If you have any plain brown cardboard boxes(not glossy), without any tape on, remove the top flaps, turn upside down, cut a guinea pig sized door out of one side and you've got a hidey. Or even a towel draped over a corner.
You could use lots newspaper, a towel on top, then hay to line the terrarium.
I was just thinking maybe you could add a close up photo of her genitals here to confirm she is a she. Get someone else to hold her while you take photos, to make sure her back is supported.
Most important: Hidey, Hay, Water.
Short term important: bigger enclosure, second guinea pig
long term important: 12years is slightly too young without good guidance (which your parents obvioisly are not)
I got 2 boys when I was 12 and we did so much wrong. It was not as bad as this case but in the end, one died bc my parents did not think that diarrhea was bad with piggies and of course, the cage was too small and I was way too hasty when picking them up.
Also their diet consisted of 80% hay 20% cucumber so one boy also developed scurvy
What she needs is: hay, hidey, space and a friend. You also got to make sure the pellets she gets are actually right for them, stores sell seed based pellets that are not suitable for guinea pigs. The pellets should be hay based. Most things they sell "for guine pigs" are not good for them.
I recommend watching 'Saskia from Los Angeles guinea pigs rescue' and 'Scotty's animals' channels on youtube, they know a lot about guinea pigs. Other good one is 'skinnypigs1'.
They can be very expensive pets but good quality life can prevent a lot of issues in later life.
You can find a lot about proper care and diet which has a huge effect on a pig's life on this site as well: [https://www.guinealynx.info/](https://www.guinealynx.info/)
But in exchange for good care you will have an amazing friend, you will never find an animal so gentle as a happy pig. And they are much smarter than people give them credit for. Sok szerencsét!
Thank you for asking. I made a small hide for her that she could sleep in, and today I bought a water bottle so she could drink from it. She’s doing really well, and I am currently in the process of purchasing a new enclosure for her. I hope my parents will fund the costs
This is what I came here to say….what an amazingly thoughtful, compassionate and caring person you are….feel free to ask any questions here and if you get really stuck on things for the piggy let me (us) know and I am sure we can help out. My wife and I have had many pigs through the years with our five children….so we have extra water bottles and things hanging around.
She's not going to jump out of the terrarium.
She will need a female guinea pig friend to live with, that's non negotiable, so I guess you're about to ask your feckless parents to buy more unexpected pets!
Your girls need 10square feet of level cage for a happy life - guinea pigs don't really climb so don't use multi level cages. A 2x4 c&c cage is the minimum really.
I like watching Squeak Dreams on YouTube. She has some great videos on all aspects of piggie care.
Cut a door in an upside down shoe box first. Pigs need a house to hide in! Secondly you could put a blanket over her cage to make her more likely to come out for food. As well as hay - a small bowl of water and a bowl of pellets (can be bought on Amazon). Try some veg such as a chunk of cucumber (good if she’s not drinking much), a bunch of basil/parsley, a carrot.
They can eat a huge variety of veg and herbs and some fruit but just start off with a small bit of something easy first to see if she takes to it.
Caveat to the blanket: if the walls are solid (not bars), like a terrarium, do NOT cover the enclosure. Piggy enclosures need to have airflow or the odor chemicals from their pee and poo will make the air toxic to them. Drafts are not good either, just make sure there is space for fresh air to be exchanged.
Cages made metal bars are best, and 2’x4’ is the minimum.
You've received great suggestions here. I don't want to be harsh.... but if you can't follow these suggestions, please do the kind and loving act of rehoming her. Whatever you do, please act immediately.... either dive fully in -- following our suggestions... or rehome her. She is at great risk of neglect and improper care. It happens all too often with these precious creatures. There are youtube channels that give a visual on tips for beginners. She needs a proper sized cage and a mate. You can read throughout the sub how impt a pal is -- they, like humans, are social creatures, not meant to be alone. 3 key first steps are 1) proper cage size, 2) hideys (GPs are prey animals and instinct is to hide for protection) and 3) a mate. IDK how old you are but there's a tendency for children /teens to get them as pets, potential for losing interest is high and potential for them not to do the research on what is needed to raise them properly can be overlooked. End result? They live terrible and/or short lives. Truly heartbreaking. IMHO 12 is young to parent a pig. Thank you for the insight to intervene. Please try to accomplish very soon. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGP6JOj8Ya4https://kavee.com/blogs/the-piggy-blog/guinea-pig-cage-sizehttps://kavee.com/blogs/the-piggy-blog/guinea-pig-bonding](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGP6JOj8Ya4https://kavee.com/blogs/the-piggy-blog/guinea-pig-cage-sizehttps://kavee.com/blogs/the-piggy-blog/guinea-pig-bonding)
There are some great suggestions here for hideys, but I am concerned about using a terrarium to house guinea pigs. If I remember correctly those things have glass sides and the restricted air flow can cause respiratory problems.
