Bringing some furry friends home is so exciting! New piggy parents have a world of products available to support their piggies through every stage of their lives. You’ve got plenty of different guinea pig cages, accessories, bedding, toys, and food options. But while exciting, this can also feel quite overwhelming - where do you start your journey into piggy parenthood?
Kavee isn’t just about making your piggies’ lives easier, it’s also about supporting piggy parents as they look after their furry friends. So we’ve put together a guinea pig supplies list to help you discover which piggy products you should invest in, and which ones you should avoid. Time to learn about essential items for your guinea pigs!
What are the best guinea pig supplies?
When you’re just starting out building your guinea pig’s home, it can be difficult to know which products are must-haves, which ones are nice extras, or which should be entirely avoided. For example, every furry family needs a spacious guinea pig cage where to live, but they don’t all require fancy decorations. And definitely none of them need one of those exercise balls that are actually dangerous!
The following guinea pig supplies list includes all the essentials that piggy parents should get before they bring their piggies home. And even if you’re sitting next to your pigs’ palace and don’t have all of these products already, don’t panic. You can start shopping when you’re ready - your piggies will still thank you with popcorns.
1. The Right Home: A C&C Guinea Pig Cage
Your guinea pigs will spend most of their time inside a cage if living indoors, or inside a hutch if living outdoors. So, like hoomans, where they live plays a significant role in their wellbeing. A guinea pig cage is usually the most expensive item on your guinea pig supplies list, even more so than the pets themselves. That’s why it’s even more important to choose the right one. Here are a few things to consider when you start cage shopping:
The top choice for all of these categories is a Kavee C&C cage. This cage design doesn’t just provide you with the right space for the present, it’s also designed for the future of your furry family. A C&C cage for guinea pigs is easily customizable, allowing you to expand their home as needed and easily add any extras. Looking to gain more space for storage? Simply add a stand. Bringing a new piggy home? Just get a few extra grids to turn your 4x2 into a 5x2, no need to buy a whole new cage.
If you’re still not convinced, check out our guide to the perks of owning a C&C guinea pig cage.
2. The Best Guinea Pig Bedding: Fleece Liners
Guinea pigs spend all day on their feet, so line their cage with the right bedding to keep them comfy. They also go to the bathroom frequently, requiring bedding that absorbs moisture and keeps their bottoms dry. While there are many guinea pig bedding options available, fleece liners are the only ones reusable, soft to the touch, and designed to trap moisture.
Other alternatives like wood or paper shavings might be cheaper to buy the first time, but will require constant re-buying and could cause respiratory issues. Fleece liners for guinea pigs are better for your furry friends and the planet! Learn more about them on our guide to fleece bedding.
3. The Perfect Shelter: A Guinea Pig Hidey
Our furry friends are, by nature, prey animals. Guinea pigs feel safest when they have somewhere to hide nearby, so the right guinea pig cage would include several hiding spots.
Hideys make the coziest shelter for your floofs, and a pretty addition to any cage. Since they’re made of fleece, hideys can easily be cleaned by adding them to the washing machine and reused many times!
4. Keeping Guinea Pigs Hydrated: The Water Bottle
Some prefer bowls, others like bottles, but one thing is clear: guinea pigs need to have access to fresh, clean water at all times. A water bottle or bowl is an essential when it comes to guinea pig supplies. Which one you’ll choose will be down to your personal preference, and the one of your piggies!
Water bowls take up more space and are usually a lot messier. Your piggies could try climbing into the bowl, spill the water, or dunk their food in it. It makes them higher maintenance than water bottles, as you may have to change and clean them several times a day. That said, some guinea pigs drink more water from a bowl because it’s closer to their water sources in the wild.
Water bottles are more convenient for the hoomans, that’s for sure. They’re easy to place in the cage without taking up much space, and they can’t get dirty from food. Make sure to look for a non-drip water bottle, like the one we’ve got at Kavee, and your cage stays nice and dry.
5. Keeping Food Fresh: The Hay Bag & Food Bowl
Since guinea pigs are also jokingly renamed ‘walking stomachs’, we can’t talk about supplies without mentioning where their food will go. For veggies and pellets, a ceramic or plastic food bowl will be the perfect addition to your guinea pig cage. Opt for a ceramic bowl if possible, as they’re too heavy for piggies to tip over!
To hand out their endless amounts of hay, we recommend a hay bag. While you can feed your piggies hay anywhere in the cage, a hay bag will keep it fresh for longer, storing it away from dirty bedding.
And here’s a tip to make their meal times more fun and contain some of the hay mess: try adding a litter box to their cage and filling it with hay. Piggies love to multitask, so they’ll enjoy using a tray to carry out their business, play, and eat at the same time.
6. Cozy Snooze Spots: Fleece Tunnel and Cuddle Cup
While hideys provide a comforting shelter for your piggies, there are never too many snooze spots. Guinea pigs love variety, and the more you have, the more accessories you’ll need to minimize bickering. After all, no one likes to share a bed with their sibling!
