Our guinea pigs eat a lot and poop just as often. Leaving their poop laying around in their cage for too long can be hazardous for their health, but cleaning up their poop often will prevent that from happening.
So how often should you clean up guinea pig poop?
Depending on how many guinea pigs you have, you should clean up your guinea pigs poop anywhere from once a day to several times a day. The more guinea pigs you have, the more often you’ll have to clean up their poop.
If you keep more than a couple of guinea pigs then you’ll find yourself cleaning up their poop multiple times a day.
Luckily for us, there are several ways that we can clean it up. The best way is by using a handheld vacuum, but you can also use a scoop, or a small broom and dustpan.
That way it’s quick and easy, and it won’t take up much time from our busy days.
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Figuring Out Your Guinea Pigs Pooping Habits
Generally, you should spot clean your guinea pigs poop once a day but it all depends on your own current situation.
Several factors will determine how often you should clean out your guinea pig’s cage of its poop. Those factors are:
- How many guinea pigs you have living in one cage.
- How big they are.
- Whether they have stomach problems or not.
Once you’ve figured out the very basics, then you can think about their pooping habits:
- Do they poop a lot?
- Do they poop regularly or irregularly?
Figuring out your guinea pig’s pooping habits will make it easier to keep yourself on a schedule of when you clean it.
As you probably know, our little rodents have very distinct personalities and they differ from one another, and their pooping habits are no different.
How Often Should You Generally Clean Your Guinea Pigs Cage?
Keep in mind, apart from cleaning their poop at least once a day, you should clean their cage at least every other day.
That pretty much applies if you only have one or two guinea pigs by themselves in a cage. The more guinea pigs you have, the more times you will have to clean guinea pig poop in a day.
Remember guinea pigs love to be clean and hate to be dirty or around things that smell really bad.
So if you notice your guinea pigs poop starting to pile up around the cage more often, then you should start cleaning their poop out at least twice per day, every day.
There’s no need to do it more than once if you notice there’s little to no poop to be removed through.
On the other hand, this schedule is strictly for cleaning out poop. You should do a more thorough job of cleaning their cage, toys, and accessories on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
How Often Should You Clean Guinea Pig Poop With A Handheld Vacuum?
If you want a quick and easy way to clean your guinea pigs poop and their cage, you should use a handheld vacuum.
Because it’s so quick and easy, you can clean guinea pig poop with a handheld vacuum several times a day without taking up much of your time.
It should be small enough so that it doesn’t suck up everything in their entire cage at once, but big enough to deal with their poop with ease.
It should also be easy to take apart and clean, that way you’ll have no problem using it multiple times per day. It’s a great tool to have for a guinea pig owner with an on the go kind of lifestyle.
Recommended: Best handheld vacuums for a guinea pig cage
How To Clean Your Guinea Pigs Poop With A Handheld Vacuum
First, remove your guinea pigs from their cage and place them in a separate area like a playpen. Most guinea pigs will get scared easily and you don’t want to traumatize them. The next step is to clear away any hay.
If you use hay in their cage, try your best to move most of it away or brush it to the side before you start vacuuming.
That way you won’t suck up a lot of it and damage your vacuum. Once you’re done moving the hay away or if you use any other type of flooring as the base of the cage, then you can move to the final step.
Finally, use the vacuum to remove the poop from the cage. Take your time and do a good, thorough job.
Once you’re done cleaning the poop, just remove the dirt bowl filled with their poop from the handheld vacuum, throw it away and replace the dirt bowl.
This whole process shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes. Cleaning poop is rather quick and easy, especially if you are using a handheld vacuum.
How Often Should You Clean Guinea Pig Poop Using Your Hands?
Cleaning guinea pig poop by hand can be slightly more time consuming, but it’s definitely a more intimate way of doing it.
Because it can take longer to clean their poop by hand, you should spot clean it at least once a day.
There are several ways you can clean your guinea pigs poop by hand. The most common ways are:
- Using a scoop to do the job.
- Using your hands with gloves on.
- Grabbing a small dustpan and broom.
How To Clean Your Guinea Pigs Poop With Your Hands
The very first thing you want to do, no matter what method you want to try, is choosing between keeping them in their cage while you clean or removing them and putting them somewhere safe.
That way you can spend some time with them or you can let them have their fun outside of the cage and they won’t be in your way as you clean.
If you feel it’s not safe for them to roam around the room freely, you can place them in a playpen with some toys so they can play while you clean.
Once you’ve decided on what you want to do with your guinea pigs, it’s time to get to work.
Using A Scoop To Do The Job
If you go with the scoop option, you simply have to scoop the poop up and place it in a small trash bag and then throw away.
If you’re cleaning by hand, this method is probably the easiest.
Using Just Your Hands
When using just your hands, it’s best if you wear gloves that way you can be sure you’re being as clean as possible.
Once you have your gloves on just find the poop and grab it up with your hands and throw it away.
It’s probably a good idea to keep a small grocery bag with you while you do this so you won’t have to make multiple trips to a trash can.
Using A Small Dustpan And Broom
If you prefer to use a dustpan and a small broom, you should still wear gloves.
Just sweep up any poop along with any hay or bedding that it’s touching into the dustpan, then empty the dustpan into the trash.
With this option, you can do a more thorough job of cleaning than if you were to do it with your hands or using a scoop.
That’s because by sweeping it up, you can get a lot more of the small particles that your hand or scoop would’ve missed.
Using A Handheld Vacuum Is The Best Way To Clean Your Guinea Pigs Poop Often
There are multiple reasons why you should be using a vacuum to clean guinea pig poop.
- It’s the most practical way to do it.
- It’s a hygienic way to go about it.
- It’s the easiest method to take care of things.
Using a vacuum is way more practical than using either a scoop or a broom and dustpan. Both of them take an extra amount of time and a lot more effort.
You have to sweep the poop up, and it might even fall from whatever tool you are using. With a vacuum, all you have to do is hover over the poop and it’s gone.
Your hands won’t come into contact with the poop when you’re using a vacuum.
Unlike doing it with a scoop, dustpan, or with your hands where you’re most likely to touch more of the poop.
Finally, it’s the easiest way to clean your guinea pigs poop often. Just brush away the hay that they waste, turn on the vacuum, and toss out the dirt bowl.
Your biggest worry will be keeping your vacuum charged, but that’s something really easy to do.
Regardless of which method you choose to clean their poop, as long as you’re cleaning it at least once a day, your guinea pigs cage will be a much healthier place for them to live.