Behavior Peeing in their Food Bowl

[jewelgirl94]

My two girls keep using in their food bowl as a potty. It's not every day, but it's more often than not and I would like to not have to keep throwing away their soggy pellets. Is there any way to keep them from doing this, or is this normal piggy behavior?

 

[Snugglybutt]

How much pellets are you giving your girls if they have enough time to pee multiple times in the bowl? I'm just wondering because my boys finish their pellets in about 10 minutes. I'm not sure if there's any way to stop them from doing that, guinea pigs typically pee and poop where they eat and sleep!

 

[jewelgirl94]

I don't give them a whole lot, around 3-4tbs at a time, but they don't eat it voraciously like they do their veggies; they'll just nibble all day. And idk if it's multiple times a day or just once, but I can tell that it's at least once because the pellets swell up.

 

[ItsaZoo]

Maybe you could try a treat ball that they roll around to dispense pellets. I bought one that has adjustable openings just so my piggy would have some entertainment. Here is a link to the one I bought: https://a.co/d/gshyRVX

Also, instead of a dish on the floor of the pen, I bought a cute little shallow coffee cup at a thrift store and I hang it by the handle on the side of the cage. It is off the floor and tipped so she can get her pellets, but there are no spills and she can’t use it for a toilet.

 

[sallyvh]

Have you actually seen them pee in their bowl or are you just finding soggy pellets?

I ask because I have a couple pigs who will fill their mouths up with water and then eat pellets... it can sometimes create some messes in the pellet bowl as they go back and forth from eating and drinking.

However, if it is urine in their food, I definitely do not think they are doing it on purpose. It's likely just a coincidence and it may be worth moving the pellets to a different location in the cage.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I agree with @sallyvh. Pooper would do precisely that. He would take a mouthful of water and spit it in the pellet bowl before eating his pellets. It was a funny quirk he had his entire life, and it made a mess.

What it did do for us, however, was make us realize that if we wet some pellets for Sly, when he had his dental issues it would make them easier for him to eat. After his molar planings we would put a second bowl of moistened pellets down for him. It also made a heck of a mess, but Sly would eat them.

 

[jewelgirl94]

I haven't actually seen them do it, but since they occasionally poo in the bowl too I just assumed that it was pee. It does make some sense that they might want things a little softer sometimes, but I didn't even think that they could carry water in their mouths!

I also don't think they're doing it on purpose if it is pee, and it probably doesn't bother them, but it grosses me out!

 

[spy9doc]

I agree with the previous comments in that my boys go back and forth from the water bottle to the pellet bowl. Their pellets become moist and crumble easily and there is always a big stain under the water bottle where the pellet/saliva mixture has spilled on the fleece. And, on rare occasions I find poops in the pellet bowl which I'm sure aren't deliberate.

Why does it bother you if they pee in the pellet bowl when cavies eat their own poops? I agree that it isn't aesthetically pleasing to us to imagine them doing that, but they are their own little beings and what may be proper to us means nothing to them.