Before getting a guinea pig as a pet, many people wonder if it’s a good idea to keep them indoors. So, the question is, Can you keep guinea pigs indoors?
You can keep your Guinea pigs indoors if you can provide them with the required space, enough ventilation, a safe environment, and everything that they need. Keeping them indoors is also a great idea as you can build a good relationship with them and supervise them constantly.
In this article, you will know what are the advantages and disadvantages of keeping your guinea pigs indoors and which factors you should consider before doing so.
Table of Contents
How long do guinea pigs live indoors?
On average, an indoor guinea pig may live 5 to 7 years. This depends on the environment they live in and their lifestyle. If you can ensure a healthy lifestyle and give them a proper environment, you can expect a longer life. But they don’t get a healthy life and remain depressed most of the time, and their lifespan reduces.
Our recommended indoor guinea pig cage:
Check out the things to know before buying Midwest guinea habitat plus.
Do guinea pigs need to be kept inside?
It’s not necessary to keep Guinea pigs inside your home. But, many guinea pig owners keep them indoors, as it’s better to supervise them all the time, ensure safety and provide a comfortable environment for them. However, you can also keep them outdoors if you can ensure a proper environment for them.
What are the advantages of keeping a guinea pig indoors?
Here are the benefits of keeping guinea pigs inside.
Controlling the temperature
Guinea pigs are temperature sensitive and can’t tolerate too hot or too cold temperatures. You can regulate the temperature of their surroundings easily if you keep them inside your home.
Keeping safe from bad weather
When you keep your little piggies indoors, you can protect them from extreme weather such as too hot, snow, winter, or storm.
Protecting from outdoor predators
You don’t have to worry about wild animals when you put them in an indoor cage. When they live outside, predators can harm them.
Keeping constant eyes
Guinea pigs need to supervise regularly. You can keep an eye constantly, as they are staying at home with you.
Allowing them to be more social
Naturally, guinea pigs are social animals. It helps them to be more social when you keep them at your home as you can interact with them regularly.
Making a good relationship with your
As indoor guinea pigs stay with you all the time, they build a friendly relationship between you and them. They spend more time with you. This helps them know about you and like you more.
Knowing about their problem instantly
This helps you know about any kind of problem whether it’s about health or others. You can know about them by listening to their various sounds instantly or observing their behavior.
It can also protect them from any danger as well.
Taking more care
Keeping your piggies indoors helps your take care of them more because it becomes easy for you to perform daily maintenance activities. Besides, you can always supervise them and know about their problem instantly.
Satisfaction of the owner
If you don’t keep them with you, will this satisfy you? I don’t think so. Keeping them indoors with you and observing them playing, walking or sleeping can really give you a peaceful mind.
I think, when someone adapts the guinea pigs, they do this out of love for them.
What are the disadvantages of keeping a guinea pig indoors?
Here are the drawbacks of keeping guinea pigs inside.
Guinea pig’s being stressed out from the noisy indoor environment
Guinea pigs don’t prefer a too noisy environment. But, there is a lot of loud noise in some houses. This is bad for their mental health.
Making the house stink
One of the problems of keeping guinea pigs inside is the foul smell coming from the cage.
Though there are a lot of ways to get rid of it, sometimes it’s hard to control it, especially when you choose poor bedding material or a cage.
This odor can be so uncomfortable for you and your family members.
Not allowing proper exercise
Guinea pigs should exercise regularly to stay healthy and happy. But, keeping them indoors doesn’t allow them to do so sometimes as most of the indoor cages aren’t so spacious.
Need to be let out of the cage for exercise
Unlike outdoor hutch where you get a run to allow them to exercise, indoor cages don’t offer this. But, they need daily exercise or floor-time.
So, you need to let them out of the cage every day.
Know more about letting guinea pigs out of the cage.
Need to buy a playpen separate
As most indoor guinea pig cages don’t offer enough space for exercise, you have to buy a playpen separately.
Moreover, they can’t play with your guinea pig as they run and hide under your bed or furniture and this makes it hard for you to control them.
Read my article about a playpen for piggies.
Not good if you have other pets
If you already have a pet such as a dog or a cat, you should think twice before making an indoor cage. These pets aren’t friendly to them and this will become stressful for your little piggies.
People begin allergic to hay
Some people are allergic to certain types of hay or dust. But, guinea pigs must need hay to survive.
Making room messy
Some bedding materials in a guinea pig’s cage can make the room messy. This requires cleaning those substances every day.
How to keep a guinea pig indoors?
To keep a guinea pig indoors, you have to put an indoor guinea pig cage that provides enough space and safety for them. Then, you have to line the cage with good liners and bedding materials, and all essential materials in the cage.
You also have to offer them hay, vegetables, water, and other supplies that they need to live a healthy and happy life.
Those include hideouts, hay racks, water bottles, playpen, tunnels, toys, and others.
Moreover, you need to clean the cage and perform maintenance work regularly.
Things to look for keeping guinea pigs indoors
Let’s know about the factors that you should look at keeping guinea pigs indoors.
Provide a large and safe cage
As guinea pigs need plenty of room in their cage, you should provide them cage with large space.
Check out the best extra large cage for guinea pigs.
Ensure that the cage maintains the recommended size and height.
It should have enough flat and horizontal space rather than vertical space inside the cage.
A large cage also allows them to be active and perform exercises.
Moreover, make sure that the cage material is safe for them.
Put the cage in right place indoor
Keep the guinea pig cage in a room where you can ensure their safety and provide them with a good environment.
