13 Things You Need To Know Before Getting Guinea Pigs

Speaking as someone that has lived with guinea pigs for most of my life, I know that guinea pigs really do make great pets. They are lovable, friendly, and affectionate and can have truly unique personalities.

But whenever I’m asked if I would recommend guinea pigs as pets my answer is always; that depends on you. I then go on to listing all their needs and requirements, a lot of which I had to find out for myself.

The truth is it really does depend on you, your circumstances, and what you expect from a pet. Based on my own experience, these are the 13 things you need to know before getting guinea pigs.

1. Lifespan

The average lifespan of a domestic guinea pig is around 4-8 years, which is double the lifespan of smaller rodents such as hamsters and gerbils. Although they can live even longer depending on medical treatment, breed and diet, with the oldest guinea pig recorded being almost 15 years old.

The relatively long lifespan of a guinea pig means that you can form a real bond with them, and they will surely become part of the family. So if you’re considering getting pet guinea pigs, be prepared for a long-term commitment.

2. Cost of Guinea Pigs

Perhaps the most important thing to consider before getting pet guinea pigs is how much they are going to cost, and let me tell you; it’s actually quite a lot. The cost of an actual guinea pig will be the lowest however, as the average cost of a guinea pig is around $20. But the money really starts adding up when you consider all of their bedding and food requirements. Not to mention cages, runs, toys and occasional vet bills.

Bedding and food will be where most of your expenses come from. How much will depend on how many guinea pigs you have, how big their habitat is, and the type of bedding and food you choose.

Cage Cost

A cage or other form of an enclosure will be your highest initial cost. This cost depends on how many guinea pigs you intend to have, as they need a lot of space. Guinea pig cages will cost around $50-$90 for a cage suitable for 2-3 guinea pigs. Although you can expect to pay a lot more for bigger enclosures.

Bedding Cost

The average cost per month for disposable bedding will be around $20-$60. Although many owners including myself are now choosing to use fleece bedding, which is washable and reusable. What puts people off buying fleece bedding is the initial cost.

For good quality fleece bedding such as the GuineaDad fleece liner, you can expect to pay up to $70 for one fleece. On top of that, you will likely need to buy at least one more set whilst the other is being washed and dried. Fleece bedding does work out to be cheaper in the long-run though, whilst also being better for odor control and providing better comfort for your piggies.

Food Cost

I won’t go too much into guinea pigs dietary requirements in this section, but you should know that guinea pigs require a mixture of hay, pellets, fruit, and vegetables. Guinea pig food will cost around $15-$70 per month.

Overall Cost

Factoring in all the initial and monthly costs of guinea pigs, you can expect to spend around $1,200 every year. Assuming your guinea pigs live for 7 years, this will add up to roughly $8,400 in total. But don’t let this number put you off, as guinea pigs make for truly loveable and affectionate pets. In my opinion, it is well worth it.

For a more in-depth look at guinea pig costs and money-saving advice, you can read my complete price guide here. In that article, I cover all the initial and individual monthly costs and recommend products to keep the cost as low as possible.

3. Bedding Requirements

One of the first questions that new owners ask is what type of bedding is best for guinea pigs. Choosing the right type of bedding is important for guinea pigs health and happiness. Bedding also plays a vital role in reducing cage smell and depending on the type of bedding; determines how often you need to replace it.

Odor Control

It’s no secret that guinea pigs pee a lot. You will need to make sure that you use good quality bedding that is highly absorbent, and provide plenty of it to completely fill their cage. Absorbent bedding does a great job of reducing the smell of urine, and how quickly the smell builds up. Cheap bedding generally isn’t very absorbent and will need changing more regularly.

Comfort

Guinea pigs will much happier if they find their bedding to be comfortable. I’ve found that the most comfortable bedding by far is our GuineaDad fleece liners. Our guinea pigs absolutely love them. We have even placed extra padding under the liner where they sleep for extra comfort.

Fleece can be quite expensive though, especially if you buy the full cage size ones. So another option is to only use a small fleece liner or soft bedding such as paper in the area your guinea pigs sleep. The rest of their cage can be filled with less expensive bedding.

Safe Bedding

A common mistake that new guinea pig owners make is using bedding that is actually harmful to piggies. Guinea pigs have very sensitive lungs and respiratory tracts which can become infected if proper care isn’t taken. This means that they are very sensitive to dust and unfortunately, most of the cheaper bedding options contain large amounts of dust.

By far the worst type of bedding for guinea pigs is sawdust. Although it literally has ‘dust’ in the name, you would be surprised at how many people use it as bedding. Sawdust contains ridiculous amounts of dust and will cause respiratory infections in guinea pigs. Avoid using this completely. Whenever buying bedding, make sure you check to check that it has been dust-extracted.

