Do Guinea Pigs Smell? Does it Stink Up a House?
Everyone knows that guinea pigs are cute, but the critical question is how bad do they smell?
If you’re considering getting guinea pigs, this is a natural question. Guinea pigs themselves don’t usually stink, but their cage can get smelly if it’s not maintained correctly.
The good news is that this is entirely preventable. I’ll also share a couple of cage cleaning hacks further down this page that I use to make cleanup a breeze (even with 12 guinea pigs!)
Are Guinea Pigs Messy?
Guinea pigs can be messy, although this doesn’t necessarily translate to being smelly.
Guinea pigs do poop a lot. Guinea pigs will also not hesitate to poop and pee in the areas where they eat and sleep. In fact, it’s usually those spots where they eliminate the most. Kinda gross, right?
The good news is that you can contain much of the mess by anticipating this. For example, you can choose a roomy litter box and use this for all of your guinea pig’s hay and food.
You can also put absorbent fleece pads or inexpensive noodle rugs under houses and sleeping areas so you can swap them out easily. If you do these things, keeping on top of the mess is a breeze.
Does Guinea Pig Pee Have a Strong Smell?
Guinea pig pee is going to have a more pungent odor than poop. With that said, guinea pig pee doesn’t have as strong of an ammonia smell as some other animals.
Larger animals such as cats, dogs, rabbits, and ferrets, all have smellier pee than guinea pigs. Even some small animals like male mice have a stronger ammonia smell than guinea pigs.
I’ve personally found that guinea pig pee has a less intense smell than that of rats, rabbits, cats, and dogs.
You can also reduce the ammonia smell from urine by identifying your guinea pigs’ favorite places to pee. Put extra bedding or pads in these areas and spot-clean them more frequently to keep any smells at bay.
Can Guinea Pigs Stink Up the Whole House?
The good news is that guinea pig smells don’t typically travel far from the cage. I’ve always kept my guinea pigs in a bedroom or spare room, and the smell was never detectable outside the room.
I also know of many people that keep the cage in a central part of the home near the kitchen or living room with no issues.
If their living area is clean, you shouldn’t detect any odors from the guinea pigs throughout the rest of the house. Quick daily spot cleaning can also prevent any smells from building up.
One exception to this can be the hay scent. Fresh piles of hay can smell, especially when you first take it out of the bag. On cage cleaning day, when you add a lot of hay at once, this scent may travel further than usual.
Hay has a sweet smell that many people find pleasant, but it may bother individuals who are sensitive to smells. Fresh hay can also trigger allergic reactions in people with allergies, so it’s a good idea to find out if hay affects you before bringing guinea pigs home.
What Can Cause Guinea Pigs to Smell?
Your guinea pig’s cage is the most common culprit when it comes to smell. However, if you have a clean cage and still find that your guinea pigs are smelling, you need to look deeper to find the root of the problem.
It is rare for guinea pigs themselves to stink. However, sometimes things like illness, diet, or dirty fur can cause a pungent odor. I’ll go over some of the potential offenders below and discuss what you can do to fix them.
Leaky Water Bottles Can Cause Your Guinea Pig Cage to Smell
Some guinea pigs are very messy drinkers. You may also end up with water bottles that are prone to leaking. This causes the water to puddle around the cage, mixing with the poop. This can produce quite a foul smell.
To avoid this, put some absorbent pads under the water bottles if you notice them dripping or puddling water. I like to hang water bottles over a litter box so the box catches all the drips.
I use these puppy litter boxes for my guinea pigs because the low sides make it easy to hang water bottles over them. Putting the water bottle in the box also gives the guinea pigs an extra reason to go in their box and perhaps use it more.
Poor Diet
Guinea pig poop can start to smell more if the guinea pig is fed an incorrect diet. Guinea pigs are herbivores. As such, their diet should consist of 80% grass hay, such as timothy or orchard hay. They should have a big pile of hay in their cage 24/7 to encourage them to eat as much of it as possible.
Guinea pigs also need a small amount of high-quality pellet food. I personally use the Oxbow Essentials brand. They only need about 1/8 cup per day of this food to get the extra vitamins they need.
Avoid festival mix pellets with seeds or colored pellets. These have added sugar and preservatives that are not healthy. In addition, guinea pigs should not have any seeds in their diet.
They also need between 1/2 to 1 cup of fresh vegetables per day. It’s best to feed a variety of vegetables for a balanced diet. It’s also a good idea to select vegetables high in Vitamin C.
Guinea pigs need to get this vitamin from their daily diet to prevent a disease called scurvy. Bell peppers are very high in Vitamin C, which makes them one of the best vegetables you can feed your guinea pig every day.
Additionally, some guinea pigs are prone to diarrhea when they eat too many watery vegetables, so it’s crucial to keep an eye on that. If you notice their poop getting soft or smelly, you may need to cut down on fruit and vegetables temporarily until it returns to normal.
Also, avoid all kinds of meat, dairy, and animal by-products. Any processed or human food aside from vegetables should not be fed to your guinea pig. Avoid iceberg lettuce as this can cause diarrhea.
It’s also best to offer gassy vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage in small amounts to avoid any stomach upsets. Check out our list of 45 foods to never feed your guinea pig for a more comprehensive list.
A Small Sized Cage
A small cage can build up in smell much faster than a larger cage, like a C&C or Midwest cage.
This is because the smell is more concentrated in a small cage, and the mess builds up much faster. This is not great for your guinea pig’s lungs, and it can also cause the room to smell up quickly.
The universally recommended cage size is 7.5 square feet for the first guinea pig and 2.5 square feet for each additional piggy.
Eight square feet is the minimum recommended size for a pair of guinea pigs.
Uneaten Fresh Food in the Cage
Vegetables that have begun to wilt and go rotten in your guinea pig’s cage can also start to smell. They can even develop mold if they get buried underneath bedding or forgotten.
Be sure to check your guinea pig’s cage a couple of hours after giving them any fresh fruit or veggies. Remove any uneaten food promptly so it doesn’t get lost and contribute an unsuspecting smell to your guinea pig’s cage.
Does Hay in a Guinea Pig Cage Smell?
One of the most noticeable smells of guinea pigs is the smell of fresh hay. This smell doesn’t usually travel far from the cage, but it is present.
Most people find this to be a pleasant smell, but it may bother some individuals. Unfortunately, this scent is unavoidable, as guinea pigs are herbivores and need hay to be a large part of their diet for proper dental and gut health.
Also, if you use shavings as your bedding of choice, you will have a bit of a wood fragrance type of smell from them, especially when you first put down the fresh shavings. Again, it’s not necessarily an unpleasant smell, but it is a smell regardless.
Illness Can Cause a Foul Odor
Certain illnesses can also cause your guinea pig to put off a pungent smell. For example, urinary tract infections (UTIs) can make your guinea pig’s pee smell much worse than usual.
Diarrhea, abscesses, ear infections, tumors, and dental problems can cause a funny smell as well.