Sometimes, our furry friends fight and need a little break from each other, so it’s best to keep different hiding and sleeping spots available, like fleece tunnels and cuddle cups. Then they can sleep on their argument and be friends again.
7. Caring Essentials: Guinea Pig Grooming Supplies
Whether short-haired or long-haired, all guinea pigs need some help with grooming. Guinea pigs need to have their nails trimmed every other week and their fur brushed once a week if short-haired or daily if long-haired.
Different guinea pig breeds need different supplies, but overall, it’s a good idea to get some small nail clippers and two pet-safe brushes (one that helps remove matted hair and a gentler one for regular brushing).
8. Prevent Heatstroke: Freezable Bottle and Cooling Pad
Fluctuations in temperatures can really impact the health of your furry friends. Guinea pigs are more comfortable in temperatures between 102-104°F (39-40°C), so anything from heatwaves to a hot summer season can put them at risk of heatstroke.
Thankfully, you can use handy guinea pig supplies like a freezable bottle and cooling pad to help piggies cool down and stay comfortable. Just freeze the bottle, add the cover, and hand it out alongside a cooling pad in different areas of their cage, providing a few heat-relieving areas. These temperature changes can sometimes be unexpected, so we recommend you stock up on these items early to be prepared.
Guinea Pig Supplies You Should Avoid
From unsafe toys to sugar-laden treats, the world of guinea pig supplies can be confusing. Here are 6 products that are dangerous for guinea pigs so that you can make informed purchases for your pet.
Harness and Leash
A harness and leash for piggies can be found in many pet stores, targeted towards guinea pigs to take them on a walk, much like a dog. It may look like a fun idea for unsuspecting piggy parents, but guinea pig leashes are not safe.
The harness restricts their neck, spine, and tummy, while the tugging sensation of the leash can harm a guinea pig's delicate spine and may cause injury. Guinea pigs cannot be trained to walk alongside you, and walking them on a leash also leaves them vulnerable to predators.
The safe way to provide guinea pigs with outdoor time is by building a secure playpen in the garden, shielding away any plants or dangerous objects that your piggies should avoid. Choose a time of the day when the temperature is pleasant for them, keep them away from direct sunlight, and supervise them at all times. Learn more about this in our guide to taking your piggies outside.
Exercise Ball and Exercise Wheels
Exercise balls and exercise wheels are commonly marketed towards small rodents as a fun way for them to exercise and explore. As cute as it may look, these products are more harmful than you may think (and hamsters don’t like them either!). Exercise balls and exercise wheels pose a risk of injuring your guinea pigs’ spines. Wheels available for guinea pigs are often too small, so they end up moving and unnaturally shaping their spines. In addition to the risk of spinal injury, guinea pig exercise balls provide little ventilation, which can lead to heatstroke. Basically, avoid them at all costs!
Guinea pig accessories like double tunnels and ramps do a much better (and safer) job keeping your furry friends active. They’re guaranteed to enjoy zooming through the tunnels and running up and down the ramps to their heart’s content!
Salt Licks
Salt licks for guinea pigs are available in many pet stores. The question is, do guinea pigs need them? The short answer is no. Guinea pigs need no more than 0.5g of sodium a day, which they get from a balanced diet and through pellets alone.
Salt licks can cause harm as guinea pigs are unable to sweat, so won’t be able to expel excess sodium. Also, extra minerals, coupled with the potential for dehydration from too much salt, put your guinea pigs at risk of bladder sludge or stones!
Pet Diapers
Marketed to use for when your guinea pig has floor time, pet diapers prevent your guinea pig from using the floor as a toilet. As appealing as this may sound, these products are extremely harmful to your pet. By wearing a diaper, your guinea pig will be sitting in their own urine and poop, leading to health issues like urine scalding and infections.
Another reason why pet diapers are a big no-go is that they prevent the healthy function of a guinea pig's digestive system. Guinea pigs create green poop, called cecal pellets, which they consume back into their digestive system to expel nutrients. If they’re wearing a diaper, they’re unable to carry out this important task!
Instead of a diaper, add pee pads and liners to wherever you plan to let your piggies wander around, reducing the chances of little accidents on your furniture without affecting their health.
Costumes
We absolutely adore our guinea pigs and think they are as cute as can be. But dressing your guinea pigs up in little outfits and accessories can be very stressful for them. Here at Kavee, our mission is to advocate for the safety and wellbeing of guinea pigs, so we recommend staying away from any guinea pig costumes. Find out more about the hazards of piggy costumes in this blog!
Conclusion
While every piggy is different and might require some extra care and attention, they will all benefit from the items listed here. The main guinea pig supplies you need are a large C&C cage, the right bedding, a water bottle and food bowl, hideys and snuggle accessories, guinea pig grooming supplies, and a hay bag to keep their hay organized and clean. After that, you can have fun adding any cute extra accessories and modifying your set-up however you wish!
At Kavee, we’re dedicated to helping your piggies thrive in life with products designed specifically for them. Here you can find many options for spacious guinea pig cages, soft bedding, hay bags, cozy accessories, and essential care products.
