Guinea pigs are animals who love privacy. They like to eat and poop all day at the same place. Since they eat a lot, therefore they poop a lot too. As a result, Guinea pigs tend to find a safe place where they are kept and take quite a long time to adjust to a new environment. Explore simple ways and tips for how to potty train a guinea pigs here.
How Much Do Guinea Pigs Poop?
Do guinea pigs poop a lot? Yes, Gunny pigs are the messiest animals when it comes to pooping. They poop more than 100 droppings a day. But, other than eating, pooping all day long is their favourite thing to do. The most terrible part for a Guinea pig owner is cleaning its cage. It is an annoying and time-consuming job but is necessary for your cavy’s healthy and happy living. Now the question comes how you should start the training of your Guinea pig?
Cage Location
To pet a guinea pig, the first thing that should come to the owner’s mind should be the location of the gunny pig cage setup. Guinea Pigs are sensitive to sounds and noise. Hence they should be kept in a peaceful and less noisy area. Their cage should be kept away from the kitchen and out of reach of children due to sanitary reasons. Also, keep their pen away from the place where direct sunlight comes, as it can make pigs suffer from heatstroke. It is best to keep away their hutches from directly facing towards windows, heights, fireplaces, and kitchens.
Keen Observation
To potty train a guinea pig, keen observation and patience is highly required. Generally, there are two types of pooping guinea pigs:
- Type 1: They are the most common type who likes to litter in the same place in the litter box.
- Type 2: In this type, they tend to create a mess in every cabinet spot. They build their favourite places in the cage and do their business there.
Most Guinea pigs tend to create a favourite spot for business when they become familiar with their surroundings. So try to focus on the areas where they like to let out their waste most. Guinea pigs are pretty playful animals. They seem to be more active during sunrise and sunset, as they are more gratified with darkness which ensures them both sanctuary and solitude.
Things needed to Potty Train a Guinea Pig
Having the following essential items before starting your cavy’s training would be beneficial:
- Cage
- Litter box/tray
- Hay
- Your cavy’s favourite treats
- Proper bedding in the tray
- Your patience and time
How to Potty Train a Guinea Pig? – Step by Step Guide
Potty train your guinea pig to make the practice more relaxed and manageable. The training might take lots of patience and time but is doable.
#1 Training with newspaper
Start your piggies’ training by placing newspaper at different spots in their cage, observing their favourite places to litter. Remove the paper piece by piece every week until only one of their favourite spots is left and replace it with the litter box.
#2 Rewards
The same way pet dogs, after every accomplishment treated, guinea pigs can also be potty trained by rewarding them with delicious guinea pig pellets every time they use the litter box. This way, they will learn to go in the litter box whenever needed. Try not to scold them, instead treat them whenever they use the toilet with their preferred tasty treats.
#3 Location of the Tray
Place the litter tray on your cavy’s most favourite spots, like the sleeping area or around food bowls. You can also put it in their desired hide-out and hang-out spots in the cage.
#4 Litter Tray
Guinea pigs love hays in and around the litter tray. As a result, they will use a litter box/tray to urinate whenever needed. Place the tray where your cavy loves to litter the most. Install it in some private areas as Guinea pigs like privacy and are sometimes uncomfortable in the open.
#5 Size of the Litter Box for Guinea Pigs
The size of the litter tray matters the most. It should be that big that your pet should be comfortable to move around it. The tray/box comes in different sizes and heights. You can train your pig according to the box length by teaching it to hop or by laying hay in that area.
#6 Put Accidental Droppings into the Litter Box
Every time cavies have a random dropping, you can put them in their litter box. It seems problematic but can help in toilet training your guinea pig.
#7 Keep the Litter Box Clean
A litter box overflowing with your pet’s poop makes your cavy avoid in a box. Make sure to keep it clean regularly. It helps in training and owns the guinea pig active and away from health issues. It also depends on how often your cavy uses the litter tray daily and number of trays installed in the cage.
#8 Bedding
Always use fresh guinea pig bedding in the litter box so that your little cavies find a comfortable and clean area, which will automatically make them use the litter box often.
Tips for Guinea Pig Litter Box
While petting and observing a Guinea pig, you will recognize they love dark places to do their business, and they choose corners of the cage for this frequently.
You can potty train them in a shut room to see their reaction and places they go for pooping. For example, they will most likely go into a secluded dark corner to poop. Observe them when they look for such sites and place the litter tray there.
Sadly, many cavies can never be 100 per cent successfully toilet trained and nevertheless can infrequently poop outside the tray. But proper training with love and patience can make your pet’s cage a lot more decent and easier to keep clean.
Advantages of Guinea Pig Potty Training
While training your guinea pig, the question might pop up in your mind, why train your pet to use a litter box? There are many advantages while training your guinea pigs to use a litter box:
- Every guinea pig owner knows how much waste it creates every time and it’s laborious to handle them if they are not potty trained.
- Not only you but your pet also needs a clean cage that doesn’t smell. The best way to keep it that way is to train your precious use of a litter box.
- Cleaning tasks will become easier and will be much less time-consuming.
- This practice will keep your guinea pig’s cage more hygienic and dry, keeping them away from diseases and infections naturally.
- During the training, you get close to your cavies. While observing, you get to know a lot about their food habits, bedding habits, playing habits, and many other psychological behaviours.
How to choose a litter box?
There are litter boxes that are made especially for guinea pigs. To train your guinea pig, you should choose a comfortable, clean and perfect litter tray. It will make your training easy and the chances of it getting successful will increase. Following factors should be kept in mind while choosing the best tray for your pet:
- Size: The tray you will be buying should be big enough to accommodate your pet and comfortable for them to move around. Check the length and height precisely before buying.
- Easily accessible: The Litter box should be kept and is accessible to your cavies without any hassle. It should be of enough height so that your guinea pig can hop on it efficiently.
- Design: You can use boxes suitable for your Guinea pig’s body size. Since guinea pigs are sensitive to their surroundings, choosing a good tray for them according to their size and shape is essential. Choose a litter box that is enough for your piggies to fit in it conveniently.
- Easy to Clean: The litter tray should be easily washable and easy to clean for you.
Make the litter tray as inviting as possible. For example, install a hay rack next to the litter tray and ensure sufficient space to keep your pet interested and move around it.
FAQs
A frequent question comes to mind can pigs be potty trained. To answer this question, yes, old cavies can be potty trained. This teaching process will be challenging since they will take much time to equip the training but learn through it.
Conclusion
Hope you find this How to potty train a guinea pig guide helpful. Patience and observance is a great key while petting a Guinea pig. Unfortunately, constantly cleaning your guinea pig cage will make you exhausted and sick. The only way to stop this is to potty train your cavies. It will take a lot of treats, time, and patience but will eventually lead you to a comfortable and easy life with your pet.