20 Reasons NOT To Get Guinea Pigs – Do They Make Bad Pets?
If you’re thinking about getting guinea pigs, you may be wondering, “What is the worst part of owning guinea pigs? Are guinea pigs the right pet for my family?”
Guinea pigs can make excellent pets, but like any animal, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of great reasons to get guinea pigs. I’ll have a link to that article at the bottom of this page.
However, in this article, I’ll be sharing all the reasons not to get guinea pigs, so you can judge both sides and decide if guinea pigs are the pet for you.
So, let’s dive in!
1. They Can Be Messy
Most people underestimate how much guinea pigs poop. They poop a lot. In addition, they often poop and pee where they sleep. This means their cage will usually require a bit of daily spot cleaning to keep their sleeping areas dry, in addition to a full clean weekly. If you use disposable bedding rather than fleece, you’ll probably find bedding kicked out of the cage.
Like all animals, guinea pigs have fur, and that fur will end up on your clothes. Hay is the biggest instigator of all; somehow, it ends up on the floor as much as it does in the guinea pig cage.
If you have carpet, hay will stick to it. Most vacuums cannot pick up long strands of hay, meaning it has to be picked up by hand. Hay also tends to get stuck to socks easily and carried to other rooms of the house.
You can cut down on some mess by strategically planning out your cage and litter training your guinea pig. Using a large litter pan or hay box can also help keep the hay contained. However, some guinea pigs will still be messier than others.
2. They Can Be Expensive
Guinea pigs require pellets, hay, vegetables, and bedding on an ongoing basis. Although there are ways to reduce these costs, they can still add up. Fresh vegetables are not always cheap, especially in winter. The upfront cost of a guinea pig can be pretty high as well. Guinea pigs need a large cage, playpen for floor time, toys, chew items, hidey houses, beds, water bottles, and bowls, in addition to food and bedding.
In addition, vet visits can be costly. Guinea pigs are generally healthy when well cared for, but emergencies can arise at any time. Guinea pigs can go downhill quickly when they get sick. This usually means they require an emergency vet appointment when they do get sick.
After-hours and rush appointments usually cost more than regular appointments. Guinea pigs are also considered exotics, meaning that they are generally more expensive to take to the vet than a dog or cat.
Additionally, guinea pigs need a vet that is knowledgeable about small animals, which can be hard to find in some areas. It’s a good idea to find a vet near you that deals with guinea pigs before you have an emergency on your hands. It’s also best to put money aside in case of an emergency when you have guinea pigs.
Guinea pigs generally cost less than bigger animals like dogs, but the costs can be high when things go wrong. Personally, I haven’t had health issues with my guinea pigs before the age of 5. The chances increase as guinea pigs age. However, something could always come up unexpectedly at any age, so it’s important to be prepared if it does happen.
Ongoing costs for food and bedding vary depending on different factors, but they typically fall in the range of $40 to $100 a month. I spend close to $100 a month for my pigs, but I have six guinea pigs! If you only have two, you can probably expect to spend much less than this.
3. They Require Responsibility and Commitment
Guinea pigs live an average of 4-8 years. This is much longer than most small pets like hamsters, gerbils, and rats. This means that guinea pigs are a pretty long-term commitment.
This raises several questions to consider about the future. What is your life going to be like in five years? Maybe even ten years? How do your guinea pigs fit into that? If you’re getting guinea pigs for your kids, what will their life look like in that many years? Will they stay interested in the guinea pig for that long?
Guinea pigs require a daily time commitment for their entire lives. They need to be cleaned, fed, and have time out of their cage for attention or floor time daily. If kids lose interest, the responsibilities need to ultimately fall on a responsible adult to meet their daily needs.
4. Guinea Pigs Need a Large Cage
Guinea pigs need a larger cage than any other small animal. Pet store cages are usually too small for guinea pigs and don’t give them adequate space to move around and exercise. This can quickly lead to obesity and health problems.
The recommended cage size for a pair of guinea pigs is 8 square feet. The Midwest cage is a good size for a couple of guinea pigs, or you can build your own C&C cage with wire grids.
