How do I look after guinea pigs properly?

Guinea pigs are undemanding in temperament and quite demanding in husbandry, which is an awkward combination for a first pet. The two things that go wrong most often are isolation and hay. A lone guinea pig is a chronically stressed guinea pig, and a diet where hay is a bedding material rather than the main food produces dental disease and gut problems that are expensive and often fatal.

Safety

Step by step

1. Keep at least two.They are herd animals and a lone guinea pig suffers. Same-sex pairs, or a neutered male with females. A rabbit is not a companion for a guinea pig — the pairing is now advised against because of injury risk, different diets and different social behaviour.
2. Provide far more space than a standard hutch.Welfare organisations recommend substantially more than the hutches commonly sold, with a permanently attached run rather than time-limited access. Length matters more than height — they run rather than climb, and popcorning needs a straight line.
3. Make hay the bulk of the diet.Unlimited good-quality feeding hay, available at all times, and the majority of what they eat. It wears the continuously growing teeth and keeps the gut moving. Hay is food; a separate softer hay or paper bedding is bedding.
4. Provide vitamin C every day.Guinea pigs cannot synthesise it. A good-quality guinea pig pellet that is within date is the reliable source, plus daily fresh vegetables such as bell pepper. Do not rely on vitamin drops in the water, which degrade quickly and put animals off drinking.
5. Feed a measured amount of pellets, and check the date.A small measured daily portion rather than free access, so hay is not displaced. Use guinea pig pellets, never rabbit food, and buy small bags because vitamin C degrades in storage.
6. Get the temperature right.They are far more susceptible to heat than to cold and do not cope with direct sun or temperatures much above the low twenties. Outdoor accommodation needs full shade, and in winter needs to be moved into a shed or outbuilding or given substantial protection.
7. Provide hides — one more than there are pigs.Tunnels and shelters with two exits so nobody gets cornered. A guinea pig with nowhere to hide is a stressed guinea pig, and an odd number of hides prevents resource guarding.
8. Check weight weekly.Kitchen scales and a written record. Weight loss is often the first detectable sign of a problem in a species that conceals illness, and a weekly number gives you the trend.
9. Check the back end and the nails regularly.Nails grow continuously and need trimming. Older boars can need help clearing the perineal sac. A quick weekly check catches problems while they are cheap.
10. Handle low and supported.Support the chest and the hindquarters, and sit on the floor to handle them — they are poor at heights and injure themselves badly if dropped. Children should handle them seated.
11. Register with a vet who sees small mammals.Dental work and gut stasis both need experience with the species. Find the practice before there is an emergency.

Common mistakes

• Keeping a single guinea pig — They are herd animals and isolation causes chronic stress. Human company is not a substitute for another guinea pig.
• Treating hay as bedding rather than food — Hay should be the bulk of the diet. Without it, dental disease and gut stasis follow, and both are serious.
• Feeding rabbit pellets — They contain no usable vitamin C for a guinea pig and the formulation is wrong. Scurvy is a real and common outcome.

Questions people ask