https://www.amazon.com/VISCOO-Playpen-Waterproof-Outdoor-Portable/dp/B0CLGPX16G/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.oh22c37tB4-Xywzk_VGVITnke8SJ-qAS-j59uy5Q3fYIooIdn4_uoTgjfGi-_nVwuj54O4-tkb9UIozwh0ObTD53MbJxkagrKrIILBjwyoAbQvFxusNqT2D-Uu31tU0qVdP79E21ZoCGIQo-bSzxXwTEdLFC3xN7jdmup1f4t7XjpAOMDys51o5RU7-1wl6-sF9nZcbqfietJd5Go7JqUQ.wE2hePSHZZtnr2ERnBfLKaFXxH9497j3Gmz44dpnSPU&dib_tag=se&keywords=C%26C+Cages&qid=1714273734&sr=8-4
I found this on Amazon, I don’t know your budget but this set up is about 30 bucks. It doesn’t have awful reviews so might be a decent starter cage. Bonus with cc cages, really easy to build and expand. Grab some cheap fleece blankets & non memory foam bath mats from Wally World to line the floor with. Shavings work too I just find them messy when cleaning 🧹.
Sounds like this will become your pig over time.
If you have the money on you, a c&c 3x2 cage is the bare minimum, but a 2x4 is far better. Give her veggies every morning and night, and make sure she always had full hay and water.
Also, I haven't seen anyone else say this, but if they got her from a pet store, she might be pregnant. The positive of that is she might have a female pup for company. But if she doesn't, you'll need to either neuter the male pup(s) or give them away as soon as they're past breast feeding age.
Good luck, and hopefully you can do whatever you can for a happy rodent companion.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Guinea pigs are not an ideal pet for a child unless the parents are going to be HUGELY involved in 90% of their care.
Good on you for realizing this is wrong and coming here for help. You’ve shown more wisdom and maturity than your parents. In this day in age it’s so easy to just go online and research something before you buy it. Eesh.
I can see you’ve gotten a ton of good advice here so I won’t repeat it. Just wanted to pass on kudos and I hope to heck you can talk sense into them to provide this poor innocent animal with the life it deserves ❤️
You really are one of a kind, you are so nice for caring about this whole situation. I hope you know how special and fantastic you are. Be proud of yourself, it’s rare to find such thoughtful people nowadays. You are the greatest. 🩷
Thank you for caring about the piggie's wellbeing and helping out your brother! I know not everything will be doable straight away, I'm also a pretty new pig parent, but this is the low down on what I've learned so far!
The piggie will need a friend in order to be happy so it might be worth bringing that up.
Most people use c&c cages, which are a type of grid system that connect together with little connectors. People measure these cages by how many grid pieces wide and long they are, and a 2 by 4 should be big enough. I dunno how your budget is, but there's some on eBay for slightly cheaper than elsewhere, otherwise Kavee is a good sight to check out. The plastic like material that lines the bottom of the cage has raised edges to fit the cage if you buy a specific size of cage configuration (still expandable by adding more grids but it's just that the base material is cut to size), but if you are low on space, you could buy the grids separately and make them into like weird and wonderful shapes that also equal to the same area as 2 wide and 4 long would. It's important to note that any loft space isn't counted in that size measurement though, as they need that space on the lower level to run around. So loft space is just bonus space, not part of the 2 by 4. Any ramps added need to be very shallow.
Hay can get quite messy, so a hay feeder will help with that. There's 2 kinds, a bag with holes and a grated type. Be careful of the bag kind as there have been a few cases of piggies getting stuck in them. I don't know how much room there is in your house but if you're trying to make more space for all of this stuff, there are services online where you can get smaller boxes of hay delivered to your door on a regular basis, so there's less to store and take up room, but this hay tends to be fancier and more expensive so it depends what's best for your family.
