How Often Should I Change My Guinea Pig's Cage?

Question

I only changed it yesterday but now today it's full of p**p and urine again and her hay is all sunken down and wet. It's attracting flies to my bedroom too. I'm going to change it again in a minute but is it normal to have to do this every day?

Also, she walks into her water and splashes on it and poops on her salad plate like she did today when she was out for her run around.

Now she just looks depressed and sad and it's breaking my heart to see her like that. I've had her up on my lap for the last few hours talking to her and cuddling and rubbing her but she doesn't seem to be coming back to being happy the way she was this morning. Some days I'm good with her and can make her happy, but other days she seems to dislike me. Even a nice treat of some banana was refused by her but she did have some nice peas so she isn't off her food.

I honestly don't know what to do with her??

Answer 1

I recommend that you look in your guinea pig's cage each evening, and replace the soiled bedding, which has f***s or urine on it. Yes, it's definitely normal. I would not change all of the bedding each day, but as I said, only the soiled ones.

Each week, I'd change the entire bedding, just to have a new, fresh start. It's normal that she will p**p on her food, and it's also normal if your guinea pig eats their p**p. It is disgusting to the eye, but definitely not poisonous to your guinea pig.

Your guinea pig might be depressed for several reasons. Is she with a play mate? If not, you might want to look into getting another guinea pig. Is she in a big enough cage? If not, you might want to invest in a larger cage environment.

Your guinea pig might even be distressed because of the dirty environment! All rodents live best when their cage is constantly clean.

My guinea pig currently is fairly clean, and only poops in one corner, as I've potty trained him. I do clean that corner and any wet places each day, and replace all of the bedding weekly.

If you have any additional questions, just e-mail.

Answer 2

Try putting her water in one of the water bottles like they have in the store. Most of the damp stuff you think is urine MIGHT be her water. They also make bowls with higher lips and racks for her hay. What kind of bedding do you use? Might want to find more absorbent bedding.

When i had a guinea pig we would take about half of the bedding out and replace it with fresh bedding once or twice a week, and would fully clean and spray the cage every other week.

Stuff i used (you can choose other kinds):

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js...

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js...

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js...

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js...

Answer 3

First of all, guinea pigs are eating & pooping machines. They produce close to 150 poops a day! If you have flies after *one* day, then I'd say your problem is that your cage is way too small. A C&C cage would be the best option for you & your piggie. See this link for info & instructions on how to build a C&C cage:

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

If you are using hay as bedding, this could be another problem. Hay is NOT absorbent and is going to get wet & nasty very fast. Find another bedding, but not pine or cedar, since these are toxic.

Contributing to the wetness problem would be a water bowl. You referred to your piggie as "walks into her water". If you have a bowl, get rid of it & get her a water bottle with a metal sipper tube. This will cut down on the wetness immensely.

Lastly, your piggie is depressed & sad because she's alone. You may be giving her quite a bit of attention, but the bottom line is that all guinea pigs NEED the interaction from another pig to be truly happy. They are very social herd animals and need to be around another of their own kind. Please do the kind thing and adopt her a same-s*x buddy from a local shelter or rescue.

http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm

Answer 4

well you should change it at least once a week. But it also depends on how old they are because if they are cavies then you should change it more offend because they have smaller bladders  

Answer 5

do it one a week dont do every day cuz that's just a big waste of money  

Answer 6

Makes me think that she needs a larger cage if she's making it dirty in one day. Look online and check out C&C cages.

Also, have you thought about getting another guinea pig (same gender) to give her a friend of her own kind?

What bedding are you using? Sounds like she needs something more absorbent, if her cage is moist & attracting flies. I recommend Yesterday's News. Great for odor control, and pretty absorbent, as well.

Answer 7

u shouldnt use hay u should use bedding u can buy at  petco and petsmart and u only have to change every other week! good luck

Answer 8

You should clean it twice a week or once a week at least,I have two rabbits and we clean their cages once a week.