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- Choosing and purchasing a guinea pig
03/01/2019 Often, a guinea pig is chosen as a pet for a number of advantages, the main one of these advantages is the smell from the guinea pig, namely its complete absence. Experienced owners of such animals assure that with proper care, the fluffy will only produce the smell of fresh hay.
However, some inept breeders leave angry reviews, saying that guinea pigs stink. Who to believe? Of course, to people who know. If your pet produces an unbearable odor, it means that something is wrong and this smelly nuisance needs to be corrected.
Natural animal scent
Every living creature has some kind of scent. Even people smell - their bodies smell of sweat, their hair smells of shampoo, their clothes smell of washing powder. In animals, the smell usually comes from skin secretions.
So, the guinea pig itself: does it stink or not? In these fluffy animals, natural odors mainly arise from the evaporation of saliva and sweat. So they don’t stink, but rather smell, and their peculiar aroma is quite tolerable.
What is this connected with? These rodents do not have large claws, fangs or any impressive defenses that could protect them from enemies. In nature, they only hide and run away. Therefore, they have adapted to not emitting odors. As you know, most natural predators often sniff out their prey.
Toilet training
If your pet is toilet trained, cleaning is much easier and can be done less often. To prevent odors from emanating from your guinea pig's cage, it is enough to clean the toilet once a day. Since there will be no feces on the litter, it can be changed less often.
It will not be possible to accustom a pig to a specific place; you will have to adapt to it. The pet chooses a specific place and relieves itself there. Find out where it is and put a toilet there. Lay an old bedding soaked in its scent inside. You can even put litter with fecal residues. So, the pig will intuitively understand that this is exactly the place where she always goes. Some owners reward the animal with treats. It happens that a guinea pig refuses to go to the designated toilet, in which case it is moved to another place.
It is important to clean the toilet with disinfectant every time. For these purposes, you can use soda, which is poured onto the bottom, the filler is placed on top and put back in the cage.
In this way, it is possible to delay the appearance of odor in the cage of the sea warbler.
Avoiding unpleasant odor
What to do if your favorite furry dog starts to smell unpleasant? This often means that something is wrong. If there is an odor from your guinea pigs, you need to pay attention to all aspects of your pet's life and find the problem.
To get rid of an unpleasant odor and prevent it, you need to observe the hygiene of keeping your pet, take into account its condition and position (hormonal levels change during the breeding season), and nutrition. Sometimes it’s a good idea to visit a veterinarian, because many diseases make themselves known through smelly discharge.
How to get rid of the pungent odor of males
It is impossible to get rid of the smell of a male. Every animal has its own natural scent. If its smell increases, then it is needed for something in nature. For example, to attract a female during the mating season. Attempts to wash it off by bathing will cause the body of a male rat to begin to produce the desired aroma with a vengeance, so it is better to focus on regular cleaning of the cage and purchasing high-quality litter.
If you keep your pet clean and it is not sick, then there will be no unpleasant odors.
Be sure to pay due attention to the hygiene and health of your pet, as well as its living conditions. If you are afraid that your pet will stink, then opt for another type of animal.
Caring for a decorative rat does not have to be too difficult. The beauty of pet rodents is that even children can be entrusted with caring for them. But for this you need to properly organize the rat’s life. Choose the cage and filler wisely, and choose accessories.
Hygiene
Often the problem of smell and the question “why do guinea pigs stink?” occurs in owners who do not provide the pet with the correct living conditions. The concept of hygiene includes not only issues of basic cleaning, but also lighting, air humidity, room temperature - all this adds up to the normal healthy state of the pet. If these parameters are normal, then you need to “lower the bar” - perhaps it’s something trivial.
Cleaning the cage
Do guinea pigs themselves stink? It has already been said many times that no. However, the unpleasant odor coming from your pet may be due to insufficiently frequent cleaning of the cage.
Complete cleaning - including throwing out old litter, washing the cage tray (and its walls, if necessary) and feeders with drinkers - should be carried out once a week. The cage is washed with laundry or baby soap. You can replace soap with a disinfectant.
It is strictly not recommended to use detergents that are made with bleach or other harmful chemicals. This can cause serious harm to the rodent's health.
If the size of the cage meets the pet’s “requirements,” cleaning can be done less often. To do this, you just have to buy a more absorbent and odor-eliminating filler. If the cage is small, the cleaning schedule will have to be increased.
Toilet
Guinea pig feces emit an unpleasant odor. In principle, this happens to any pet. The smell of excrement is the main reason for cleaning.
It is quite possible to train a guinea pig to go to the toilet in one place. Then cleaning will be done less frequently, and to maintain a normal smell in your pet’s home, it will be enough to clean the toilet once a day. You need to rinse the litter tray with a soda solution - this acts as a disinfectant.
If you fail to train it the first time, you need to move the tray to another location. There are no untameable or unteachable individuals. It’s just that guinea pigs, no matter how gentle and friendly they have, sometimes show their “I don’t want to.”
Water treatments
The first thought when the owner notices that the pig smells is “it needs to be washed.” Of course, your pet can be given bath days from time to time, however, it is worth considering that the animal can take much better care of itself.
Do not wash your guinea pig more than once a month. Before you put your pet in the water, you need to accustom him to the bath - let him sit in the container and get used to it. For bathing, a special product is used - it is purchased at a pet store. Ordinary shampoos and soaps will not work; their ingredients will ruin your pet’s well-being.
Under no circumstances should you use a hairdryer to dry the animal. You just need to wrap it in a towel and hold it until it dries completely. You can’t unfold it, otherwise you might catch a cold from the rodent. After drying, it can be combed and trimmed a little.
Again: pigs are washed only when absolutely necessary. The pet is able to take care of itself on its own. If the owner considers it necessary and advisable to bathe the animal, this should be done carefully and rarely.