Additionally, certain types of bedding such as cedar wood shavings can contain oils or chemicals that will harm guinea pigs. These can cause respiratory infections and even allergic reactions and skin conditions.

Recommended Bedding

The best and safest types of bedding for guinea pigs are:

• Fleece cage liners
• Aspen shavings
• Paper bedding
• Kiln dried wood shavings
• Wood pulp

You may have noticed that straw doesn’t appear in the above list. Even though many people still use straw for guinea pig bedding, it quite simply is not suitable. Straw often contains small amounts of dust, has hard stems that can cause eye injury, and has very poor absorbency.

4. Regular Cleaning

If guinea pigs had daily to-do lists it would read something like this; eat, poop, eat some more, quick snooze then back to pooping and eating. Because guinea pigs are grazers they need to be constantly eating, and they digest food very quickly. This means you should be prepared to invest a lot of time into just cleaning their cage.

Generally you will need to do a full cage clean around 1-3 times per week. But you will also need to daily spot cleaning, which is just scooping or sweeping out wet bedding and poop. You may even need to do this several times a day.

How often you need to clean a guinea pig cage will depend on how many you have and what type of bedding you use. As an example; we have two guinea pigs and use fleece bedding. We completely clean their cage every 4-5 days and need to poop sweep 3-4 times every day. It’s quite demanding but you do get used to it.

5. Friendly and Tameable

Whilst guinea pigs are often seen to be very timid and skittish, they can actually be adorably friendly towards humans and even tameable to a certain extent. Just look at the picture above for example. That is Ken, who for some reason has a fascination with my mustache and likes to groom it for me.

When we first got Ken he was too afraid to even leave the box we gave him. Now he thoroughly enjoys being around us and even responds to his name. In my opinion, this is what makes guinea pigs one of the best pets of the rodent family.

To get to this stage though you will need to gain a guinea pigs trust. This is not as difficult as you might think though. The only things you will need to achieve this are time, patience, and food bribes.

6. Cage Size Requirements

Guinea pigs require a lot of floor space, which most pet store cages do not provide. Many cages that are even described and sold as “large guinea pig cages” do not actually meet the space requirements. I strongly advise you to avoid these cages altogether and instead consider either building your own enclosure, or purchasing a C&C cage.

C&C cages use grid panels and clips that connect together to create a custom enclosure. They are very popular with guinea pig owners as they are super easy to construct and can be custom built to any shape and size you want. You can even add extra floors as we have done with our cage.

In general, the absolute minimum cage size for one guinea pig is 7.75 square feet. The table below will give you a rough idea of the cage size you will need:

Number of Guinea Pigs	Minimum Cage Size (cm²)	Minimum Cage Size (ft²)
One Guinea Pig	7200 cm2²	7.75 (ft²)
Two Guinea Pigs	11520 cm2²	12.4 (ft²)
Three Guinea Pigs	14400 cm2²	15.5 (ft²)
Four Guinea Pigs	18240 cm2²	19.63 (ft²)

Small cages will cause guinea pigs to become bored and depressed. This can lead to detrimental health conditions and becoming overweight. Guinea pigs are also more likely to fall out with each other in small cages, as smalling living conditions can cause them to become stressed. Providing guinea pigs with ample floor space is essential for maintaining their overall health and happiness.

7. Socializing and Companionship

Wild guinea pigs spend all of their time with other guinea pigs as they are very social herd animals. Pet guinea pigs are no different. They thrive with others and being kept on their own causes them to be unhappy and can even cause health issues.

I can’t stress enough that if you are looking to get a guinea pig, get at least two! Whilst guinea pigs certainly do enjoy social interaction with humans, they do really require a piggy friend to talk to. Even guinea pigs that don’t get along with others are still happier to be near others of its kind. It is actually incredibly rare to find a guinea pig that prefers to live alone.

If your circumstances don’t allow you to get more than one guinea pig, it would be better to consider another pet that prefers to live alone. Or at least wait until your circumstances change. I realize how tough and strict this sounds, but this is something that needs to be taken seriously.

8. Very Vocal

Guinea pigs are very talkative creatures and will make their feelings and demands known with various noises. They are easily one of the most vocal of the rodent family. The most recognizable noise they make is known as “wheeking”, named because of how it sounds. You will hear this noise the most from guinea pigs that are excited or want something.

Our guinea pigs now know that the sound of a fridge door opening usually mean food is coming there way. They also recognize the sound of rustling food bags and go absolutely crazy at the sound of vegetables being chopped. So if your guinea pig is hungry, they will definitely let you know.

9. Grooming Needs

Guinea pigs actually do a pretty good job at grooming themselves, but you will have to help out occasionally. One thing you absolutely need to do is provide a constant source of hay. Guinea pigs have teeth that constantly grow and hay does a great job at wearing their teeth down.

Bathing

As guinea pigs tend to sleep where they poo and pee, monthly bathing is highly recommended as they can get quite dirty and smelly after a while. Bathing them with a safe insecticidal shampoo is also a great way to prevent fleas and mites.

Nail Clipping

As well as teeth that constantly grow, guinea pigs have the same problem with their toenails. Due to most pet guinea pigs being kept on soft bedding they have no way to grind their nails down. If you notice your guinea pigs nails are starting to curl too much it is time to clip them.

You can either have a professional groomer do this, or try it yourself. If you choose to do it at home you will probably want a second person to help as it can be quite awkward. My partner and I clip our guinea pigs nails and even that is quite difficult.

Combing

Longhaired guinea pigs in particular will require regular combing, usually once every week or two. Shorthaired guinea pigs can usually be combed every three weeks or monthly. This is to get any tangles, knots and bedding out of their fur and is also a good way to check for fleas. A metal grooming comb that you can pick up at any pet shop will do the job. Just make sure to be gentle.

10. Food and Diet

Eating and pooping are what guinea pigs do best and trust me, they eat a lot. As guinea pigs are foragers they digest food very quickly and will need regular feeding. To maintain their overall health, guinea pigs require a balance of grass hay, pellet food and a healthy amount of vegetables with the occasional fruit.

Grass Hay

Good quality grass hay is a guinea pigs bread and butter. Well, not literally of course. But it does make up for the biggest portion of their diet. Hay should make up for around 85% of a guinea pigs diet and they will need to have access to it constantly. Hay is so important because it allows a guinea pigs digestive system to function properly. It is also great for keeping their teeth from becoming overgrown.

Pellet Food

On top of hay, guinea will need a daily serving of pellet food. The pellets you feed guinea pigs should always contain added vitamin C. Guinea pigs will around 30-50g of pellets each day, which is about a handful. I’ve found the best time to put pellets in the cage is in the morning, as guinea pigs respond well to a set routine.

Fruit and Vegetables

To meet a guinea pigs nutritional requirements you will need to give them various fruits and vegetables. Some people decide to supply fruit and veg every couple of days, but I prefer to give our piggies daily servings. You don’t want to give guinea pigs too much fruit and veg however, as an excess could cause them to have a bad stomach.

We have two guinea pigs, so their daily fruit and veg typically consists of two inches of cucumber, one medium carrot, and a handful of a leafy green such as spinach. These are their favorite foods, but we will change this up occasionally with things like peppers, celery and lettuce.

Fruit should be given as a treat once or twice a week at most. This is because fruits usually contain high amounts of sugar and vitamins, and too many can make a guinea pig poorly.

11. Vitamin C Supplements

Just like with humans, guinea pigs are unable to naturally produce vitamin C. A lack of vitamin C is the main cause of health problems in guinea pigs. Therefore it is important that they are given high vitamin C foods on their diet.

Pellet food for guinea pigs does contain added vitamin C, but the vitamin degrades over time. Fresh foods like peppers, kale, broccoli, and strawberries are high in vitamin C and are great choices to feed guinea pigs.

But you should consider using vitamin C supplements to make sure your guinea pigs get enough in their diet. Vitamin C tablets are a great and effective solution and make it easy to ensure your guinea pigs don’t develop Vitamin C deficiency.

12. Floor-time

You can’t keep guinea pigs restricted to solely living in a cage. They will need to be let out to roam more freely, whether this be on your living room floor in a large indoor/outdoor run. This free-roaming time is known as “floor-time” because it is just that – time spent on the floor.

Guinea pigs will need floor-time at least 3 times per week for at least 1 hour each time, but daily floor-time is highly preferred. As guinea pigs are prone to obesity, floor-time is mandatory to give them the exercise they need. Regular floor-time will also boost their confidence and over time they will become a lot less skittish.

Just be warned that guinea pigs pee and poop a lot, so make sure you set up an area for them that is either easy to clean, or place something down to protect your floor. We let our guinea pigs out in our living room which has lino flooring, and therefore is very easy to clean.

13. Same-sex Pairing

Unless you want lots of extra little guinea pigs running around, it is highly advised that you stick with either male or female guinea pigs. If you mix males and females together, they will breed like.. well, guinea pigs. Guinea pigs can start breeding as young as one month old, and they won’t have issue breeding with siblings, parents, or children.

There is also a behavioral reason for keeping to only one sex per cage. Guinea pigs tend to get along much better when they are in same-sex pairings. Keeping males and females together is likely to cause more arguments and fights.