What Is Enrichment?
Guinea pigs are fascinating to watch if you give them the right environment for their species. Enrichment is about quality of space. Providing enrichment for pets involves consideration of their biology, such as their anatomy and behaviour, which tells us how they engage with, use and interact with their environment. We can use this knowledge to create relevant captive environments for domestic guinea pigs. Enrichment should provide choice so that animals feel they have some control over their environment. However, enrichment should not be too challenging, it should be appropriate to the animals' abilities, otherwise the enrichment becomes a frustration and has a negative impact, the opposite of what we want to achieve.
A group of experts, set up a body called the 'The Shape of Enrichment Inc.'. On their website they provide a representation of five main enrichment categories (below). Of course not all the examples are relevant to guinea pigs, such as sight of prey, but it's a useful framework to consider when we are adding all sorts of possible enrichment. Forms of enrichment may overlap between the categories (they are not necessarily mutually exclusive). An example of enrichment for guinea pigs, to show application of the five categories, is detailed below.
Harmful 'enrichment'
You may well come across sites online which promote the use of obstacle courses or activities involving guinea pigs, such as jumping activities. Veterinary advice I have been given warns against the use of jumps as this is not natural behaviour for guinea pigs and we do not know what harm this causes to guinea pig bodies; for example, this movement may harm their bones and joints, it may increase the chance of arthritis developing. As already mentioned, caution with the use of ramps is also needed. Remember our aim is to promote positive welfare, stimulating but safe homes, and happy piggies.
Example of enrichment for guinea pigs
Use of a food puzzle, in which you hide the guinea pigs' favourite food, could potentially be relevant to each of the above enrichment categories:
a) food - it provides a stimulating way to source their food
b) sensory - they use their sense of smell to detect the food.
c) cognition - they need to work out how to move the green tops.
d) physical - they will need to use their paws or their head to move the green tops.
e) social - when one individual tries to get the food, this attracts the attention of others.
Flossie and Rosie working out how to get food from a 'Smart Choice' food puzzle.
How could the indoor home below be improved to meet the needs of guinea pigs?
Hopefully, after reading the initial pages on animal welfare and positive guinea pig welfare, you can identify how this home could better meet the needs of guinea pigs:
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Firstly, this indoor setup shows insufficient refuge/shelter.
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There is also a lack of hay and very limited stimulation/enrichment.
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Indeed, you can see here that without suitable hiding places, the two guinea pigs are huddled in the right, back corner, because they didn't feel safe.
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So, we can see negative nutritional, environmental and behavioural conditions here (refer back to the physical domains 1-4).
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This will result in negative feelings or mental state (domain 5) and poor welfare status.
However, we can easily create more positive physical conditions, and therefore a positive mental and welfare status, there must be plenty of interesting, relevant houses and shelters of different types. We can add in lots of wonderful hay. Although there are some useful items for environmental enrichment shown in the image here, there is not enough enrichment - the layout has just not been carefully planned beforehand. Below, I show examples of what guinea pig homes should look like, to give you lots of ideas, which are a lot of fun to design and develop! Many of the enrichment items I show here can be found on the useful products page or I have given the product name where relevant. Use the Kind to Cavies Start-up Plan to help you set out your ideas.
In complete contrast to the previous image, here is an enriched guinea pig environment. Notice the bedding - lots of hay and lots of hiding places! Piggies will now feel safer to venture out and about. You can just see Belle foraging under the shelter on the left. Happier piggies :) Note the foraging enrichment also show here in the form of growing coriander.
Hay, hay and hay!!!!! You can combine houses made of plant material such as the 'nature first grassy hideaway' (below) or 'grassy tunnel' (tunnel shown here), with loose hay.
Belle is sat here nice and snug in a 'nature first grassy hideaway (large)'.
Belle has lots of hay here to investigate! You can see shelters of different kinds here, which complement the refuge that the hay provides. This is all within a C n C set-up.
Belle is relaxed in this house (she is actually stretched out fully inside the house), she can watch what is going on and satisfy her curiosity while feeling safe; she has natural forage all around her - some grass and hay.
Although I prefer natural forage, the 'Rosewood' 'Forage Mat' is useful for a soft or carpet area. You can scatter healthy treats on the mat so piggies have to 'smell them out'. Belle (right) is checking out what Roxy is sniffing in the mat.
Belle is sat under a shelter here (this was improvised from a large sheet of firm but flexible paper from a vegetable box).
I have noticed that guinea pigs may like to chill near a tunnel, possibly because they feel they have a quick escape route in case of a sudden threat. Here's Roxy enjoying the sun's rays in amongst lots of hay.
Important note on houses
I avoid houses with partial entry/exit holes (image A). I have noticed that piggies tend to knock their legs or feet on the rims at the bottom of the hole (rims are pointed out by the arrows in image A). This means that accessing the house becomes an unpleasant experience and unsafe. Completely open entry/exit holes instead allow ease of accessibility, without the risk of hurting feet or legs - see image B below, which shows a house with no rim at the bottom of the entry/exit hole.
You can put plant matter into the holes in purpose-made logs to encourage natural foraging behaviour.
A 'Nature First Willow Ball' as a foraging enrichment tool.
An enriched space with lots of hiding spaces, items to gnaw, and hay.
Below is an example C and C layout, to show how long-stem 1st or 2nd cut Timothy hay can be used to create cover structures because it has hard stems that sit nicely on objects. Just be careful to make sure there are no sharp pieces sticking out at eye level.
Below is a variation of the above layout, shown from different angles. Arrows indicate pathways created by connecting a 'Pet Lounge Design' hay rack to 'Rosewood Naturals Woven Play Tunnels'.
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Although the above images are of indoor accommodation, the same ideas can be applied to outdoor accommodation. Positive piggy welfare is indoors and outdoors! Remember it is a must to provide shelter so your piggies feel secure, but also to provide shelter from direct sunlight on hot days. When my guinea pigs are outside, I provide cover over their outdoor space, making sure there is still ventilation. I provide interesting refuge such as houses and tunnels. Of course, let's not forget water, which can be given in a safe, heavy but shallow bowl. Hot days can cause heatstroke, which is very serious, so guinea pigs must have shade and cover. For hot and cold weather tips click here. See the Outdoor Accommodation page for more details on types of accommodation for this environment.
