How To Potty Train Guinea Pigs In 6 Easy Steps

If you’re here because you want to know how to potty train guinea pigs, don’t worry; I will share all the information that you need for potty training your guinea pigs. The steps are very simple.

Just imagine this: Wouldn’t it be great if you don’t have to clean the poop inside the cage of your guinea pig? Indeed, it would be nice if your pet uses a litter box, and its habitat is clean at all times!

Potty training a guinea pig is possible, but it is not as easy as you may think it’ll be.

You should start training your guinea pig when it’s young. Research has shown that correcting behavioral problems in guinea pigs are more difficult than stopping them from appearing in the first place. 

It is not as convenient as training your dogs and cats because you have to try hard to break its old habit and teach the guinea pig to use a litter box.

You have to expect that it will take you a while before you entirely train your pet.

In this article, we will be discussing the particular steps to take if you wish to train your tailless rodent.

Are you ready?

If yes, without any more delays, let’s go right into the discussion!

What Is Potty Training?

When we talk about potty training for guinea pigs, it means that you train your pet to use a litter box for urination and defecation.

You will make sure that it’ll be its habit and have the initiative to use the box and make it its toilet.

Your role as the owner is to encourage and direct your cavy well so that it won’t just be pooing and peeing everywhere in its cage.

It will surely be a huge disaster when it happens to step on its poop and run around.

How To Potty Train Guinea Pigs? 6 Easy steps 

As a pet owner, you observe your pet’s behavior if you wish to potty train it.

Before you prepare for a litter box, you must observe where it usually goes when it needs to poo or pee.

For these tailless rodents to mark their territories, they use their litter’s scent; that’s why you can observe that they regularly mark the area where they roam.

You can somewhat say that these cute little creatures are territorial.

Anyway, here are the steps on how to potty train guinea pigs:

Step #1. Get a litter box

The first thing you must do is make sure that you prepare a litter box that you think your pet will be comfortable with.

Be mindful that it is not too high and not too low to get onto the box.

You have to make sure that the litter box will not exceed the size of the pen to give your adequate space to run around still.

In my case, I see to it that I bought a  durable and odor-resistant litter box for my pet guinea pig, Ginger. I recommend you get one for your little friend.

Step #2. Stuff the litter box with hay

After you have prepared the litter box you intend to use, put enough hay or similar bedding, which you use in your pet’s cage.

You can also use recycled paper pellets and aspen shavings as bedding material. Just make sure that the bedding is different in color from the rest of the floor to make it easy for the guinea pig to differentiate.

It is always lovely that your pet is familiar with it to not have further difficulties while on training.

Step #3. Put on gloves

You surely need to wear gloves for this next step because you have to find a handful of its bedding, which has the smell of pee and poo.

This action is for your pet to make a new territory, which is its litter box.

It would be best if you consider that not all guinea pigs quickly adapt to sudden changes.

Some will find it hard to use the potty litter, but don’t worry because it is entirely normal.

You just have to be patient.

Step #4. Give a reward if your pet uses the litter box properly

As your pet’s personal potty trainer, you have to encourage your guinea pig to do proper action.

That is why you have to reward your pet and entertain your guinea pig every single time that uses its litter box correctly.

If you continue to do this over time, he will soon make it his habit.

You need to be gentle while you are in training, and best if you do not shout if your guinea pig did it all wrong.

It might form a thought in its head that it will hate the litter box and refuse to use it. If that happens, you surely did fail in training your pet.

Step #5. Do not remove the used litter box in the first few days

If you want your pet to follow its litter’s scent, do not remove the box for a few days of using it.

By that, it will be directed to where its toilet should be and be familiar with it every time.

You can do these days to remove the soiled part of the bedding but leave a tiny bit for at least two weeks.

Your guinea pig will then think that it must be a habit to use the litter box because of the scent.

Step #6. Be patient

Your beloved piggy and others do not have the same pacing when it comes to training; therefore, it surely won’t get it immediately.

There will be days when they forget to use your litter box, so don’t be upset because all you have to do is be diligent.

Do not use force as well, because the entire litter box concept can be despised by your pet.

Be very careful and show encouragement so that your piggy can do well in pooing on the litter box without delay in time.

Benefits Of Litter Training Guinea Pigs

I tell you- potty training your pet is definitely a good idea!

It is not only your pet that will benefit if it has been trained for the place to poop but also for you.

Here are the benefits if your cavy knows how to use a litter box:

• Less work for you

This one is the main benefit of the poop training that you are doing to your pet. Even though cavies are small in size, they can make so much waste every day.

And that only means that you will spend more time cleaning the cage, which will cause you to neglect some of your important work.

If your guinea pig is potty trained, the task of cleaning won’t make a hassle out of you because cleaning the litter tray is much easier than the mess all over the cage. 

• The cage will be dryer and cleaner

Another benefit of potty training is that your cavy’s habitat will be cleaner and much dryer.

The constant cleaning is what causes the wet and uncomfortable cage to it.

Besides, it is more hygienic for your guinea pig to live in an environment where waste is in one place.

Furthermore, diseases like urinary tract infections will have a lesser chance of occurring in your cavy.

So, potty training your guinea pig not only saves you the hassle of frequent cage cleaning but also prevents many diseases from occurring in guinea pigs. 

Conclusion

Potty training is very beneficial in guinea pigs but you must know how to potty train guinea pigs first. 

Potty training a guinea pig requires patience and persistence. You have to train when they are young. 

The best thing you can do is encourage it every time it litters on the litter box to let your pet know that it is doing right.

That will boost its mood and will repeat the process until it sees it as its habit.

Good luck with training your cavy, and thank you very much for reading!