Whether we like it or not, everything that eats has to have some way to discard it. Pooping and bathroom habits are the stinkiest, but the easiest way to get rid of the digested food and release fluids from the body.
How much does a guinea pig poop?
If you think that some of your family members spend an awfully long time in the bathroom, it’s nothing compared to a guinea pig, I’ve owned a lot of piggies over the years and this is my great resource when you have questions.
These little fellas can poop over 150 times a day. Their high metabolism combined with the sheer amount of hay, veggies, and pellets that they consume lead to a large load.
Guinea pig poop comes in the form of hard pellets. If your cavy is healthy, the majority are oval-shaped, dark brown, and are uniform inconsistency.
Picking up your piggies poo
Stinky cages are not a force to be reckoned with. A guinea pig will poop a lot, all day and every day. A healthy cavy has poop that is a small, hard brown pellet. I’m resorting to us a small dustpan and brush.
Some people held hand vacuums are designed for picking up messes from pets. They collect things from hair to pellets for easy cleanup. Just make sure it is emptied frequently to avoid clogging the filter.
I recommend you to use my favorite fleece bedding, picking it up, and just dumping the contents right into the trash makes for the easiest cleanup. The fleece lining can be thrown into the washer for the next use.
Do guinea pigs eat their own poop?
As disgusting as it may seem, many animals can be seen with their head buried in a pile of feces. Disgusting, right? In this case, cavies eat their poop for more than just a disgusting habit.
Healthy guinea pig poop comes in two forms: the hard pellets as mentioned previously, and soft blobs stool. These pooey piles are called Caecals or Cecotropes.
Hopefully, by now you are seated and without food in sight, because this next fact might gross you out a little. Guinea pigs are known to reach their head between their legs and eat it straight from their bottoms.
Why do they do this? It seems pointless to eat so much to just poop it out into a form that just gets ingested again. However, with all the roughage from their plant-based diet, not all of these fibers get broken down properly.
Cavies will eat these Caecals in order to get the most nutrition from their diets. In the way a cow chews their cud, guinea pigs benefit the most from eating their own poop.
Eating Caecals actually helps a guinea pig when being nursed back to health. They contain good bacteria that help the gut flora living in the cavies digestive system.
What is the difference between Caecals and normal poop?
As I mentioned earlier, the dark brown pellets are what makes up a healthy piggy’s poo. Caecal is different in both shape, color, size, and structure. They are noticeably lighter, often with a greenish or yellow tint.
As these types of stools are indeed softer, meant for ingesting, they clump together. When cleaning out the cage, there will be no mistaking normal poop from cecotropes.
Do guinea pigs poop in their sleeping/eating area?
Most often, cavies, in fact, do not poop in their sleeping or resting area. Some cages even support this habit by having separate compartments for feeding, sleeping, and of course, pooping.
On the occasion where the guinea pig does feel ill, they may poop in their resting area.
Why does my guinea pig poop or pee on me?
When nature calls, a guinea pig will respond, even if it means unloading a puddle of pee on you. With the amount of bathroom breaks your cavy takes, it’s hard for them to plan a “trip to the bathroom” before your cuddling time.
Any strong emotion whether it be excitement or fear can also trigger a sudden urge to go. This is why guinea pigs who are used as class pets are required to have a towel when being held. This protects the children themselves from having a yucky mess to clean up off the ground or themselves.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you have learned something about guinea pigs’ bathroom habits before encountering a crappy experience. Cavies are overall very tidy and healthy animals.
Their poop is very easy to clean up as it is small and hard, and is kept in a specific area. If you’re concerned about your pets eating their own feces, the guinea pig is the last one to worry about.
There’s nothing better than not having to pick up anything additional from the cage.
Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.
