Guinea Pig Ownership

First of all, there are some great upsides to owning a small pet. Unfortunately, a lot of people buy pets, like guinea pigs, not understanding the work that goes into caring for them. Hopefully, you're doing your research and that's how you ended up here. I'm here to show you some of the downsides so you don't just jump into owning a small pet just willy-nilly. Please think about it a lot before you buy guinia pigs or any other small pet.

For a little background: I have two guinea pigs right now, Harry and Spots. Harry is black with a brown and white stripe down his face. I think he was named after Harry Potter. I also have Spots who is white with black and brown spots on his face and body. I got Spots a couple of years ago from a pet store and Harry came to me from the Humane Society. When i got him, he was paired with Draco. Draco was white except for brown markings on his face and he had a place in the middle of his head where his hair parted. It was so cute! I also had a cavy named Peanuts. He was brown with a little white on him. He looked kind of like a peanut. I got him at the pet store with Spots.

Owning guinea pigs is kind of hard. I’ve already had two pass away. Peanuts passed away from not eating, I think, but I don’t know why he wasn’t eating. This happens with guinea pigs and is, for me, the hardest thing about owning guinea pigs. When they stop eating, their digestive tract turns off and they die. That’s the simplest way to explain it. Draco, also, stopped eating. Unfortunately, his teeth became too long to be able to eat. Their teeth are constantly growing. I didn’t know this was the problem until it was too late. If a guinea pig is not eating, they need to go to the vet right away. They don’t eat non-stop, and they do nap a little, but eating hay is pretty much their main activity and once they stop it’s not good for them.

Sometimes, guinea pigs will fight. This makes having them difficult because if the fighting is causing injury, then they need to be separated into their own cages with separate food and water. Draco and the others used to fight pretty badly. I have a whole article on that on Vocal. Usually, guinea pigs' little battles for dominance are fine. But, sometimes, the cavies just don't get along at all, as with Draco, Harry and Spots.

Another thing about owning guinea pigs is that with all that eating comes a lot of pooping. You must clean up after them at least once a day. You need to remove any soiled hay or bedding and remove their poops. Everyone has their own way of doing this and their own cage set up so you kind of have to figure it out on your own. The store bought cages are way too small for them.

Cavies need to be able to run around a little. Right now, I have their cage setup along a wall. That seems to be the best place for most people. I have a 5x2 C&C cage setup with one water bottle for both of them, a big thing of hay (from Guinea Dad), a kitty cat litter box right by it so they can poop and pee in that as they eat, and GuineaDad cage liners. I have two of those in there. It’s a nice and long set up for the two cavies. Underneath the liners I have plastic carpet protectors. That’s not the best idea, to be honest. They’re not wide enough for my cage set up and hay and poops get stuck underneath. I suggest coroplast like most people you see on YouTube use. I keep trying different things to save money, but I think it’s best just to spend the money. I also have a couple hidey things for them.

It’s a lot of fun for me to spend time watching the guinea pigs eat, feeding them vegetables and fruit, and watching them popcorn when they’re excited. Popcorning is when they make a bunch of short little jumps in a row because they’re excited. They’re not really an animal you hold but instead an animal you watch. They don’t like being held or picked up. It’s like a hawk picking up a rat, very scary for them. I also like it when they run over my feet when I'm in the cage. They make lots of cute noises, too. They wheek and purr. I’m sure there’s another name for that but I don’t know what it is. I guess they chirp, too. They can be loud when they hear you rustling bags in the refrigerator.

Guinea pigs can be a pain to own, but it’s worth it for what you get in return. Just know the downsides before going out and buying one of the cute buggers for yourself.