Try to keep it in a stand instead of on the floor directly to protect them from drafts.
Check out the best guinea pig cages with stands.
Ensure an adequate amount of air circulation and light
You have to ensure that your guinea pigs get sufficient where they live. Besides, make sure that you have control over the light in that room.
Prevent loud noises around the cage
You must protect your guinea pigs from loud noises. Keep them away from the room where you have a television or where people move around so often so that they don’t get disturbed.
Protect them from extreme temperature
Always try to protect your Guinea pigs from too hot or too cold weather. Regulate the temperature of the cage when it’s required.
Use necessary equipment to ensure safety. For foreign examples, you can use a blanket towel or hay so that they can borrow under it in the cold season.
Provide necessary stuff inside the cage
Ensure that your guinea pigs get all the essential things in the cage to live a healthy and peaceful life.
Check out our other article to know what to put in the cage for your guinea pigs.
Ensure a safe and comfortable bedding
Guinea pigs need bedding that’s safe and comfortable for their body and feet. That shouldn’t cause any harm to their health.
Check out the best fleece, wood, or paper bedding for guinea pigs.
Ensure a clean cage environment
Maintaining proper hygiene is mandatory for keeping your guinea pig healthy and happy.
So make sure that that cage and its surroundings are always clean. Besides, ensure that it’s not producing any foul smell.
Use safe hay for them
If you are allergic to a certain type of hay such as timothy hay, you should switch to other alternative options.
Provides constant access to fresh hay and water
As your Guinea pigs cannot live without hay, you have to constantly offer them an unlimited amount of hay. Get fresh and high-quality food for them.
You also have to make sure that they have constant access to the water. Hang a water bottle on the cage which they can use easily.
Arrange a place to allow them to exercise daily
You have to buy a playpen to allow your guinea pig to exercise in it every day.
Make sure that the playpen you use for them has enough space for them for exercising and playing.
Put the necessary stuff on the floor of the playpen to allow them to play and exercise perfectly.
Check out what you need to put inside the playpen.
Have more than one guinea pig
Guinea pigs are social animals and they cannot live alone in a cage. Moreover, it’s not possible for someone to keep them happy all the time.
So, try to keep at least Guinea pigs in an indoor cage. But, ensure that they are same-sex to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Protect them from other pets
If you have other pets at your home make sure that you protect your Guinea pigs from them.
Put a roof on the top of the cage and don’t allow them to enter the room where you keep your guinea pigs.
Modifier if you have a similar type of small pet such as a hamster or rabbit don’t think of putting them in the same cage as your guinea pigs.
Where should you keep your guinea pig indoors?
You have to keep the guinea pig indoors in a large enclosure which should be placed in a clean room with sufficient air circulation. The temperature of the cage environment should not be too hot or too cold. Besides that, you have to use an exercise enclosure or playpen to ensure enough floor time and exercise.
Also, check out c&c cage reviews for guinea pigs.
Do guinea pigs make good indoor pets?
Guinea pigs are good indoor pets and they can live happily inside your room if you provide them with enough space and their required supplies.
Should you keep a guinea pig inside or outside?
Whether you should keep your Guinea pigs inside or outside depends on their safety, comfort, and environment where they will live.
If you cannot provide them with enough space and a comfortable environment inside your house, you can consider keeping them outside.
Guinea pigs need a lot of open places. If you are living in a small house then you should consider keeping them outside.
However, if you cannot protect them from predators and extreme weather or temperature outside, you should keep them inside your house.
During winter, you should keep them inside your home to protect them from cold weather. In summer, they can live outside and enjoy the sunshine. The only thing you have to be aware of is not exposing them to extreme heat.
You can also keep them in an indoor cage and allow them to exercise and provide floor time outside your home by using a playpen or a run.
Check out my other article on taking guinea pigs outside.
Do guinea pigs like to live inside or outside?
Naturally, Guinea pigs like to live outdoors, and their ancestors did so. But, now they are domesticized as our pets and their nature has changed a lot. So, they like to live indoors as long as you provide everything that they need. In fact, most Guinea pigs are living happily as a pet today.
But you may wonder how their behavior changed over time? This is similar to changing human nature. Our ancestors lived in the forest but we cannot do that for a long time now.
Is it cruel to keep guinea pigs indoors?
It’s not cruel to keep guinea pigs indoors as they are domesticated as pets over time and they like to live indoors with people. In fact, the outdoor environment may not be suitable for them in many cases. It’s also difficult to provide a comfortable environment for the outdoors.
Moreover, they are social animals. So, if you keep them with other guinea pigs and you also interact with them, they will love it.
However, it’s bad for indoor guinea pigs when you keep them in a small enclosure and dusty, wet or unhealthy environment.
Can you keep a guinea pig in your bedroom?
You can keep your guinea pigs in your bedroom if you can make sure sufficient airflow, proper temperature, and enough space inside the cage. Moreover, you have to consider that the cage can produce a foul smell and the room can become messy.
If you are OK with all of these factors you can put your Guinea pigs in your bedroom. Or, it’s better to keep them in a large room where you can ensure all of their needs.
Takeaways
It’s better to keep your Guinea pigs indoors if you cannot ensure their safety outside. If you cannot control temperature, protect your guinea pigs from predators or keep an eye on them all the time outside your home, it’s a good idea to keep them inside.
I am Pallab Kishore, owner of Little Pets Realm. I share important tips, advice and answer all the queries to solve various problems about small pets such as guinea pigs and hamsters on this website.