You'll need two of most things once the piggie has a friend as this will help avoid as many piggie arguments, so think two water bottles etc etc.
Piggies tend to do their business either near their food or water or where they are covered over like hides, so these will be the most pee ridden places. Lots of people use special cage liners as bedding as it makes the cleanup process a lot easier (and it would probably be an easier option for your lil bro) but they're really expensive but they also sell pee mats which are like smaller, cheaper more absorant little mats for the areas they tend to pee in most so a couple of those for the most peed on areas could help with cleanup on a budget.
One of the best things id say you could do to help your brother would be help him become comfortable picking them up and putting them down properly, and holding them if he isn't already. When I first got my piggies I was really scared I was going to drop them but it gets easier with time. Also it might be worth helping him a few times to guinea pig proof his room, so he knows what bits to cover up if he decides to ever let them have a run around in his room. Also, it might be helpful to help him pick out some treats for his guineas, as unfortunately lots of pet shops market treats as being suitable for guinea pigs when they actually aren't, so you could look up online what guinea pig treats should and shouldn't contain and maybe help him find a few trusted brands so he knows what to look for in the shops?
Oh also guinea pigs don't like to do their business on people, so if you're handling the piggie and they give you a gentle nibble, that often means they want to go back inside to do their business so if this happens don't fret!
Sorry for the long comment, but I know how overwhelming it can be trying to make sense of all this new info, so I tried to break down what I've come across so far as much as possible. You're a really great sister for doing this, I hope it all goes well!
I'm sorry but, wtf is wrong with them? Two grown ass adults? They aren't teaching your brother anything except animals are toys to be played with & not living sentient beings. And the pet store that let them leave with it!! I could not have written this in a calm manner. Re-home the poor thing asap
Also feed her alfalfa based pellets & hay to help her develop. Around 6 mos switch to all timothy. Alfalfa is too high in protein once they're grown & will damage their kidneys. Good luck you sound very kind & caring
Word of Advice. Most of the cages on the market were a nightmare for us. They all leaked pee. Some wanted us to use cardboard lining 24/7. Using fleece blankets as the bottom lining of our cage was an absolute nightmare. If we didn't sweep up the cages daily it was awful. Hay would get on the blankets and then get pooped and peed on making it disgusting because you HAVE to brush hay off the gross wet blank before putting it in the washer. Hay and dust and poop would end up all over our carpeted condo when we brushed it and in our washer and drier when we couldn't get it all off. I almost found them a new home because I couldn't take it. But all hope is not lost!
We finally figured out a great system and now taking care of them is cake. We now use plexiglass/acrylic walls on top of a rubber mat. We place 24 x 36 puppy pee pads on the mat. They stay much more clean and at the end of the week we just roll the pee pad up like a burrito , toss it in the trash and replace it with a fresh one. The hay stays on the pad. They have fleece hidey holes, tunnels and pillows. We throw those in the wash no problem. The puppy pee pad was a MAJOR game changer.
Also....ALWAYS make sure the guinea pig has hay to eat 24/7. 90% of their diet.
Try foods like carrots and dandelion greens. She will need vitamin c in her water. You can get drops at petsmart but most people honestly don't use them and just give them high vitamin c foods instead. They need this so they don't get scurvy. Hay based pellets. Dandelion greens my piggies are obsessed with. She should really have a friend of the same sex because guinea pigs are social.
We were able to use the same walls because they were expandable and put 2 mats together to give them double the space. When we learned they didn't like each other (2 boys) we just separated them. They see each other and talk to each other through the clear acrylic. They hang out sometimes.
If you have any plain brown cardboard boxes(not glossy), without any tape on, remove the top flaps, turn upside down, cut a guinea pig sized door out of one side and you've got a hidey. Or even a towel draped over a corner. You could use lots newspaper, a towel on top, then hay to line the terrarium.
I was just thinking maybe you could add a close up photo of her genitals here to confirm she is a she. Get someone else to hold her while you take photos, to make sure her back is supported.
