The Hagen Living World Reed Hut in the guinea pig size is a woven sea grass house 40 cm long -- large enough for a guinea pig to go right inside and turn around, which a token hide is not. It is edible throughout, so the chewing is part of the design rather than damage.

Key Features

• All Sea Grass: Woven plant fibre, nothing coated, painted or glued
• Big Enough To Use: 40 x 30 x 21 cm, which is a house rather than a tunnel a guinea pig half fits in
• Hide And Chew In One: Somewhere to retreat to that also satisfies the need to gnaw
• Two Ways Of Thinking About It: Shelter for a nervous pig, and occupation for a bored one
• Fully Edible: Anything taken off it is plant fibre

Hides Are Not Optional

Rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters are all prey animals, and a pet with nowhere to disappear to lives in a state of low-level alarm whether it looks calm or not. A hide is what lets an animal choose to come out rather than having no option but to be visible, and the usual advice is one hide per animal plus a spare, so nobody can be shut out of the only safe place.

Why Sea Grass

Sea grass is woven, edible plant fibre with nothing coated or glued on it, which is the whole point for an animal that tests everything with its teeth. A plastic hide has to be guarded against chewing; this one is meant to be chewed. It also matters that a hide is opaque and has a way in and a way out -- prey animals do not settle in anything they can be cornered in.

Chewing It Is The Point, Within Reason

Sea grass is meant to be nibbled and most small pets will strip a hut or tunnel down over weeks or months -- that is the product working, and it is why these are sold cheaply enough to replace. Watch the first few days with a new one. A pet that tears off long strands and swallows them whole rather than chewing them small should not be left alone with it, since fibrous strands can tangle in the gut. Replace it once it is soiled, damp or frayed into loose threads, and take it out straight away if it gets urinated on -- it cannot be washed.

Who Makes It

Living World is the small animal and bird brand of Rolf C. Hagen, the Montreal company founded in 1955. The range covers cages, hay feeders, houses, dishes and supplements for rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and cage birds.

Out Of Stock Right Now

This one is out of stock at the moment. The page is here for reference while we wait on the next delivery -- ask us and we will tell you where it is.

Good To Know

• Guinea pigs cannot make their own vitamin C and need it daily from fresh food or a guinea-pig pellet.
• Guinea pigs are herd animals and should not be kept alone. A single pig with the best hide in the world is still a lonely one.
• One hide per pig plus a spare, with more than one way out of each. A pig cornered in the only hide by a cage mate cannot get away.
• Replace it once it is soiled or damp. It cannot be washed.
• A rabbit or guinea pig that stops eating, stops passing droppings or sits hunched and still is an emergency, not a wait-and-see. A gut that stalls can kill within a day.