Pictures or ideas for playpens/mazes

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flavia

Post   » Thu Jul 04, 2002 3:01 am


Hello, all... I´ve been trying to figure out some sort of playpen/maze thing for my pigs. Yes, I know all about the boxes and toilet paper rolls and so forth... i was thinking more like ramps, tubes, etc. Like the really colorful ones you see for mice and hamsters (which I know are unsafe and waaaaaaaaaay to small for pigs).

I was wondering if anyone had ideas, or better yet, pictures? I´m not exactly Mr. Handywoman but I may be able to trick my boyfriend into building something.

All Hail the Pig!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Jul 04, 2002 9:02 am


My suggestion to you is to build open bottomed tunnels. With pieces of pvc piping, sometimes the pigs will lay in them and they get messy (no bedding inside). If whatever you come up with that is tunnel-like has an open bottom, it can rest on the bedding.

Oh, and I´d have little windows to make sure there was adequate ventilation. I think they like peering out.
Last edited by Lynx on Thu Jul 04, 2002 9:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

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stickyfroggi

Post   » Thu Jul 04, 2002 12:29 pm


I like the boxes/PVC pipes/Pigloo combos... the PVC pipes do get dirty often and easily but I´ve gotten used to cleaning them. I check on them quite frequently and clean the tubes everytime i notice that someone peed in one. This happens about once or twice a day. Not too bad, it´s just become part of my routine to clean the tubes frequently.

as for a pen, i used to use the leftover grids from making my cube/coroplast cage and I connected them with cable ties. It folded up semi-compact and it was pretty nice and convenient. I ended up giving those grids away to my sister when I got her a pig named Elmer.

This is a pic of what I do during floor time. They usually dont leave the play area, they just go in and out and through everything several times. When they seem to tire of it, or start laying down or venturing away, I just rearrange the set up and they start popcornning and explore it all over again.

pics of their old floor time pen:
http://erin23606pt2.tripod.com/id10.htm

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Jul 04, 2002 1:00 pm


I hear some people hide bits of food as part of the playtime routine. It supposedly adds lots of excitement to the process.

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Sunny

Post   » Fri Jul 05, 2002 9:56 am


Great set up Erin!

I hide bits of food. The boys get so excited when they are put in their floor-time pen and scamper around searching for treats. I also use cube grids, cardboard boxes, bricks, and pvc.

I also have both their old small pet-store cages as part of the barrier. They use these as the litter box about 50% of the time.

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Kat

Post   » Sat Jul 06, 2002 2:45 am


Mr Handywoman.
Unusual concept, that.

pinta

Post   » Sat Jul 06, 2002 2:59 am


There used to be a site with a really great wading pool setup. 2 levels and obstacles for the pig.

Does anyone remember it or have the URL?

pinta

Post   » Sat Jul 06, 2002 6:39 am


http://www.laddergames.com/cavycave/cag ... ntent.html
scroll down to the last pic

http://home.houston.rr.com/caboodle/howto.htm
how to make one

http://home.houston.rr.com/caboodle/fun.htm
more pics

Unfortunately I can´t find a large pic of the "race track". There was some wooden pegs the pigs could weave between as I remember it.

Very funky environment.

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stickyfroggi

Post   » Sat Jul 06, 2002 7:08 pm


That two level wading pool thing is insane! I´m so jealous!! It resembles a baseball stadium.

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flavia

Post   » Sun Jul 07, 2002 5:14 pm


Err...I meant Ms. Handywoman, Kat...
<thinks to self: oh, no, my secret super hermaphrodite identity has been uncovered!>

Thanks, guys... I´ll check out those pages. I may have to kick my boyfriend out of the house in order to have room... Well, you can´t make omelet without breaking some eggs, right?  :)

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