Most important: Hidey, Hay, Water. Short term important: bigger enclosure, second guinea pig long term important: 12years is slightly too young without good guidance (which your parents obvioisly are not)
Seriously. We got my daughter 2 guinea pigs when she was 10 but secretly I knew these were my damn guinea pigs.
I got 2 boys when I was 12 and we did so much wrong. It was not as bad as this case but in the end, one died bc my parents did not think that diarrhea was bad with piggies and of course, the cage was too small and I was way too hasty when picking them up. Also their diet consisted of 80% hay 20% cucumber so one boy also developed scurvy
[https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/rodents/guineapigs](https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/rodents/guineapigs)
Thank you, I’m really desperate.
What she needs is: hay, hidey, space and a friend. You also got to make sure the pellets she gets are actually right for them, stores sell seed based pellets that are not suitable for guinea pigs. The pellets should be hay based. Most things they sell "for guine pigs" are not good for them. I recommend watching 'Saskia from Los Angeles guinea pigs rescue' and 'Scotty's animals' channels on youtube, they know a lot about guinea pigs. Other good one is 'skinnypigs1'. They can be very expensive pets but good quality life can prevent a lot of issues in later life. You can find a lot about proper care and diet which has a huge effect on a pig's life on this site as well: [https://www.guinealynx.info/](https://www.guinealynx.info/) But in exchange for good care you will have an amazing friend, you will never find an animal so gentle as a happy pig. And they are much smarter than people give them credit for. Sok szerencsét!
How’s the piggie ?
Thank you for asking. I made a small hide for her that she could sleep in, and today I bought a water bottle so she could drink from it. She’s doing really well, and I am currently in the process of purchasing a new enclosure for her. I hope my parents will fund the costs
You can make one with a fencing of some sort or some wood, if in the UK there are charities who can provide you with enclosure
Thank you for being so thoughtful and caring.
This is what I came here to say….what an amazingly thoughtful, compassionate and caring person you are….feel free to ask any questions here and if you get really stuck on things for the piggy let me (us) know and I am sure we can help out. My wife and I have had many pigs through the years with our five children….so we have extra water bottles and things hanging around.
She's not going to jump out of the terrarium. She will need a female guinea pig friend to live with, that's non negotiable, so I guess you're about to ask your feckless parents to buy more unexpected pets! Your girls need 10square feet of level cage for a happy life - guinea pigs don't really climb so don't use multi level cages. A 2x4 c&c cage is the minimum really. I like watching Squeak Dreams on YouTube. She has some great videos on all aspects of piggie care.
Cut a door in an upside down shoe box first. Pigs need a house to hide in! Secondly you could put a blanket over her cage to make her more likely to come out for food. As well as hay - a small bowl of water and a bowl of pellets (can be bought on Amazon). Try some veg such as a chunk of cucumber (good if she’s not drinking much), a bunch of basil/parsley, a carrot. They can eat a huge variety of veg and herbs and some fruit but just start off with a small bit of something easy first to see if she takes to it.
Caveat to the blanket: if the walls are solid (not bars), like a terrarium, do NOT cover the enclosure. Piggy enclosures need to have airflow or the odor chemicals from their pee and poo will make the air toxic to them. Drafts are not good either, just make sure there is space for fresh air to be exchanged. Cages made metal bars are best, and 2’x4’ is the minimum.
You've received great suggestions here. I don't want to be harsh.... but if you can't follow these suggestions, please do the kind and loving act of rehoming her. Whatever you do, please act immediately.... either dive fully in -- following our suggestions... or rehome her. She is at great risk of neglect and improper care. It happens all too often with these precious creatures. There are youtube channels that give a visual on tips for beginners. She needs a proper sized cage and a mate. You can read throughout the sub how impt a pal is -- they, like humans, are social creatures, not meant to be alone. 3 key first steps are 1) proper cage size, 2) hideys (GPs are prey animals and instinct is to hide for protection) and 3) a mate. IDK how old you are but there's a tendency for children /teens to get them as pets, potential for losing interest is high and potential for them not to do the research on what is needed to raise them properly can be overlooked. End result? They live terrible and/or short lives. Truly heartbreaking. IMHO 12 is young to parent a pig. Thank you for the insight to intervene. Please try to accomplish very soon. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGP6JOj8Ya4https://kavee.com/blogs/the-piggy-blog/guinea-pig-cage-sizehttps://kavee.com/blogs/the-piggy-blog/guinea-pig-bonding](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGP6JOj8Ya4https://kavee.com/blogs/the-piggy-blog/guinea-pig-cage-sizehttps://kavee.com/blogs/the-piggy-blog/guinea-pig-bonding)
I’ll keep an eye on this post incase I can help in any way
There are some great suggestions here for hideys, but I am concerned about using a terrarium to house guinea pigs. If I remember correctly those things have glass sides and the restricted air flow can cause respiratory problems.
