Guinea pigs have a very sensitive fight or flight response, and they may start pooping a lot after you’re done petting them.
Male guinea pigs have larger feces than female guinea pigs and both of their poops smell sweet, so you will not have to worry about the smell.
If you want your guinea pigs to have a healthy life, it is important to keep an eye on their dietary and digestion habits.
If you’re looking to learn more about your guinea pig’s digestion system, then you have come to the right place.
How Much Do Guinea Pigs Poop in a Day?
Guinea pigs have a huge appetite and eat a lot which means they poop a lot, too.
Guinea pigs can easily poop more than 150 times in one day!
They have a complex digestive system since they have to process a lot of food in a very short time.
When the food enters their stomach, it is mixed with various digestive juices and all the fat and sugar are moved to the intestines.
All the other food is then passed onto the caecum, which takes up to 75% of the space in your pet’s abdomen.
Guinea pigs have two types of feces – one is hard and is essentially waste, which they will leave in their cage for their owner to clean up.
However, they also produce caecotrophs, which contain vitamins and are very useful and nutritious for the guinea pig.
You won’t have to clean caecotrophs since the guinea pigs eat them directly.
While you may think that your guinea pig eating its own poop is gross, don’t worry, it’s completely natural. If your guinea pig stops eating the caecotrophs, they may suffer from malnourishment, so it is best to take them to a vet if that happens.
Your pet needs the feces to maintain a working digestive system.
When your female guinea pig is pregnant, it might become a little harder for them to eat it directly since they will be too big to bend.
During those times, make sure to leave their poop in the cage so they can eat it regularly.
Make sure to clean their cage regularly to remove the hard feces since it can make the cage dirty.
How Should You Clean Up Guinea Pig Feces?
When cleaning your pet’s cage, make sure to always inspect the poop. The poop will be small but hard, which will make it easy to clean.
Simply take a dustpan and a small broom and sweep away all the poop from the cage.
If you don’t want to touch it, you can always use a small vacuum to clean the cage. This way, you won’t have to touch the waste.
Another quick way to clean up the feces from your pet’s cage is by spreading the bedding to all parts of the cage.
Bedding will make things easier for your pet when they want to sleep and for you when you want to clean up the mess.
Fleece bedding will simply hold all the feces, which you can simply throw out, wash and replace.
This way, you won’t have to continuously clean your pet’s cage every day.
If you are not a fan of fleece bedding, you can always try wood shavings or newspapers.
Keep in mind that you will have to replace them with new ones every other day since they are not recyclable.
Are Guinea Pig’s Feces Dangerous or Toxic?
Pregnant women are told to keep away from boxes that contain cat litter since they can catch parasites that are present in a cat’s feces.
However, that is not the case with guinea pigs— you will be happy to learn that a guinea pig’s feces are mostly safe to be around.
Just like all other waste matter, it can contain viruses or bacteria if your guinea pig is sick or has a serious infection.
When handling your guinea pig’s waste matter, make sure to wear gloves and not use your bare hands.
Don’t touch your nose, mouth, or eyes before disinfecting them properly, or you can easily get infected.
Guinea pigs can be infected with Toxoplasma gondii, which can be identified in their fecal matter.
Toxoplasma gondii is extremely contagious and can be transferred to people if they are exposed to infected guinea pig fecal matter.
They can also get lymphocytic virus, which can induce headaches, nausea, fever, vomiting, and physical pain.
If your pet has a lymphocytic virus, make sure to move their cage.
Unlike Toxoplasma gondii bacteria, which will only infect you when you touch it, the lymphocytic virus can easily be inhaled when you’re near the fecal matter.
This is why it is best to move their cage until they are cured so nobody in the house is affected. It is best for pregnant women to not go near infected guinea pigs.
Where Do Guinea Pigs Poop?
This depends entirely on your guinea pig and the training they have gotten from you. Some guinea pigs tend to poop everywhere.
Whether they’re inside their cage or sitting on your couch, it doesn’t matter. However, if you have trained your guinea pig accordingly, they will only poop in their cage.
Some guinea pigs pick a spot in their cage and poop there every day. This makes things easier for you when you are cleaning their cage.
Simply clean the small space rather than the whole cage every day. You can even train your guinea pig to poop in a litter box, which you can keep inside their cage.
How Do You Potty Train Guinea Pigs?
It may take a while, but you can easily potty train your guinea pigs. Unlike dogs that bark and seek your attention when they need to poop, guinea pigs will poop wherever they feel comfortable.
Since guinea pigs are prey and scared of loud noises and bright light, you have to make your pet realize that the spot is safe.
Guinea pigs tend to poop wherever they think their predators can’t find them, and that is usually their cage.
This is why it is a good idea to train them in a dark area since they feel more comfortable in the dark.
Place their litter box in a dark space where they will understand that nobody is following or stalking them and they can do their business in peace.
Many guinea pigs tend to poop where they eat, so another way to potty train them is by keeping the litter box near their eating spot.
This way, not only will you create a safe environment for them but also save time on cleaning.
Is it Safe to Use Guinea Pig’s Fecal Matter as Fertilizer?
It is completely safe to use your pet’s waste as fertilizer. You can add their waste to your flower beds or garden without composting it.
Guinea pig’s poop will provide nitrogen to your plants and keep them healthy and alive.
You can also use your pet’s poop to make liquid fertilizer. Simply add their waste to a bucket and then add water.
Let it sit for a couple of days before applying it to your plants.
Conclusion
Guinea pigs tend to poop a lot and you should be worried if your pet hasn’t pooped in a while.
However, you can potty train your guinea pigs so that they don’t make a mess everywhere.
If your guinea pigs suffer from Toxoplasma gondii, do take them to a vet.
Other articles you may also like: