Guinea Pig Care Basics
📝 Summary
Guinea pigs are rodents, not pigs, and need steady warmth around 20°C, a dry enclosed pen with hideouts, and daily cleaning. Feed a balanced mix of dry staples (corn, sorghum) and vegetables or fruit, little and often. Watch for vitamin-deficiency swelling and stress-related bald patches, and isolate and treat any sick animal promptly.
1 Housing
Guinea pigs are sensitive to temperature; keep the pen near 20°C and protect them from both chilling and overheating. Keep the floor dry with a layer of hay and prefer an enclosed pen. They are active at dawn and dusk, so give them sunlight and a few hideouts with holes to encourage movement. Clean the pen often.
2 Feeding
They eat a wide range of foods but have small appetites, so choose suitable feed. At scale, cheap staples like corn and sorghum work well; add vegetables and fruit (cabbage, carrot) for better condition and to balance dry and moist feed. Change water often, feed in small portions as they finish, and cut feed into small pieces. Once or twice a day is enough.
3 Disease Prevention
Group-kept guinea pigs are fragile and prone to illness, including vitamin deficiency that shows as swelling in parts of the body — counter it with vegetable-based moist feed. High humidity can cause bald patches on the head; isolate the animal and treat it at once. Baldness can also come from underfeeding or too much dry feed, so find the real cause and treat it specifically.
Want to learn more about pet health?
Explore our pet health channel for more science-based care guides
Read More Articles →