Why you need a “cavy-savvy” vet — and how to find one before an emergency happens. Guinea pigs are classed as exotic pets, which means not every vet treats them — and a vet without guinea pig experience can miss things that matter. What you’re looking for is a “cavy-savvy” vet: one with genuine, regular…
The short answer is no — here’s why, and what to do instead to keep your piggy healthy. No — guinea pigs do not need vaccinations. Unlike dogs, cats, and rabbits, there are no routine vaccines available or required for guinea pigs, and veterinary references including the Merck Veterinary Manual state this plainly. The reason…
Busting the most common misconceptions about guinea pigs and smell — both how they smell, and how they smell things. There’s a lot of misinformation about guinea pigs and smell. The biggest myth of all: “guinea pigs are smelly pets.” They’re not — guinea pigs are naturally clean animals that groom themselves constantly, and any…
Those cute face-hairs are actually sophisticated sensory organs — here’s what they do (and why you must never trim them). Guinea pig whiskers aren’t decoration — they’re specialized sensory organs called vibrissae, and they’re essential to how your pig navigates the world. Unlike ordinary fur, whiskers are thicker, stiffer, rooted much deeper in the skin,…
Smell, hearing, touch, sight, and taste — a guide to how your piggy perceives everything around them. Guinea pigs experience the world very differently from us. Their strongest sense is smell, which they use to find food, mark territory, and recognize you. Close behind is excellent hearing — they detect a far wider, higher range…
Smell is your piggy’s superpower — here’s how they use it to find food, mark territory, and recognize you. Smell is a guinea pig’s strongest and most important sense — far more powerful than their eyesight, and central to how they experience the world. Guinea pigs have roughly twice as many olfactory (smell) genes as…
A step-by-step cleaning guide — how often, what products are safe, and the routine that keeps things fresh. Cleaning a guinea pig cage comes down to two routines: a quick daily spot-clean (5–10 minutes removing droppings and soiled bedding) and a full clean once or twice a week (emptying everything, washing the base, and replacing…
The honest answer — plus how to keep your piggies and their cage smelling fresh. Good news for anyone considering a guinea pig: guinea pigs themselves don’t really smell. They’re naturally clean animals that groom themselves constantly, and their urine is far less pungent than many other pets’. So if you’re noticing an unpleasant odor,…
Fun, safe, (mostly) free toys you can make at home to keep your piggies happy and busy. You don’t need to spend a penny to keep your guinea pigs entertained — some of the best guinea pig toys are homemade from things you already have. Great DIY options include toilet roll and kitchen roll tubes…
Yes — here’s the colorful (but muted) world your guinea pig actually sees, and whether toy color matters. Yes — guinea pigs see color, and they are not colorblind! They have dichromatic vision, meaning they have two types of color receptor (compared to our three), so they see a more limited, more muted palette than…