Is is ok for guini to be swimming???? - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

#1 06-21-02, 01:11 pm

We have a kiddie pool in our back yard , & i put my guini pig in to see if he likes it. He was a born swimmer! Does he really like to swim?? beacause soon he whould start to try and jump out. At his 3rd dip, I noticed someint white and gooey looking ozzing out the side of his eyes (he has black eyes) is that beacuse of swimming? should i stop his pool time? I think he gets great exersise, but that eye thing really bugged me! HELP!

#2 07-08-02, 09:26 am

I think he is swimming just to keep from drowning. This is just instinct. I doubt very much if he likes it. I wouldn't do it any more. There are better ways for him to get exercise. Guinea Pigs are not ducks.

#3 07-17-02, 10:36 am

I think the best way to tell if he reall likes it is to make it his choice. My mom's yard has a sandy area for the kids to play in. One time they made a moat(you know land in the middle and water around it) Well they wanted a pic of gizmo in there sand castle so we put him in the middle thinking he wouldn't go near the water. Well, he started to do laps. He would go into the center when he was tired and latter go and do more laps. After we found out he liked the water we took him to our pool. As long as they are not forced to swim and always have some where they can stop and rest I think it is ok.

#4 07-28-02, 09:09 pm

umm....well i have 17 guineapigs and they take baths and they try to jump out.....i wouldn't let him swim anymore but you should give him a bath at least once a month to keep him clean.But to replace the swimming you should just let him run around in a small room instead.I hope that helped!

#5 04-17-03, 10:47 am

Guinea pigs are from the same species as rats. They are rodents. Ever hear the expression "drown like rats?" Does that imply that guinea pigs would be born swimmers?

What possessed you to put your guinea pig into a swimming pool, especially after he tried to get out twice? That oozing stuff coming out of his eyes, I'm no expert, but MIGHT that be do the the chlorine in the water! You know, that TOXIC chemical that is used to KILL bacteria in the water! What makes you think it's safe for rodents?

Bathing guinea pigs is one thing, they need it from time to time, but in a sink where they can reach the bottom of the water, and there is no risk of drowning. I'm sorry, but I am really appaled to think that someone thought it was a good idea to throw a guinea pig into a swimming pool! Would you do the same thing to a hamster? A cat? A baby?

-Dan III

**CavySpirit** · #6 04-18-03, 11:13 am

Putting your pig in a pool like that is a bad idea. The only way you should try the swimming thing with guinea pigs is if it's a gradual slope and they have the ability to very easily get out of the water on their own. Example: a bath tub with towels at one end and the ability for them to easily climb or get out.

If a guinea pig gets his nose wet, he can very easily get an upper respiratory infection. The white fluid is their eye cleaning fluid, a natural thing for them. Anytime my pigs get a bath, it seems to be a natural reaction afterward. They go into a self-grooming mode.

But you need to be careful. Some pigs don't like to swim, some do. But they should always have the ability to get out on their own, unless you are doing some kind of physical therapy with them and holding or spotting them the entire time.

#7 04-20-03, 05:34 pm

ok DAN III- for one thing, the pool was i BLOW UP KIDDIE POOL!!! gaa!! another, he really seened to like it for a while, than he got tired and wanted to get out. seesh.:| plus, one of his favoite things to do now is to swime around the little pool while i put lettet flotting on the water. When he findes it i take him and and he eates. o, and if you didnt know this, blow up kiddie pools don't useally have chlorine in them. just thought you might like to know

#8 09-01-03, 01:49 pm

My Miss Chilli used to lounge around the backyard pool in the summer, and float with me on the big raft, and I even made her a Guinnea pool. I used a deflated air mattress and an inflated innertube, and put about 1 1/2 inches of tap water in. She seemed to love it. It was an easy way for her to cool off in the summer.

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#9 09-02-03, 02:47 pm

guinea pigs are not rodents8o

#10 09-10-03, 02:04 am

my guinea pig loves to swim but hates bathes so i think some like it some dont[/center]

#11 04-26-04, 03:58 pm

Ya know...I never thought of that before...its amazing that any guinea pig would love swimming...I am afraid to get mine at all wet because of the risk of being too cold...NEATO

lipglossartist · #12 04-30-04, 05:40 pm

I would never reccomend putting a GP in water any deeper than their bellies.....wether they like it or not.

Your GP was probably swimming to stay alive! Trust me, the very few people who have said on here that their GP's enjoy swimming need to sort out the facts of possibly why. Either their enviromnet was way to hot for them at the time or they plopped in by accident, or they were trying to get away from an even scarier situation.

Trust me, GP's are not swimmers. Please allow them to cooling, very shallow water, but no swimming please. :0)

cavylover · #13 04-30-04, 05:41 pm

eheeh id love to see a piggy swim.Itll remind me of a weiner dog swimming

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**fleur** · #14 07-28-04, 11:28 pm

My friend use to let her pigs swim and they loved it .She had a pool for them.I also read on another site that it is good exercise for them to swim and was thinking of teaching my one to to swim.