In addition, the cage should be placed away from drafts and ideally in a part of the home where they’ll get a lot of attention. Living rooms are great if you have no other pets that will harass them.
Bedrooms are also a good place, as long as the cage is kept clean and someone is spending a reasonable amount of time around them.
5. Pet Sitters for Vacation
Going on vacation requires extra planning when you have guinea pigs. Guinea pigs cannot be left alone for very long. They should have fresh veggies daily and they also require immediate care if they get sick.
Even if you load them up with pellets and hay the day you leave, they will often trample down the hay and stuff themselves with all the pellets on the first day or so.
Because of these things, you’ll have to hire a pet sitter knowledgeable about small animals before you go away. If you go on vacation a lot or go away frequently for work, this cost can add up.
You can sometimes find friends or family that are willing to check in on your guinea pigs, but make sure they know how to properly look after the piggies before leaving them in their care.
6. Guinea Pigs Are Social Animals
Guinea pigs really should have a same-sex companion, no matter how much time you plan to spend with them. There is honestly no replacement for another guinea pig. This means you’re not committing to just one pet, but two.
While two guinea pigs aren’t quite double the work as one, they do eat twice as much and require slightly more cleaning. In addition, you have twice the chance of vet bills.
7. Washing Guinea Pig Bedding in Your Washer
Most people use washable, reusable bedding in their guinea pig’s cage to reduce the cost of disposable bedding. This can include fleece liners, towels, or chenille bath mats.
Since guinea pigs require large enclosures and frequent cleaning, disposable bedding gets costly if you use it for the entire cage. Fleece bedding costs more upfront, but it’s much less in the long run.
However, this does mean you have to wash guinea pig bedding in your home washing machine. You can take stuff to the laundromat, but this is an added cost and takes more time.
As long as you shake out your guinea pig’s bedding thoroughly first, it doesn’t cause much of a mess in the washer. However, you can also use animal bedding wash bags to protect your washer further.
8. Guinea Pigs Can Be Delicate
Guinea pigs do not have flexible spines like rats, mice, and hamsters. Because of this, guinea pigs should never be laid on their back or put in exercise balls as they can easily injure their backs.
In addition, guinea pigs can be seriously harmed if they are picked up incorrectly or squeezed too hard. Young kids should never be allowed to pick up guinea pigs by themselves, and they should be sitting quietly every time they hold or interact with a guinea pig.
Guinea pigs can also be injured very easily when dropped, even from a very low height. They can be jumpy and skittish as well, which can make them potentially even jump or wiggle out of your arms while you carry them. It’s crucial to be very careful and hold your guinea pigs very securely every time you move them.
9. Guinea Pigs Can Squeal Loudly
I find guinea pigs generally pretty quiet, and I even had them in my bedroom for quite a while. However, when they think you have food, they can be anything but quiet! Their noises are adorable, don’t get me wrong. But some guinea pigs can rival a fire truck siren when food is involved!
Most guinea pigs will start squealing at the top of their lungs whenever they hear crinkling bags or a fridge opening.
I find that my guinea pigs also start squeaking off and on for about an hour before their feeding times. Guinea pigs have an excellent internal clock, and they will remember when feeding time occurs!
To limit excessive squealing, make sure you feed them at set times. Avoid going in and feeding them as soon as they squeal. This will teach them that squealing makes people bring food! They will train you very quickly if you let them.
I’m always careful not to go in and feed my guinea pigs any earlier than 8 pm (that’s their dinner time.) If they start squealing at 7:30 and I go in and feed them, they will get even earlier the next night. And earlier, and earlier. Then they’ll probably also squeal at 8 pm because they don’t seem to think that the earlier feeding replaces their regular dinner time.
If you’re not consistent, you can sometimes end up with guinea pigs that squeal all throughout the day.
10. Exercise is Challenging
Guinea pigs don’t have flexible spines like many other rodents. For this reason, they cannot get exercise by running on wheels. In addition, guinea pigs are very prone to obesity, so exercise is essential to prevent health problems.
You can encourage your guinea pigs to exercise by providing a large cage and regular floor time outside their enclosure in a guinea pig-proofed room.