If you keep them outdoors you will need a hutch and a run. Never buy just a hutch. Guinea pigs need fresh air and sunlight in a run. Buy the biggest hutch and run that you can afford. So-called starter packs sold in pet shops are always too small. There are some good hutches built like Wendy houses with two or three floors. There should always be a sleeping compartment for the guinea pigs to retreat to. Make sure the hutch is weather proof. Damp is worse for them than cold. Make their run interesting by giving them places to retreat to, like drainage tunnels from builders merchants or thick cardboard tubes or boxes. Guinea pigs can sometimes learn to use a cat flap if it is a light-weight flap.
Copyright Peter Gurney
Bedding should be primarily hay and newspaper below it. For the living area try Medibed (short chopped medicated hay) and newspaper, or Vetbed on newspaper, or ReadiGrass (sold for horses by Spillers) or Carefresh litter. Chopped barley straw is another possibility – it is softer than wheat straw. Wood shavings or sawdust should never be used – they leave the animal prone to skin problems and other problems. Never buy small pet fluffy bedding, even if it is sold in pet shops, in case they eat it, and it blocks their gut
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I CLEAN OUT MY GUINEA PIGS’ HOME?
Do a complete clean out TWICE weekly and throw out everything replacing it completely. Spot clean daily too. Anything less than this is leaves guinea pigs vulnerable to fungus infections. Disinfect weekly using pet-safe products like Virkon, Formula H or Hutch clean following the instructions carefully. Do not use human disinfectants or any disinfectant that goes cloudy. After disinfecting, rinse thoroughly and dry completely before putting in clean bedding.
Make sure the water bottle stays clean. Rinse it out and change the water every day. Scrub out the bottle with a bottle brush each week and use baby bottle sterilising fluid. It may be worth keeping two water bottles (or bowls) – one for use while the other is being cleaned and dried.
CAN I KEEP A GUINEA PIG IN THE HOUSE?
Yes. Healthy clean animals don’t smell. If they do smell, either they are ill or you are not cleaning up their living quarters enough. It’s best to keep them in a pen inside the house otherwise they can be stepped on by mistake. You can house them in an indoor hutch or crate with a plastic or metal floor. Put a cardboard box filled with hay or straw inside as a sleeping compartment. House guinea pigs can be semi- litter trained – see next question. Do not trust pets like cats, dogs, and ferrets. These will kill them – so they must be kept safely away from these.
CAN I HOUSE TRAIN A GUINEA PIG?
You can house train a guinea pig to use a litter tray for its urine, but probably not for its droppings. You will need a shallow tray with paper at the bottom or sand. Place it in the animal’s latrine area. Put some soiled material from where the animal has urinated in the bottom. If you keep your animal in a hutch with a run, you can put the tray into its toilet area. This will help with cleaning the hutch. Daytime droppings are not moist but night time ones are. The guinea pig should be eating its moist droppings. If you find these in the hutch, make sure your guinea pig gets more fibre and less protein in its diet – see later diet FAQ.