Arizona's Nonprofit
Small Pet Rescue
& Sanctuary
501(c)(3)
88-2396240
My Guinea Pig Story
When I started my hamster rescue in January of 2020 I had no intentions of intaking guinea pigs. During that year I was asked multiple times and always redirected people to various rescues and shelters saying I could only provide accommodations for hamsters and domestic mice. Then in 2021 there was a horrific situation that no one else was able to help with and suddenly I found myself ordering a same day delivery cage and preparing for a bonded pair of female guinea pigs. From the very moment I agreed to help until now I have learned some tips and tricks in all aspects of guinea pig care and am happy to share! In that split minute I decided to help that first pair of piggies, I ordered this cage which provides 12 square feet of floor space and has an optional rooftop.
Kaytee designed their Open Living cages to sit on the floor and are connectable if there is space. They are easy to set up but the positioning of them is awkward and not customizable. For that first rescue I used 2 cages connected and kept them on the floor, one was 12 feet and the other was 8 feet. Back then I had the space since my rescue was still fairly new in operation. Once those girls were adopted a year and a half later, I took up the cages and figured out how to set up 12-foot cages on tables, which is how I have them currently. To do this it was necessary to place a thin wooden panel on top of the table under the cage to compensate for the slight overhang.
Guinea pigs are social animals and need to have friends of the same gender, but if 2 originally bonded piggies have had a bond-break, two 8 foot cages side by side works well. For a herd of more than 2 females, a few of these cages connected could work. There are plenty of possibilities with these cages but again, they are awkwardly shaped, and a large amount of space will be needed.
C & C cages are always going to be more flexible options but, in the rescue, I wasn't able to make those work for me due to the emergent nature of that first intake. To learn more about C & C cages and other important guinea pig care topics, click HERE
Once I received that cage prior to the intake, I had to determine what to put at the bottom of the cage and wow did I learn some hard lessons. Everyone said just go to Walmart and get some fleece to line the cage with, so I did. Big mistake. After the girls were placed in their new cage with a couple of fleece panels at the bottom, they promptly scattered the pile of hay all over and peed everywhere too. The fleece was soaked in urine and coated with hay in less than an hour and I had no backups. I rushed to Walmart and bought more and rushed home to wash it and replace their soiled fleece with the freshly washed fleece and guess what? They soiled it all again in just 30 minutes after putting it down. I remember calling my friend who had guinea pigs asking for help and was told I needed fleece with an absorbent layer sewn in, the kind you can't buy in stores. Ugh! That's when I began my journey into what works and what does not work. What a roller coaster ride that was!
Many people use wood chips or paper based bedding for the bottom of their cages. I wasn't about to be sweeping out bedding from such large cages every day, so I opted to make fleece work and discovered Guinea Dad. Now I use a combination of fleece and noodle rugs and I taught myself how to litter box train the rescued guinea pigs using these litter trays lined with Carefresh Bedding and their hay on top.
Guinea pigs need and prefer soft items to walk on and lounge in and using fleece will protect the floor of their cages. Since they have to be continuously eating, they will be pooping a lot too, so I use layers to create a soft surface, which is good for their feet and legs as they age and is easily maintained. Now I just remove the top layers of fleeced pee pads and shake out the poops and also do that for the top noodle rugs. This is how I conduct my spot cleaning routine throughout the day so the cages are easier to clean at the end of the night. I really only need to clean up the top and middle layers daily and the bottom Guinea Dad layer gets washed about once per month. Pee pads, tunnels and hide houses all get washed as needed.
My most favorite website which makes custom items for small animals is Lucy's Cozies which is owned by Yaneri who does such fantastic work on all her made to order items I can't say enough good things here, but if you head to her website and browse around to view all she does you will see for yourself how awesome her products are. The piggies in the rescue absolutely love their tunnels made by Yaneri!
Using Guinea pig fleece is a financial lifesaver here, but as everyone knows, hay and hair stick to it like glue. This cordless sweeper takes care of that nicely. I like to keep this rubber brush nearby to brush the fleece out first, then run the sweeper over it. If the fleece is still fairly unsoiled, I'll place back in the Guinea Pig cages I use, but if its soaked and soiled, I'll add to the laundry hamper and eventually upstairs to the washing machine where I'll wash on the gentle cycle with vinegar or clear laundry soap but in-between washing piggie fleece and human clothing, I'll use a laundry sanitizer like This One
Once I finally figured out which piggie fleece to use, how to use it and a good routine, I began to mastermind a solution to tackle that hay! It WAS EVERYWHERE! After trying a few options the 2 that worked the best was the Guinea Dad hay in their own boxes and this hay rack however, I have not purchased the guinea dad hay in quite some time due to now having so many guinea pigs in the rescue and needing to buy hay in large amounts but for just a few guinea pigs, this could be a great less mess option. There is so much more to guinea pigs and their care then can be stated in just these short paragraphs I have written so I now have an in person class. Details can be found HERE
If you have your own guinea pigs and need a chart to keep track of their care, I created a free one just for you!
To See Guinea Pig Care Resources Click HERE