Christmas is a magical time for many families and giving and receiving gifts is a big part of this. Our pets are a big part of our families and involving them in the festivities by providing gifts is something many people enjoy doing.  

For dogs and cats there are often lots of toys available in local pet stores but for our smaller pets, especially our guinea pigs, there are often not as many options to choose from. When thinking about all the different gifts we could purchase for our guinea pigs, it is really helpful to focus on the idea that the ultimate gift we can give them is enrichment.  

What is enrichment? 

Enrichment is defined by the Zoological Society of London as ‘The behavioural husbandry practice that enhances the physical and psychological well-being of animals by promoting species-typical behaviours.’  

The Cambridge Dictionary, meanwhile, defines enrichment as ‘The act or process of improving the quality or power of something by adding something else’.  

So what does this really mean for our Guinea pigs? 

Based on the two definitions above, the definition of enrichment that we will use for the rest of this article when discussing what this means for our guinea pigs is: 
‘The addition of something that improves the quality of their life by enhancing their physical and psychological well being and promoting natural behaviours.’ 

What type of things count as enrichment? 

Enrichment can cover a broad range of categories, and does not just mean adding toys to their environment, although this can be a type of enrichment.  

Examples of Guinea pig specific enrichment include: 

Sensory enrichment  

This type of enrichment focuses on stimulating the senses. Examples can include new smells, new tastes such as novel foodstuffs (safe for guinea pigs!), and different textures and materials to explore. 

Cognitive enrichment 

This type of enrichment focuses on providing things that stimulate the brain. Examples include food puzzles, mazes, and changes to the environment that promote exploring. 

Social enrichment  

Guinea pigs are social animals and typically kept as part of a group of individuals. They enjoy the company of others so providing things that encourage this playful behaviour between individuals is good enrichment. For Guinea pigs, examples of this might include new play spaces to explore together, such as a large garden run on a new patch of grass with different tunnels and toys in the environment to explore together. 

Why is enrichment important? 

Although Guinea pigs have been present in Europe as pets for some time, they are domesticated animals which have been kept by humans for hundreds or thousands of years. They were originally bred from wild animals who are native to South America. Fun fact: It is thought that Andean people may have first domesticated Guinea pigs as early as 5000BC!  

For wild animals there are no bounds to the amount of exploration and novelty in their lives as they spend their days socialising, looking for food, ensuring their habitat is safe from predators and dealing with the complexities of day-to-day life in the wild.  

Our pets fortunately do not have to worry about hiding from predators, finding food or ensuring their accommodation is secure, as we as their diligent owners make sure all these basic needs are met. But by doing this and keeping them in safe, comfortable, but restricted environments we do remove a lot of that natural stimulation that our pets wild con-specifics experience on a day-to-day basis.  

This is why enrichment is so important for our pets and all captive wild animals. It gives us the opportunity to add back that psychological and physical experience which improves their quality of life and makes their life more exciting and stimulating.  
Without enrichment life as a pet can become very routine and boring and your pets’ quality of life can suffer as a result.  

Festive enrichment possibilities for your Guinea pig 

Now we have explored what enrichment is and how we can provide this for our Guinea pigs, we have put together a few simple ideas of festive enrichment that can be used to give the ultimate gift to your Guinea pigs this Christmas. If you have any other suggestions, please leave us a message in the comments. We would love to hear your ideas! 

1) A Christmas surprise tunnel maze – great for sharing with friends! 

Create a maze with tube tunnels and pathways to encourage them to explore a fun indoor (or outdoor if the weather allows!) play space. Guinea pigs love having places to hide and don’t enjoy being out and exposed as much, so instead of a traditional open topped maze opt for using large tunnel tubes and cut up cardboard boxes to map out a pathway for your pets to explore.  

You can decorate the tunnels with festive colours and paintings using natural food-based colourings to avoid anything being toxic if ingested. Examples include using beetroot for deep red/purple tones, blueberries for the blue tones and mashed up greens for the green tones. Make sure you check whichever foodstuffs you are blending to make your edible paint are foodstuffs which are safe to be eaten by Guinea pigs.  

You can also include a tasty surprise in the middle such as puzzle ball filled with hay, as a treat for making it around all the tunnels, and this also doubles as a great way to give some cognitive enrichment! 

2) A hay wreath and edible decorations  

It’s time to get creative and decorate your guinea pigs’ home. Not only will this stimulate their visual senses, by creating edible decorations we also stimulate their taste buds and with a few herbs thrown in we can stimulate their sense of smell as well – triple win! 

You can create a hay wreath by wrapping some good quality timothy or meadow hay together and using longer pieces of hay to affix it to itself. You can also add a few safe herbs or some of their favourite vegetables to the hay as well. You can read more about creating a hay wreath here. 

As well as a hay wreath you can continue the festivities by providing bunting style decorations around the enclosure by tying pieces of hay together and adding small amounts of guinea pig friendly herbs such as mint, thyme and basil interspaced throughout the decor. This will be both a tasty treat and a new smell to explore.  

You can read more about guinea pig safe vegetables and herbs in this brilliant diagram from the PDSA. 

Remember with all food-based enrichment it is important to remove any uneaten material swiftly to avoid it spoiling. 

Final tips on using enrichment with guinea pigs 

Keep it gradual  

Don’t change everything all at once as some familiarity in their environment is comforting, we want it to be a positive addition not a complete change that could be stressful.  

Make sure any food-based enrichment is safe for Guinea pigs  

Always check this first before introducing to your pets. 

Watch from a distance, which bits are they enjoying and engaging with most?  

Take notes and try and recreate new experiences focusing on the elements that seem to peak your Guinea pigs’ interest most.  

Have fun!  

This a great way to bond with your pet and really improve their quality of life, it’s also a great creative thing to do for us, so let your imagination flow! 

Summary: 

– The best gift you can give your Guinea pig this Christmas is enrichment. 

– Enrichment comes in many different shapes and sizes and can be customised to suit your Guinea pigs’ specific needs. 

– With all enrichment it’s important to check that any products being used are safe for Guinea pigs before providing the enrichment to your Guinea pig.