and explore.
Cavies are very food-driven. Once they get a whiff, they don’t stop searching until they find the treat. Placing food inside tunnels and bags and on top of platforms encourages guinea pigs to explore and play with their environment.
If your cavy is especially shy, you can leave a food trail for them to follow. This will give them lots of exercise and encourage them to become more familiar with their habitat.
Cavies Love to Play!
Cavies can play with each other in many different ways and get a good workout when doing so.
When there’s only one guinea pig, it will need a little more help to play. Playing with guinea pigs can be an adventure. Although it differs from playing with a dog or a cat, it is so much fun and well worth the effort.
Playing with your guinea pig gives it plenty of exercise, prevents boredom, and helps them become more familiar with their environment.
There are many ways to play with your guinea pig. Whether it’s hiding food, helping your cavy explore, or leaving a trail behind to help them find a new toy, playing with your cavy can be a rewarding experience.
Be creative and have fun!
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