General How bad do guinea pigs smell?

The smaller the cage the more they will smell. Also it helps to spot clean, clean the poop and pee everyday. Usually you change the bedding once a week and it helps to wash the cage with a dilute vinegar solution. Also I recommend using wood pellets for bedding, I started with carefresh but the wood pellets smell better and do a better job at smell control. Honestly they don't really smell though. They aren't dirty animals and they keep themselves clean. The only time you even give them a bath is if there is a reason for it, other than that you don't bathe them, but at most once every 3 months. Females are a bit cleaner. I really don't smell her at all and boyfriend is very picky about smelly animals and even he doesn't complain.

Also to comment on only getting one if you do then I would get one that prefers to be the only guinea pig as they need another guinea pig. Also make sure to adopt as they are healthier than the pet store ones!

Healthy, happy, well exercised, well fed guinea pigs who live in a clean cage should not smell bad at all. Every animal has their own kind of smell. But unless you really want to find a reason to complain... the smell of a happy healthy well exercised and well fed guinea pig who lives in a cage you keep clean, and I am speaking of the smell of my guinea pig Maximus von Lichtenwalder who is a boar, his smell is delightful to us. He smells clean, soft and warm with the tones of his diet, hay, cucumbers, grass, and so on... but I am totally responsible for how he smells, and how much- if I do not spot clean his cage daily of course I am going to be responsible for the build up of urine and rodent poop which will ultimately smell in any room especially one that does not have good ventilation and is closed up all day...

I think from the experience I have had with keeping one guinea pig, it is not the way to go. These animals come from big families in nature, they are much more active and happy when they have a friend of their own kind to live with, especially if they have chosen their friend and they bond well.

It's a very big consideration you are stepping into, make sure that your Mom is totally happy before you regret things. Perhaps you can arrange a few visits to a rescue that has large c&c cages and groups of piggies living together. Let your Mom see and get the feel of how it could and should be before hand. Have you thought about volunteering at a piggie rescue...

Nothing has to happen this red hot instant, I took 9 months actively looking into things and making decisions, re-thinking those decisions and coming to new conclusions before my friend suddenly dropped my foster piggie into our laps... I would have two in a flash if she would agree to take both if and when she returned...

oh but pigs are wonderful, take your time enjoy the process...

Unneutered males in the throes of adolescence and humping can smell, some worse than others. And as they get older, they will need to have their anal sacs cleaned out, which also isn't a pleasant odor. But neither males nor females will smell of urine or poop if you keep their cage(s) clean and their "skirts" trimmed so that the hair doesn't get dirty and matted. And you can always give butt baths if needed.

Thanks for adding that bit about the anal sac BPatters I thought I had typed that but re-reading I see I forgot to re-paste it where I wanted to move it to...

My experience of "strong" odor came when Maximus von Lichtenwalder's fur began to get sticky above his butt... In finding out what that was I discovered that males have a sac that needs to be cleaned out. It has a weird oily smell, the sticky fur is softened with coconut oil and brushed out, it can't be brushed out dry. Then a q tip is wetted in coconut oil or mineral oil and we have to insert that into the sac and clean out the accumulated muck in there. It's not difficult, but it doesn't smell wonderful it's smell to me is like concentrated fermented poops. The smell makes you diligently want to keep that sac clean! I haven't had to deal with boar glue yet so I can't tell you how much that smells. For all that though I would still have two boars than a lone pig.

I'm currently trying out the different styles of bedding recommended on this forum to find the sort that we prefer dealing with and that he prefers living on. We have to work out several happy compromises to get a win win.

KiwiCavyAdorer said:

Thanks for adding that bit about the anal sac BPatters I thought I had typed that but re-reading I see I forgot to re-paste it where I wanted to move it to...

My experience of "strong" odor came when Maximus von Lichtenwalder's fur began to get sticky above his butt... In finding out what that was I discovered that males have a sac that needs to be cleaned out. It has a weird oily smell, the sticky fur is softened with coconut oil and brushed out, it can't be brushed out dry. Then a q tip is wetted in coconut oil or mineral oil and we have to insert that into the sac and clean out the accumulated muck in there. It's not difficult, but it doesn't smell wonderful it's smell to me is like concentrated fermented poops. The smell makes you diligently want to keep that sac clean! I haven't had to deal with boar glue yet so I can't tell you how much that smells. For all that though I would still have two boars than a lone pig.

I'm currently trying out the different styles of bedding recommended on this forum to find the sort that we prefer dealing with and that he prefers living on. We have to work out several happy compromises to get a win win.

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I have 3 boys, and they all have oily stuff on their rears. Even tho they rub their rumps on the fleece, should I be cleaning that sac out on all 3 anyway? Is it easy to find? How often do you clean it? is this done during puberty only, or throughout life?

Sleepingchild, both males and females have grease glands very low down on their backs, just above the anus. Many people with females go through the pig's entire life without knowing about the grease gland. It's usually more active in males, and will need to be cleaned. You can rub it with cold pressed virgin coconut oil, leave for a few minutes, and then shampoo it. Or if it's really gunky, a drop of Dawn dish detergent will clean it -- just be sure to rinse it very thoroughly afterward.

The anal sac can only be seen from the underside of the pig. All male pigs should be checked regularly to make sure there's nothing stuck in there, like a piece of hay. But unneutered males frequently need to be cleaned out, some more often than others. And they'll need cleaning more often as they get older.

@sleepingchild , I have 3 boys and only Roger(he's an abby) gets a lot of hay stuck in his sac. I clean each boy but is Roger who is hiding stuff in his sac. It's easy to do once you get the hang of it. Here's a link that may help https://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.html
here's a video form an older thread I found(thanks @bpatters)
https://s226.photobucket.com/albums...tos/medical/?action=view&current=100_7765.mp4

Thank you so much! That helps a lot. I was just rinsing the hair around their rears, and just visually checked for bedding stuck down there, but knew nothing about the sac at all. Is there any other kind of grooming things in 'that area' that I should be aware of?

@sleepingchild, boys can also get hay and gunk traped around their penis. Once again Roger is my piggie that sometimes has a piece of hay stuck in there:yuck:! You just press the belly gently above the to make the penis extend(just like when determing sex) and clean with wet(warm) cotton swab or cloth.

Maximus von Lich.. Love the name

I can honestly say that I don't really smell my two girls at all.
And they are in my office and sit approx 2-3 foot behind me.

And all I do is clean down their cage every three days and scrub it down with a 50-50 solution of White Viniger and Water, And I sweep out their cage twice a day.

I smell the hay in their manger more then I do my pigs.
I also have a long haired hamster that sits not 6 inches to the right of me and I don't smell him either.

If you clean your pigs cage diligently tell your Mom that smell shouldn't be a problem.

If you clean your pigs cage diligently tell your Mom that smell shouldn't be a problem.

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That's true for girls, and it's true for the boys' cage, but not for the boys' stank. Maybe guineapigluvz and her mom should find someone with boys to visit and decide whether or not they want to deal with that.

Sleepingchild, do watch that photobucket video in post #8 -- it thorough covers the sac cleaning, and the only other thing you need to do is to extrude the penis to make sure there's no hay or boar glue stuck up in the sheath.