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General How much "Mess" does a single guinea pig make each day?

dakotaw

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HI! I know that it's good for guinea pigs to have buddies, but IF I am allowed to get one, it will have to be a lone piggy. (Don't worry, another female lives across the street :) They may become friends!) Anyway, how much mess does a single guinea pig make on fleece a day? What about on bedding? And do cages smell at all??? Thanks!
 

MissJean

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I have to sweep my fleece a few times a day. They are poop machine guns and they pull undesirable hay out of their racks that litters the floor too. All I smell is hay, except when I tried to combine all four of my pigs together. Boars playing the dominance games smell quite bad, but it airs out without too much difficulty.

There is a possible issue with piggie play dates. Every time you bring them together, they'll start the whole dominance games again. Doing that repeatedly might be a bit stressful on the pigs.

I implore you to do the math and talk to your parents about getting two pigs. It really does not add a noticeable amount to their expense. If you get your pig from a rescue/shelter, they'll often already be paired anyways.
 

jowasaurus

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It really just depends on the guinea pig. On fleece, there'll be a lot of visible poops that need spot cleaned once a day [probably like 10-15 poops a day for one pig?] Some pigs use a littler pan on a regular basis, but don't count on it. =P The fleece and towels/ mattress pads/ U-Haul pads need to be changed once a week-ish if you don't want there to be a smell. I have an air purifier in the room with the 4 and it doesn't really smell at all.

With bedding, the biggest mess will be the pigs running around and kicking everything out. Its pretty much inevitable. It'll cost more money and, in my opinion, begin to smell a lot sooner than fleece ever does when it's cared for properly. The bedding will need to be dumped [either in the trash or a compost pile] and everything will need to be wiped down with a water/ vinegar mixture. [It's the same thing when changing the fleece]. That really helps the smell of the coroplast/ plastic of the cage not start.

So yeah, if either one isnt changed as often as it should be, at least once a week-ish, they'll start to smell. It will turn into just a big pile of poop and urine, how is it NOT going to smell, ya know?

And having a lone pig isn't always terrible, though 2 are always recommended. They need someone to hang out with when you're not home or when a human finds it convenient to enter the room and give attention. A neighbors pig hanging out and making "play dates" isn't really a good thing. Guinea pigs have to go through this dominance dance that can be stressful and full of awkward get-togethers EVERY time they meet. So them only seeing each other every few days won't really be good for either of them. Sorry if that was your plan. =/ Not trying to burst a bubble or anything


And thanks [MENTION=18169]MissJean[/MENTION] for typing so much faster than me.
 

ILoveMillie

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Well I'm not really sure how I can explain how much mess a guinea pig makes in a day so hopefully another member can explain it to you better, but it's a decent amount. It also depends on the guinea pigs. My guinea pig likes her litter box, while my foster pig goes everywhere. They make the same mess on both fleece and bedding it might just look messier on fleece because sometimes the bedding can hide the poos. Although on bedding their pee is more noticeable than on fleece. You can get darker fleece so the poos don't show up as much, but I have found that it's a lot harder to sweep up the cage with darker fleece.

As for the cages smelling, they aren't going to smell like flowers :) They will have an odor, but I wouldn't say it's a bad odor because it smells mostly like hay. The more you sweep up the cage, and the more often you do full cage cleanings, the less the cage will smell.

Last thing, I wouldn't recommend letting your guinea pig play with the female across the street. One reason is it's not very nice for your guinea pig to have a friend for like an hour and then take them away from each other. Also, it's stressful for guinea pigs to meet over and over again because they have to go through dominance again every time they meet. Either get a guinea pig that doesn't like others, like I did, or get two guinea pigs. If you can only get one guinea pig, rescues have multiple guinea pigs that aggressive toward other guinea pigs and therefore are singles. That's what happened to me. My parents only allowed me one guinea pig so I went to my local small animal rescue and a little single piggie picked me :) I've tried her with lots of guinea pigs, but to this day she still hates every pig.

Hope I helped!

EDIT: Looks like everyone beat me :) By the way, my guinea has pooped at least 10 times in the last 2 hours. Just for reference.
 

Kristine

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Mine poop a ton, but they are each different. My girls use the litter box almost exclusively so there is little mess. The boys are horrible mess makers. They poop everywhere and Zeus drags his butt and scents everything up. He stinks.
 

schavarry

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Something I haven't seen mentioned here - if you use "tidy pads" under the more trafficed areas (where they urinate the most) and change those out every 2-3 days the fleece will smell less over all.
 

dakotaw

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The cage will be in a large living room... Do you think that will pretty much eliminate the smell?
 

madelineelaine

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my pigs poop ALWAYS. In a day they can easily make 50 poops. I have 2 pigs.
 

Ithilgil

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I'm not exactly sure how much mess a cavy typically make per day, but I think it depends on the guinea pig. If they like tipping over their food dish (mines sometimes do that), it would make a big mess. The hay rack area is generally covered in hay, since some hay would fall through the grids and the piggie would pull them down.

I use fleece bedding, so it's just a matter of vacuuming or throwing away their poo and fallen pellets and hay.

And I don't find the cage stinky, even though I keep it in my bedroom (it's really big). Even if there is a scent, the smell of hay usually dominates over it.

I don't think that a change in location would completely eliminate the smell. It's just that a smaller room would make the smell more noticable.

But if you're worried about a smell, change the bedding and clean the cage every few days. That's what I do for all my pets
 

Paula

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I'd count on them making a huge mess. They are not tidy animals and they pee/poop a lot. I have two single males and their cage is a wreck by the end of the day; not to mention if you don't sweep poos, it gets even worse. If you're a person (or live in a family) who has a problem with odors, you are going to be able to smell it and it will probably cause an issue. There are a lot of things you can do to minimize the mess/odor but the reality is they are messy animals and they do have an odor. They can be a chore to keep up with, so please consider carefully if these are things you can manage/live with before getting one.

All those things said, they are wonderful creatures and the mess/odor doesn't outweigh the happiness they bring to your life. Also, all those things said, I have a pair of males living together and I can't honestly say that the mess/odor they create is any worse or more than my singletons.
 
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