Bored GP?

[nuschmu]

I'm kind of new here, I wish I'd found this bit ages ago, I've found so many answers to some of my guinea pig questions. Something that's been niggling since we got ours a few months ago - he doesn't seem interested in any anti-boredom/entertainment stuff that we give him. I keep reading that they're curious and need entertainment. We give him nice big sticks to gnaw on (he has a nibble then just ignores them), he spent a while stepping round a ball we put in his cage...We live in a flat, but when we have him out and about on the floor, he takes a cursory look round at any obstacles and hidey holes we've made, then he either hides or stands stock still for hours. Every now and again he has a gallop round his "house"...Is he bored? Is this a sign he's going nuts? Oh, and is it OK for them to gnaw on cardboard boxes? Because that is something that he does seem to enjoy, but DH is concerned he's "eating" too much of it...

[GalensOyster]

GPs are social animals. Does he have a friend?

[nuschmu]

No...unfortunately we're not in a position to be able to have another one at the moment...

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

All my guineas have eaten cardboard , make sure there are no staples (injury) or sellotape (risk of blockage).

Can you make your guinea-pig a few houses from cardboard boxes ? You can throw them out when they get dirty.
Our two boys love tunnels ( Pets at Home do the plastic ones or hay covered cardboard) GP3 loves to trip-trap through it, I think he likes the noise. We got some 'Hopp Inn' tunnels for outside.

Toilet roll tubes filled with hay.

A box full of hay for him to burrow in?

When I bring my pigs in for Guy Fawkes , I put a radio on to drown out the sounds. Might be an idea to give him some background noise when you're out?

[nuschmu]

Great ideas, thanks. He has a hidey-house made out of a box, but he doesn't seem to nibble that one, strangely. I'll get on to it tomorrow with DD and make him some cardboard extensions & tunnels. I work from home, so I keep him company most of the time...Amazing what a huge presence a little furball can have, originally got him "for DD", but we've all fallen under the spell!

[fortifiedwithtea]

Brown paper bags, the sort from Primark or Tesco are the best. Remove the handles to avoid him getting tangled or strangled. Put some hay inside and he will love it. He will open a new opening in it, sleep in it pee in it just plain eat it. It will be destroyed in 24 hours

Really the best toy you can get him is a friend. I know its not possible at the moment but if your circumstances change its worth considering a visit to a rescue. I say a rescue because just us we don't like every human we meet, guinea pigs are the same. An adult guinea will need to go guinea 'dating' to find a friend they can bond with.

[nuschmu]

Thanks fortifiedwithtea. I'm secretly hoping that we might be able to get another one...I just need to work on a plan that will involve getting a garden!