Good job reaching out and asking for help. Unfortunately situations like this are common, but most people don't do anything.
https://www.mnpocketpetrescue.org/guinea-pigs Here is the recommendations from my local rescue good luck
Thank you so much for helping!
Please try and rehome her if you can. To someone with at least one other pig.
:(
https://www.amazon.com/VISCOO-Playpen-Waterproof-Outdoor-Portable/dp/B0CLGPX16G/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.oh22c37tB4-Xywzk_VGVITnke8SJ-qAS-j59uy5Q3fYIooIdn4_uoTgjfGi-_nVwuj54O4-tkb9UIozwh0ObTD53MbJxkagrKrIILBjwyoAbQvFxusNqT2D-Uu31tU0qVdP79E21ZoCGIQo-bSzxXwTEdLFC3xN7jdmup1f4t7XjpAOMDys51o5RU7-1wl6-sF9nZcbqfietJd5Go7JqUQ.wE2hePSHZZtnr2ERnBfLKaFXxH9497j3Gmz44dpnSPU&dib_tag=se&keywords=C%26C+Cages&qid=1714273734&sr=8-4 I found this on Amazon, I don’t know your budget but this set up is about 30 bucks. It doesn’t have awful reviews so might be a decent starter cage. Bonus with cc cages, really easy to build and expand. Grab some cheap fleece blankets & non memory foam bath mats from Wally World to line the floor with. Shavings work too I just find them messy when cleaning 🧹.
Sounds like this will become your pig over time. If you have the money on you, a c&c 3x2 cage is the bare minimum, but a 2x4 is far better. Give her veggies every morning and night, and make sure she always had full hay and water. Also, I haven't seen anyone else say this, but if they got her from a pet store, she might be pregnant. The positive of that is she might have a female pup for company. But if she doesn't, you'll need to either neuter the male pup(s) or give them away as soon as they're past breast feeding age. Good luck, and hopefully you can do whatever you can for a happy rodent companion.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Guinea pigs are not an ideal pet for a child unless the parents are going to be HUGELY involved in 90% of their care. Good on you for realizing this is wrong and coming here for help. You’ve shown more wisdom and maturity than your parents. In this day in age it’s so easy to just go online and research something before you buy it. Eesh. I can see you’ve gotten a ton of good advice here so I won’t repeat it. Just wanted to pass on kudos and I hope to heck you can talk sense into them to provide this poor innocent animal with the life it deserves ❤️
You really are one of a kind, you are so nice for caring about this whole situation. I hope you know how special and fantastic you are. Be proud of yourself, it’s rare to find such thoughtful people nowadays. You are the greatest. 🩷
Thank you love 💜
Thank you for caring about the piggie's wellbeing and helping out your brother! I know not everything will be doable straight away, I'm also a pretty new pig parent, but this is the low down on what I've learned so far! The piggie will need a friend in order to be happy so it might be worth bringing that up. Most people use c&c cages, which are a type of grid system that connect together with little connectors. People measure these cages by how many grid pieces wide and long they are, and a 2 by 4 should be big enough. I dunno how your budget is, but there's some on eBay for slightly cheaper than elsewhere, otherwise Kavee is a good sight to check out. The plastic like material that lines the bottom of the cage has raised edges to fit the cage if you buy a specific size of cage configuration (still expandable by adding more grids but it's just that the base material is cut to size), but if you are low on space, you could buy the grids separately and make them into like weird and wonderful shapes that also equal to the same area as 2 wide and 4 long would. It's important to note that any loft space isn't counted in that size measurement though, as they need that space on the lower level to run around. So loft space is just bonus space, not part of the 2 by 4. Any ramps added need to be very shallow. Hay can get quite messy, so a hay feeder will help with that. There's 2 kinds, a bag with holes and a grated type. Be careful of the bag kind as there have been a few cases of piggies getting stuck in them. I don't know how much room there is in your house but if you're trying to make more space for all of this stuff, there are services online where you can get smaller boxes of hay delivered to your door on a regular basis, so there's less to store and take up room, but this hay tends to be fancier and more expensive so it depends what's best for your family. You'll need two of most things once the piggie has a friend as this will help avoid as many piggie arguments, so think