Guinea pigs live in cages usually, as it’s an easy way to keep them safe and secure, away from other pets, children, loose wires and escape routes. Guinea pigs live 10 hours for every 1 we live, so 12 hours of nightime is 120 hours to them! So it’s important to make sure that they are happy in their cage.
Each guinea pig needs 7.5 square feet of space each, and you should have at least two guinea pigs to keep each other company, so the minimum size for your cage should be 15 square feet of space! If you don’t have enough space for this try a double tier cage with a ramp up to the second floor. Make sure the ramp isn’t too steep and is grippy or your guinea pigs won’t use it because they are not confident climbers.
It is very unlikely you will find a cage big enough in a petstore and if you do it will be very expensive. It is recommended that you use a C&C cage. HERE is a good how-to on how to make a C&C cage! If you are in the UK/Europe and are unable to purchase the materials (or it is just too expensive), HERE is a website where you can buy the materials needed for a C&C cage in the UK for less that you’d pay for a cage of the same size from a petstore. They also ship to; Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden!
There are many options for bedding in guinea pig cages. The traditional way of doing it is with dust-extracted sawdust, but there are other options. The most popular modern technique is with fleece. You cut a piece of fleece out which is slightly larger than the area of the cage floor, before folding the sides so that it fits, and sowing it together to create neater corners. This is popular because it is soft on the guinea pigs feet and is easy to wash, while also keeping the cage floor cleaner as well. It’s also popular because you can have many patterns and colours, keeping the cage not only enjoyable for the guinea pigs, but also interesting to look at for us! HERE is a good article on using fleece as bedding, along with helpful tips and how to prepare it for use!
Housing the guinea pigs is easier than with other rodents, as they would naturally live in abandoned burrows of other animals in the wild which means they are quick to accept a new home that you put in their cage. Plastic pigloos or wooden huts are usually the best option for housing. It's best if you have multiple houses in each cage so that guinea pigs can share or have seperate bedrooms if they so choose, depending on what they want. It is recommended that you put hay in houses to make a warm and comfortable bedding. This must be replaced every day as they will either eat it or soil it.
Guinea pigs need things to do! Or they will get bored. Make sure the cage is full of things to explore and play with, but also that there's still enough space for them to run around. For toy ideas, check out my Play and Toys page!
One of the most popular things to furnish your cage with is a fleece tube! These are a tube sown together with fleece that guinea pigs can rest in or run through for fun. HERE is where you can buy one (and many other cool things!) and HERE is a video on how to make one yourself!
To keep your guinea pigs clean and healthy, you should clean their cage completely twice a week and spot-clean (pick up poo, clear old food, wipe clean plastic, etc) daily! Do not use normal cleaning products, just use water or cleaning products designed for cages to clean. If there is a calcium build-up, use white vinegar to remove it. HERE is a more detailed explanation of what to do with calcium build-up.