**Kyratwl** · #15 08-09-04, 10:25 pm

I do let mine swim as well. I keep an eye on them and if they appear to get tired or whatnot I let them out. Also, I dont leave them in there very long at all because I dont want them to get too tired. I dont see a problem with it at all. People swim to cool off and im sure if the water was over their heads theyd swim to keep from drowning too but also they do it cause its exercise. I sit in the water w/them and let them crawl on me if I dont actually pick them up. If they want to go back in they do. It is fun to watch them too

**mncavylover** · #16 08-10-04, 04:31 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by CavySpirit

Putting your pig in a pool like that is a bad idea. The only way you should try the swimming thing with guinea pigs is if it's a gradual slope and they have the ability to very easily get out of the water on their own. Example: a bath tub with towels at one end and the ability for them to easily climb or get out.

If a guinea pig gets his nose wet, he can very easily get an upper respiratory infection. The white fluid is their eye cleaning fluid, a natural thing for them. Anytime my pigs get a bath, it seems to be a natural reaction afterward. They go into a self-grooming mode.

But you need to be careful. Some pigs don't like to swim, some do. But they should always have the ability to get out on their own, unless you are doing some kind of physical therapy with them and holding or spotting them the entire time.

I think everyone should read this post again. I agree 100%.

**Emrielle** · #17 08-11-04, 01:19 pm

For one thing, guinea pigs are not rodents, and are not comparable to rats. It is a good idea to, when you let them swim, to have a stationary place for them to get on if they get tired. But you can't say that guinea pigs should not be allowed to swim, because there is no scientific evidence stating that it is naturally harmful, atleast with just clean water. Chlorine is harmful to them, but how many people put there small guinea pig into a deep chlorinated pool? I let mine swim in the bath tub, but one doesn't like it, so I keep him in the shallow end for his bath, and the other doesn't mind, so he goes where he wants. The white stuff however, Boe (my guineapig) has it as well, and I haven't figured it out either, but it is not because the water is harmful to all guinea pigs, because my other pig doesn't have the problem.

**mncavylover** · #18 08-11-04, 01:25 pm

"For one thing, guinea pigs are not rodents, and are not comparable to rats."

That is debatable and is one's own opinion.

"But you can't say that guinea pigs should not be allowed to swim, because there is no scientific evidence stating that it is naturally harmful, at least with just clean water."

Do you really need "scientific" evidence? Any experiment can be dubbed "scientific". Just my own opinion about that. Moving on...

Though you state that it is not harmful per-se, it can be deadly if a piggy gets some of the water in its nose or mouth and thus into its lungs. That can cause a respiratory infection. Drowning is also an issue, as well as stress. A pig can potentially get so scared and/or exhausted from swimming in fear that they become in need of a vet's immediate attention. Just thought I should bring that up. =)

**Emrielle** · #19 08-11-04, 01:51 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mncavylover

Though you state that it is not harmful per-se, it can be deadly if a piggy gets some of the water in its nose or mouth and thus into its lungs. That can cause a respiratory infection. Drowning is also an issue, as well as stress. A pig can potentially get so scared and/or exhausted from swimming in fear that they become in need of a vet's immediate attention. Just thought I should bring that up. =)

Right. I completely agree with you, and that is why I said naturally, but you are correct. Drowning is an issue and if the pig is not carefully watch or taken care of, all that you said could happen and that is why swimming is potentially harmful, but the swimming, excluding all those factors is not, in itself, harmful to pigs. Maybe I should have clarified. Sorry, and thanks for making that clear to me.

**LiciaMommycott** · #20 08-11-04, 02:14 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emrielle

For one thing, guinea pigs are not rodents...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mncavylover

That is debatable and is one's own opinion.

Guinea pigs ARE rodents, it is not debatable. It is not an opinion but instead a scientific fact.

Rodents are an order of mammals that have a single pair of incisors in each jaw, and the incisors grow continually throughout life.

For scientific classification see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavia

Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia (single row of upper and lower paired incisors which grow continuously; no canine teeth)
Family: Caviidae (tailless South American rodents with one pair of mammae and (2) four digits on front feet and three digits on hindfeet.)
Genus/Species: Cavia porcellus

For more about rodents:

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal...a/rodentia.html

Interestingly enough, the capybara (the largest living rodent and also related to the guinea pig but in the family Hydrochoeridae) are good swimmers and divers and have partially webbed feet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capybara
http://www.thebigzoo.com/Animals/Capybara.asp

However, just because they look like mini capybaras, based on the fact that they evolved on grassy plains and do not have webbed toes, I'd guess that they are not designed to swim.

That said, I've had cats that love to swim and cats that hate it. I'd say if you take a wading pool and make a little beach and the pig chooses to enter the water than fine. But don't just dump your pig in the water where he starts swimming for his life and then say "Oh, how cute! He's swimming." Also use fresh, clean tap water with no chlorine. You might even let the water sit for a few hours before giving the pig access as tap water contains enough cholorine to kill fish but which dissapates naturally with time.