Toilet training
Keeping the cage clean is much easier if the animals are toilet trained. The place for its installation must be chosen by the pet himself. It is necessary to track in which corner the filler is most often moistened and place a corner toilet there. Used bedding and feces should be placed in a new container to make it easier for the animal to navigate. When your pet relieves itself in a designated area, you need to reward it with a treat. It happens that the pig ignores the toilet, in which case it is better to move the container to another place.
Washing the toilet can be accompanied by baking soda. It is also recommended to pour baking soda into the bottom of the bowl, this helps eliminate the stench.
Litter for rodent litter should be natural. Sawdust or other wood material is ideal. Products for cats should not be used. There are fillers with odor absorbers.
Other reasons why guinea pigs may smell
Of course, hygiene is not the only reason why stench can occur. Several other important factors that can lead to this unpleasant phenomenon:
Nutrition
It happens that some foods from the diet cause digestive problems. Because of this, the excrement begins to smell worse and diarrhea appears. Typically, such products are various “inappropriate” types of cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet fruits.
You can diversify the diet by placing bedding in the form of cilantro and mint hay in the cage. This is not only healthy, but also refreshes the aroma.
Hormonal changes
During the period of courtship with the female, the male smells. He also sometimes begins to mark the territory, which will also affect the smell in the home.
The female may emit a specific odor during pregnancy and impending birth.
Nothing can be done about this, but these periods quickly pass in healthy individuals.
Diseases
If everything is in order in the home, the pet is not in an interesting position or in a state of courtship, and still emits an unpleasant odor - this is a reason to contact a veterinarian as soon as possible. The cause of the stench can be skin disease or various fungi. The smell is similar to the smell of rot or something else, animalistic and pungent.
It is no wonder that in this case it will be possible to get rid of the smell only by curing the disease.
Smell from an uncleaned cage
The first, most common one is that it is not the furry animal that has a nasty smell, but its home. If the owner of a hamster does not regularly clean his hamster’s cage, then the smell will stagnate there and not very pleasant.
Rodent owners know: healthy animals do not have an unpleasant odor. Seven days after cleaning, a specific aroma appears, which tells the hamster owner that it is time to restore order: clean and wash the rodent’s cage. It is not the animal itself that smells bad, but its excrement.
The cause of the stench is the bedding in the cage. If you use old newspapers, hay or scraps of fabric, this litter will not retain odor or moisture. And in addition to this, it can become a source of various infections, which are dangerous for both the pet and its owner.
For bedding material, sawdust or fillers are suitable: wood, cellulose or corn. Each filler or different sawdust has its own positive and negative sides. Each type has its own expiration date, during which it will absorb moisture and absorb odor. If it is not replaced after a certain time, then even the best litter will begin to emit a foul discharge.
The sawdust in the hamster's cage is changed, as a rule, every 2-4 days. If the hamster lives in wood litter, then it must be removed once every 5-8 days. If it is corn filler, then the cleaning period is once every 7-10 days.
If you choose the right filler for your furry rodent’s cage and carry out regular cleaning, then there will be no question of a bad smell in the apartment from your pet.
Owner reviews
Owners who are not lazy about maintaining hygiene in their pet’s home admit that the animal itself does not smell. However, there are also people who claim that their guinea pig’s smell is not due to a dirty cage. This may be true due to the peculiarity of the organism. In general, everyone agrees that these rodents are ideal pets for those who do not want to “spoil the air” with animal odors. Natural instincts force guinea pigs to get rid of any smell. In one cage, a rat or rabbit smells much stronger than a whole “pig family”.
Description and breeds
The guinea pig belongs to the order of rodents. During the selection process, breeders developed about 50 breeds of these animals, with differences in hair, color, weight and other characteristics. There are even completely naked (hairless) guinea pigs.
Some breeds were developed through domestic crossbreeding and are never officially recognized. There are breeding animals. Exhibitions of international format are regularly held, where owners present both new and well-known breeds of guinea pigs. Among them:
- ordinary socket,
- Abyssinian,
- Peruvian,
- Sheltie,
- ridgeback,
- crested,
- rex and others.
As a result of crossing, many breeds have a hereditary predisposition to various diseases , which greatly affects their life expectancy. Thus, ordinary rosette pigs are longer-lived. Among them was an officially registered record holder who lived for 15 years.
Hairless rodents live an average of 5 years, but can live up to 8 years. The stronger of the hairless breeds is the Skinny, which appeared as a result of selection. Hairless Baldwins are the result of a random gene mutation and are quite painful.
Cleaning the cage
Cleaning the pig's home should be done regularly. Weekly general cleaning is needed: replacing the filler, washing the bottom of the cage with a soap solution (baby or laundry soap is suitable) and wiping with a 10% vinegar solution. Vinegar is good at removing unpleasant odors and white stains from urine. Contaminated litter and toilets must be cleaned every day. Bowls and drinking bowls are also cleaned daily with soap. Wooden products are washed only when dirt appears, and then dried well.
It is recommended to clean the cage with a special disinfectant spray that eliminates odor. The product can be purchased in specialized stores; it will not harm the health of the animal. Before spraying, the pig is removed from the home and the filler is removed. 5 minutes after spraying, wipe the cage with a towel. After complete drying, the house is filled with clean filler. The animal returns to its place.
It is prohibited to use bleach-based products. In addition to the pungent odor, such a solution can harm the health of your pet.
If a PVC mat is used, it must be washed when it gets dirty. It is better to purchase at least 2 rugs so that you can replace one with another while the second one is drying. The bedding can be washed in a machine at a temperature of 40-60 ⁰C. The service life of a PVC mat is no more than half a year.