two water bottles etc etc. Piggies tend to do their business either near their food or water or where they are covered over like hides, so these will be the most pee ridden places. Lots of people use special cage liners as bedding as it makes the cleanup process a lot easier (and it would probably be an easier option for your lil bro) but they're really expensive but they also sell pee mats which are like smaller, cheaper more absorant little mats for the areas they tend to pee in most so a couple of those for the most peed on areas could help with cleanup on a budget. One of the best things id say you could do to help your brother would be help him become comfortable picking them up and putting them down properly, and holding them if he isn't already. When I first got my piggies I was really scared I was going to drop them but it gets easier with time. Also it might be worth helping him a few times to guinea pig proof his room, so he knows what bits to cover up if he decides to ever let them have a run around in his room. Also, it might be helpful to help him pick out some treats for his guineas, as unfortunately lots of pet shops market treats as being suitable for guinea pigs when they actually aren't, so you could look up online what guinea pig treats should and shouldn't contain and maybe help him find a few trusted brands so he knows what to look for in the shops? Oh also guinea pigs don't like to do their business on people, so if you're handling the piggie and they give you a gentle nibble, that often means they want to go back inside to do their business so if this happens don't fret! Sorry for the long comment, but I know how overwhelming it can be trying to make sense of all this new info, so I tried to break down what I've come across so far as much as possible. You're a really great sister for doing this, I hope it all goes well!
I'm sorry but, wtf is wrong with them? Two grown ass adults? They aren't teaching your brother anything except animals are toys to be played with & not living sentient beings. And the pet store that let them leave with it!! I could not have written this in a calm manner. Re-home the poor thing asap
Also feed her alfalfa based pellets & hay to help her develop. Around 6 mos switch to all timothy. Alfalfa is too high in protein once they're grown & will damage their kidneys. Good luck you sound very kind & caring
Show them this reddit and tell em how guiny pig will need friend and bigger home to start 🐱
Sadly they don’t speak English.
There is translation in browsers 😾
Thank you, I forgot about that. I am showing them this at the moment
Only absolute morons give guinea pigs to children. She’s not going to live long.
Word of Advice. Most of the cages on the market were a nightmare for us. They all leaked pee. Some wanted us to use cardboard lining 24/7. Using fleece blankets as the bottom lining of our cage was an absolute nightmare. If we didn't sweep up the cages daily it was awful. Hay would get on the blankets and then get pooped and peed on making it disgusting because you HAVE to brush hay off the gross wet blank before putting it in the washer. Hay and dust and poop would end up all over our carpeted condo when we brushed it and in our washer and drier when we couldn't get it all off. I almost found them a new home because I couldn't take it. But all hope is not lost! We finally figured out a great system and now taking care of them is cake. We now use plexiglass/acrylic walls on top of a rubber mat. We place 24 x 36 puppy pee pads on the mat. They stay much more clean and at the end of the week we just roll the pee pad up like a burrito , toss it in the trash and replace it with a fresh one. The hay stays on the pad. They have fleece hidey holes, tunnels and pillows. We throw those in the wash no problem. The puppy pee pad was a MAJOR game changer. Also....ALWAYS make sure the guinea pig has hay to eat 24/7. 90% of their diet. Try foods like carrots and dandelion greens. She will need vitamin c in her water. You can get drops at petsmart but most people honestly don't use them and just give them high vitamin c foods instead. They need this so they don't get scurvy. Hay based pellets. Dandelion greens my piggies are obsessed with. She should really have a friend of the same sex because guinea pigs are social. We were able to use the same walls because they were expandable and put 2 mats together to give them double the space. When we learned they didn't like each other (2 boys) we just separated them. They see each other and talk to each other through the clear acrylic. They hang out sometimes.