Potty-Training Piggies?

[CactusCavy]

I am a very new GP owner (I actually don't have don't have one at the moment, but will soon), and from what some of the rescue sites say, it seems like they potty-train their pigs. ("So-and-so is working very hard on potty-training...")Is it possible? It sure would make things easier...

And if so, how? Is it like training cats?

Help!

 

[daddyslilgirl19]

Well, personally I have never potty trained a guinea pig. I have with rabbits though. With them, if they poo on the floor, scoop it up and place it in the litterbox, then set him in it. They usally get the idea. You could try it with the piggies too.

 

[CactusCavy]

Thanks. I'll try that...

I'll also check out using the "cat method"... Sit the kitty in a fresh litter box, and dig with their paws, and after a couple of times, they'll get it. (My family has five cats.)

I'll try to get back to you on this, but don't be surprised if I don't reply for a quite a while...I gotta get my piggy out of the rescue place first! lol (and then i'm going on a camping trip...) so be patient, all who read this.

Thanks again, Daddyslilgirl...

 

[LiciaMommycott]

Training guinea pigs is nothing like litter training cats! Cats you show the litter box once and bingo, they're using it. I've heard rabbits and ferrets are easy too. Here's how it works with pigs...

Get a litter box and fill it with a bit of soiled bedding. Watch them pee and poop all over the cage and perhaps take a nap in the litter box.

I like to find the corner where they tend to potty the most and move the litter box there. Now watch them pee and poop all over the cage and perhaps take a nap in the litter box. Their primary poop corner has now moved to an unoccupied corner of the cage and their litter box continues to be a bed.

Keep this up for several months and finally you will see them pee and poop all over the cage and perhaps take a nap in the litter box.
The biggest accomplishment I've achieved is they no longer pee in my lap and rarely poop on me. They prefer the cage and will start squirming to get back there.

Nearest I can tell, they are not very trainable in the litter box department.

 

[katk925]

Remember, guineas dont "scratch with their paws" like cats. They have two kinds of poop, caecal pellets, which they eat, and fecal pellets, which they dont. You NEVER want to use cat litter anywhere near a pig. Mostly they will just pick a corner they like to use. If they are not picking a corner, more often than not it is because the cage is too small, but if you have a C&C cage and not a store bought one and they still poop all over, just accept it. Some pigs just are that way.

~kat

 

[CactusCavy]

Okay, that makes a lot more sense than the cat one because, as I realized after I posted that, GUINEA PIGS DON'T DIG LIKE CATS!!!!!!!!

Sorry, my mistake.

My first pig did actually go in just one corner--usually the one he slept in the night before--but alternated. It made cleaning a lot easier...

 

[Piglet]

I don't really mind where they poop. It only takes 5 minutes a day to pick them up.

 

[mncavylover]

First off, pigs don't get littertrained very easily. If they do, they are truly gifted!

Secondly, the pig will need a same-sex buddy. They are social herd animals and NEED to be housed together. See www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm. Also, Oxbow Cavy Cuisine is best for pigs over a year, Oxbow Cavy Performance for those younger. See (broken link removed) for more info. Secondly, hay must be given all the time. I recommend (broken link removed) for a cheaper, fresher, bigger, non-petstore, friendlier source.

See www.guinealynx.com for more info about anything you may need to know to get started, too. Good luck on the pigs, and if you have any questions about the above, feel free to ask. =)

 

[TinaFabulous]

Mine actually litter-trained herself, she still poops whereever she wants, which isnt a big deal. But what happened with her is this

She often plays with her waterbottle, (which is 20 oz might I add) more like empties the whole thing than asks for more, so we put her watterbottle over the litterbox in her cage so we could clean it and give her fresh water easily. Then her next idea was to move the litter box so we put an electrical tie through a small hole in the top of the pan and connect it to her cage. Anyway, somehow on her own, being the neat tidy pig she is realized if she pees in the litterbox it will get changed with the "pool" of water she makes. This is one smart pig, she dosnt like her cage wet AT ALL and realized she could just pee in there after seeing it come back clean almost every day. I dont think she pees anywhere else anymore. Then the water thing was becomming a real problem (and we only did this once) we filled it up all the way (which is alot more than usual because we usually fill often just to halfway) and she played with half of it, and the next day she played a bit with the last half but much less because nobody came to give her more to play with so she realized she couldnt (dont worry we gave her a full thing of water that night). It was never a problem again, this lady practically littertrained herself, all we did was change the litter.

 

[oreo33]

i potty trained my pigs but suprisingly it hardly took any effort. whenever they pooped i put it in there and they ran over to see what i was doing and hopped in and finished up right there. (my pigs are suprisingly smart)

 

[cinn&sprinslave]

One of my females is litter box trained but she did it her self.

I placed a corner litter box in her cage so she could hop in it and sleep. But instead she poops and pees only in the litter box, and only in the same corner of her cage every time. The rest of them will pee in the litter box, but run around and poop every where, but I don't mind because I spot clean every day.

 

[loves2travel]

litter training works for some pigs, is disasterous for others. it all just depends!

 

[CactusCavy]

Thank you, all of you. You've been very helpful. I'll try out your suggestions as soon as I get my pig (and his dad--they come in pairs...smart of the rescue) from the rescue-place which is an hour away.

I think i might also ask the rescue, as it was on their website i got the idea it might be possible.

~cactus