Emma Jones
Guinea pigs are rodents and therefore like to nibble on the furnishings when they are free to roam in the apartment. Read here about the dangers for guinea pigs when running around indoors and outdoors and how to avoid them.
Guinea pigs need regular free roaming in the apartment or in the garden. However, this can result in many dangers for the animals.
Dangers for guinea pigs when running freely in the apartment
Guinea pigs like to gnaw and don’t stop at your home furnishings. They nibble on the wallpaper, carpets, furniture, electrical cables, indoor plants, and other furnishings. Dangers for guinea pigs when running free in the apartment can therefore be:
- incompatible or toxic foods or indoor plants
- electric cable
- pointed and sharp-edged objects
Poisonous indoor plants or food that guinea pigs cannot tolerate must therefore be kept out of the animals’ reach. The same applies to electrical cables. These must be hidden, disguised, or removed.
Dangers for guinea pigs when running free in the garden
There are also a few things to consider when running freely in the garden. For example, the freewheel should be escape-proof. In addition, he must always provide the guinea pigs with sufficient shade and protect them from direct sunlight.
Limit Freewheel
It is best to always run free under the supervision and only in a separate area of the home or garden. You can use commercially available “free-range enclosures” to limit the free-range or “stake out” the free-range yourself with individual elements. It is important that the free-range offers the guinea pigs enough space to really let off steam. The free run should be significantly larger than the enclosure.
In the apartment, the limitation is also important because the animals can disappear under beds, cupboards, and shelves, where they can be difficult to lure out again. So that the capture does not end in a stressful hunt, it makes sense for the animals to be able to return to their enclosure on their own. The door to the enclosure must not be too high for this or should be connected with a ramp.
Free run under supervision
It is important that freewheeling – whether indoors or outdoors – only takes place under your supervision. Don’t just let the guinea pigs run around your apartment while you’re away. In the garden, the outdoor enclosure must be covered so that robbers and predators have no chance and the guinea pigs are safe.