Bedding for Guinea Pigs

With so many materials, brands and types of guinea pigs bedding available, we thought we would tell you about some of them. Here is our guide to bedding for guinea pigs.

Newspaper bedding

Newspaper is useful for guinea pig bedding, especially as a 'base'. We recommend a few layers of newspaper on the base of the hutch or cage. It is nice and absorbent but will also help keep warmth in. It also make life a lot easier when 'mucking out' as you can roll the newspaper and used bedding together in one go ready for the bin!

You might find you use a lot of newspaper for guinea pig bedding. If so, just aska few friends or family members to keep their used newspapers to save you having to buy them. Remember to use the newspaper as a base rather than then main bedding.

Hay!

Hay is the perfect bedding for guinea pigs. Not only is it great to sleep in, but guinea pigs also love to snack on it! They love to burrow in it and it's good for their diet. As hay can be bought in large bales, it's relatively cheap too.

if there's a local horse supplies shop, you might be able to pick up hay there. Make sure you store the hay somewhere dry and clean before putting it into your guinea pig's cage or hutch. When putting your pig's bedding down, check through the hay as you go, discarding bits that contain debris or show signs of damp.

Shavings and sawdust - no thanks!

Many guinea pig owners use wood shavings or sawdust for bedding. Unless you can find a virtually dust-free bedding made from wood shavings we don't recommend using it. The dust from shavings can irritate a guinea pig's eyes and get stuck up their little noses. Both wood shaving and sawdust will soak up your guinea pig's urine, but will not let it evaporate. Sawdust can be too fine a bedding material as guinea pigs like to totter around with their noses to the ground.

We recommend...

A base layer of newspaper bedding with plenty of hay on top is our recommendation. It is relatively cheap and it's easy to clean and replace. Guinea pigs just love hay.

TIP! Remember to disinfect areas as necessary with guinea-pig friendly spray when you replace your guinea pig's bedding.