mice problem - attracted to the guinea pig food

[Jenjen]

Hi there. I'm new to this, but wondered if any one can help? Since having guinea pigs, the cage is in the house, we have a constant stream of mice in the house which we can't get rid of. All our food is covered and cleared away, so it must be the guinea pig food in their bowls that is attracting the mice. We have seen mice in the cage too. We have put a trap close to the cage and have so far caught about 20 mice, but they don't seem to be going away. What else can we do?

[Comely Guineas]

Maybe you are leaving too much food in their bowls? Guinea pigs only need 1/8 of a cup of plain, no seeds or nuts, timothy hay based pellet per pig per day. My pig eats his bowl of pellets up within a few hours, so not leaving food in the bowls overnight would be a big help in preventing the mice. That's all the advice I have sorry.

[ThePigAlchemist]

I would look at sealing off entry points. I had a mouse problem at an old apartment, and they didn't go away until management sealed all off the various nooks and crannies and put out traps.

[bpatters]

Ditto to not leaving the food down. My pigs scarf up everything I put in the cage as soon as I put it down, so maybe you're overfeeding them if there's food left.

Also, do block the mice or otherwise get rid of them. They can carry diseases that guinea pigs can catch.

[LifeAsItMayBe]

If it isn't already, make sure your cage is off of the floor. I recommend putting it on a table with metal legs that would be hard for mice to climb.

But, if you have that many mice coming into your house it may be time to call a pest control company to evaluate where/how they are getting in and how to prevent them. Putting food away will not stop them from coming in and spreading disease to you, your family, and your pets.

[lunarminx]

I'm going to say you have had mice before the pigs, they just found the open food. My sister caught what she thought was 21 mice in a month and a half. Her husband live trapped the mice and let them go at the back of the yard, thinking they would never find their way back into the house. I told her to put red food coloring on the next couple mice she caught and it seem they were catching the same few mice over and over. are you live trapping them? if so where are you letting them go at?

[Jenjen]

I'm going to say you have had mice before the pigs, they just found the open food. My sister caught what she thought was 21 mice in a month and a half. Her husband live trapped the mice and let them go at the back of the yard, thinking they would never find their way back into the house. I told her to put red food coloring on the next couple mice she caught and it seem they were catching the same few mice over and over. are you live trapping them? if so where are you letting them go at?

[Jenjen]

Thanks so much for all the really useful advice. I am afraid I'm not live catching, so it's definitely not the same ones getting back in. We've blocked up obvious holes, but clearly can't have found all the entry points. Am going to try everything you guys have suggested. Thanks again.

[Jenjen]

Thanks for this. I think I must be giving them too much food.