Guinea Pigs - Rodents with Attitude

Our hairless guinea pig Hairy in his cage when he was a baby

Guinea pigs love to be clean and they are much happier when their surroundings are fresh and tidy. Regular daily and weekly cleaning is essential to maintain the good health of your guinea pig and you will see how happy and contented they are in a fresh and clean environment.

Cleaning hutches and cages | Cleaning bottles and bowls

Hutches and cages need cleaning frequently for the comfort of your guinea pigs. A dirty hutch or cage is a perfect breeding ground for maggots (especially during the summer), hay goes mouldy, and urine soaked bedding can burn paws and stain belly fur. Dirty hutches and cages also smell pretty bad and your pet will hate living in a smelly environment. Guinea pigs are very cleanly creatures that spend a lot of time washing and tidying themselves and they appreciate a clean home to live in too.

Cleaning out disposable beddings
Before you start cleaning out, you will need the following:

Small animal disinfectant (purchased from pet shops and pet suppliers)

Biodegradable black bin bags (they're better for the environment)

Dustpan and brush (DIY stores sell these)

Rubber gloves (try the local supermarket)

If you use a disposable bedding such as newspaper, hay, straw, woodshavings or a paper by-product then simply put the lot into a black bin bag and throw it away. Use your dustpan and brush to sweep out any debris and then spray the hutch or cage floor with small animal disinfectant. Let it dry, and then put the new bedding in.

Cleaning fleece and Vetbed
If you use fleece or Vetbed, you will need to either wash this by hand in the sink or in your washing machine. If washing by hand in the sink, wear rubber gloves to protect your skin and make sure all fabric softners and detergents are thoroughly rinsed out. If you use your washing machine, get as much hay and other debris off the fleece or Vetbed before putting it into the washing machine. Many people, myself included, have clogged up washing machines with hay and flooded the kitchen! Never put fleece or Vetbed in the tumble drier, but do allow it to dry naturally by hanging it out.

You must clean your guinea pig's bottles and bowls regularly to remove mildew, old bits of food and hay and the mucky paw prints they leave around the rims of bowls!

Cleaning bowls
Bowls are quite straightforward to clean. For very mucky bowls, soak them in hot water in the sink with some washing up liquid and then give them a good clean with a sponge. Remember not to use the sponge for your own dishes afterwards!

Cleaning water bottles
Firstly, put on a pair of rubber gloves to protect your hands and fingers while cleaning. To clean the metal spouts, use a wet scouring pad to rub the spout and remove the green mucky stuff. Rinse the bottle several times with warm water until the spout is clean. Remember to also rinse the scourer every so often to keep it clean. This method can be used for both the traditional ball and spring bottles and the valve system bottles.

Take a bottle brush, which you can buy in all good supermarkets, shove it into the bottle and give it a good swish around with warm water to clean away residue. Rinse the bottle in warm water. Then you can either put your relatively clean bottle in the dishwasher on a normal setting, or wash them by hand in the sink with warm water and washing up liquid. If washing bottles by hand, rinse them through before leaving them to dry.