1. Reasons why guinea pigs urinate in the food bowl

1. The food bowl smells of excrement

When some pig lovers clean the guinea pig cage, they will It is a bad habit to clean food bowls, drinking fountains, toilets, etc. together.

The lazy ones will be washed in a large basin or a pool.

Of course, some do not use a basin or pool for cleaning, but use a brush to clean the toilet or cage bottom basin and then clean the food basin.

The final cleansing with water definitely didn’t clean it completely. In fact, it’s hard to tell how sensitive the guinea pig’s sense of smell is.

Guinea pigs rely on their sense of smell to identify where they go to the toilet.

If you smell a smell in the food bowl, even though it is a food bowl, the smell comes from here, so just urinate.

2. Placement of the food basin

Guinea pigs have the habit of peeing in a corner of the cage.

Some pig friends put the food bowl in the corner of the forehead, and the guinea pigs assumed that the thing was a toilet.

Some pig friends may want to ask. Later, I changed the position. Why did the guinea pig still urinate in it?

In fact, it is also very simple. Guinea pigs rely on their sense of smell to identify. Because they have had the smell of oil in their urine before, they will go to the toilet wherever they go.

3. A silent protest against the unpalatable food

Some pig lovers neither made a food bowl with strong taste nor put it in a corner, but the guinea pigs just peed in it.

Then you probably have to consider whether the guinea pigs don’t like to eat this grain.

If the grain has just been changed, or if the guinea pig eats less and less grain after a period of delay, it will not run away.

Then this guinea pig in your family is a guinea pig with a very little temper, um, a little temper, hahahaha.

4. Urinating in estrus

After guinea pigs come into estrus, both male and female will have the habit of urinating indiscriminately. At that time, not only inside the cage, but also outside the cage will be sprayed.

This is why rabbit cages and guinea pig cages must have a circle of enclosure.

Since it is random urination, the food bowl will naturally not let it go.

Especially when the male and female are caged together, because the food bowl is the place where the opposite sex spends the longest time (grazing animals spend most of their time eating every day).

That must be a priority.

No way, animals and humans are different. When humans pursue the opposite sex, they give flowers and cosmetics, which will last forever.

But animals like guinea pigs mainly send messages of estrus, and the best way is to urinate...

Of course, the urine at this time is different from ordinary urine. Usually it’s a big splash, but at this time, I’ll just take a small amount of it.

After all, it has to be divided into many places, so control the amount carefully.

So it depends on whether it is really in heat. If it is in heat, it may be caused by heat and peeing in the food bowl.

5. Being scared to pee

Guinea pigs are notoriously timid, and their courage is not much greater than the tip of a needle.

Sometimes guinea pigs step on the food bowl to play, mostly because they want to step on it to climb over the fence.

I accidentally slipped and lost my footing. Well, the slipping here is a literal meaning and does not need to be extended by personification.

I was so frightened that I peed.

Generally, you have to watch the surveillance video to confirm, but you can also judge by looking at the traces of urine.

Because he will leave quickly when he is frightened, he urinates a small amount in the basin and a large amount outside.

6. Illness leads to random urination

Guinea pigs may also urinate in their food bowls if they are sick. There are probably two reasons.

One is that one is unable to control peeing into the food bowl when one is sick. This is actually very rare because most food bowls are relatively high and it is not easy to pee in them.

One is feeling particularly uncomfortable when he is sick and wants his owner to take notice of him, so he deliberately urinates in the food bowl.

The latter should be more, so if your guinea pig urinates in the food bowl and the above reasons are ruled out, then you should consider this.

2. How to solve the problem of guinea pigs peeing in the food bowl

1. When cleaning the cage, pay attention to the cleaning order and deodorization

When cleaning the cage of guinea pigs When cleaning supplies and cage accessories are needed, it is recommended not to soak and clean them together.

Clean food bowls and drinking fountains first, then clean other items, and finally clean anything that may have been stained by excrement.

It is best to use separate cleaning tools (brushes, etc.). If there is only one, clean it in the order above. After cleaning, the tools should be thoroughly deodorized.

If you accidentally smell the smell of tools or hands (tools can be replaced, but hands cannot be chopped and replaced, and in the end you still have to assemble the cage with your hands and then put the food bowl, there will always be some smell) Touched the food bowl.

It is recommended to spray deodorizer on the food bowl and rinse it again (some deodorizers can evaporate on their own).

2. Do not place the food bowl in the corner

It is generally best to place the food bowl of the guinea pig near the cage door, which is convenient for placing food and taking it out for cleaning.

Be sure not to place it in a corner at first, otherwise the guinea pig will easily think that this is the toilet prepared for him.

It is really a toilet. Clean it quickly and spray it with deodorant.

If you have tried everything and still use it as a toilet, then...

Then use the food bowl as a toilet, and use the one that was originally used as a toilet as a food bowl for him, um, Optimal solution.

3. Urination due to food

If the guinea pig does not like to eat urine because the food is not delicious.

It depends on whether you plan to use new grains in the future. If the new grains are of better quality and more nutritious, you must change them.

Then use the method of starvation treatment to force a food change. Of course, the premise is not to let the guinea pig starve.

If the new grain is similar, then change it back. Guinea pigs really don’t like to eat the new grain.

4. Urination in heat

Clean and remove odor promptly after discovery.

Then place it in a place where it is impossible to urinate (such as increasing the height) so that the guinea pig cannot go up even if it wants to urinate.

Because guinea pigs are small in size, sterilization involves certain risks of anesthesia and surgical risks, so it is not recommended to sterilize them because of heat.

The estrus of guinea pigs is not as strong and frequent as that of cats, and most reactions are not that big.

So if the reaction is not big, it will be fine.

5. Sliding and being scared

This is actually rare and easy to judge.

It is recommended that the food bowl should be placed in the middle of the cage rather than on the side, so that the guinea pig cannot step on it even if it wants to.

In fact, most guinea pigs are scared once and don’t dare to step on them the second time.

But there are also those who remember eating but not fighting. If they are scared, they will step on them next time. If they are scared again, well, they will never tire of it.

6. Urinating indiscriminately when sick

If everything else is ruled out, then the cause of the illness must be considered.

Check the body of the guinea pig carefully and send it to the pet hospital for examination if possible.

As long as the disease is detected early, treated early, and recovered early, no matter what the disease is, it will become more serious if it is delayed for one day.

There are many reasons why guinea pigs urinate in the basin, and some are very important.

So if you find that guinea pigs are urinating in their food bowls, you must pay a certain amount of attention and find out the cause and solve it in time.