How to Stop Guinea Pigs from Eating Fleece (10 Helpful Tips)
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If you have guinea pigs, chances are you might have to deal with the issue of them eating your fleece. While it’s not a big deal if they eat a little bit, it can become a problem if they start to devour large amounts of fabric.
Luckily, there’s some solutions to this frustrating problem. In this blog post, I’m going to give you 10 helpful tips that’ll help stop guinea pigs from eating fleece.
Most of them involve distracting your piggies with something new or giving them something new and more appealing to chew on.
But before we get started, I want to mention a couple things:
First of all, some of your little friends may always try to chew on fleece if they can, so you’ll need to be vigilant in monitoring their behavior.
Secondly, some guinea pigs are more prone to eating fleece than others – if your guinea pig is a chronic guinea pig eater, then some of these tips may not work as well.
With that in mind, let’s get started!
✅ If you’re in a hurry or just curious, check out this list of highly-rated, bestselling guinea pig toys on Amazon. You’re sure to find something that’ll easily distract your little friends from munching on their fleece liners.
1. Bigger Hay Piles
If your guinea pigs have a lot of hay to chew on, they’re less likely to bother with the fleece. Make sure your hay pile is nice and big, and keep it in an easily accessible spot.
Yep, that means you might need to set aside those gorgeous hay bags and racks you invested in and kick it old school – in a huge pile on the floor.
You might find that things get a little bit messy and there might be more hay dust (and hay waste).
But it’ll be worth it if it means your main fleece liner stays safe and out of your cavies mouth.
To piggies hay is food AND a toy. Keep their hay pile interesting by adding new things to it every so often – like a few pieces of apple, some fresh herbs, or even a small cardboard box.
2. Give Them Fleece Tents Or Scraps Of Fleece
Some guinea pigs love to chew on fleece just for the ultimate goal of working it into a size that they can actually play with.
Give your little friends what they want.
Sew a few small tents out of fleece or cut up some scraps and place them in the cage. This should keep your guinea pigs busy and away from the main fleece liner.
Just make sure the tents are big enough for your guinea pigs to move around in and that there’s no loose threads they can eat.
Here’s some posts that you’ll find useful: 15 Wonderful Ways to Entertain Your Guinea Pig and 5 Reasons Why Guinea Pigs Eat Fleece (Find Out Now)
3. Get Them A New Friend
One of the best ways to stop guinea pigs from eating fleece is to give them something else to focus on.
(I’d probably save this for a situation where you only have one cavy, and you suspect that your little friend might be a bit lonely – hence the fleece eating).
If you introduce a new guinea pig into the mix, your current guinea pigs will be occupied with playing and investigating their new friend. This should keep them away from the fleece – at least for a little while.
Just make sure the new guinea pig is of a compatible temperament to your current piggies, and that you introduce them slowly under close supervision.
And if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself (some people aren’t and that’s okay), then maybe visit a responsible guinea pig rescue to see if they can find a new friend for your piggie.
If you’re not up for adding another guinea pig to your family, you can also try…
4. Rearrange Cage
Just like humans get a little “ho-hum” of their surroundings after a while and need a change of scenery, guinea pigs can get bored of their cage.
A quick way to stop guinea pigs from eating fleece is to rearrange the entire cage.
Put some toys in different corners.
Move the food dish, water bottle, and bedding around – it’ll give your guinea pigs a new place to explore (and hopefully keep them away from the fleece).
Be sure to put the food dish and water bottle in easily accessible spots – guinea pigs need to be able to get to both without any effort.
And if that doesn’t work, you can try…
5. Rotate Toys In and Out
One way to keep guinea pigs entertained is to rotate their toys in and out of the cage. This will give them something new to explore and play with.
If your guinea pigs are always going for the fleece, try to have a few different types of toys in the cage at all times like:
- things they can chew or gnaw on
- things they can climb into
- things they can burrow into
I’d say rotating every week or two should do the trick.
Be sure to wash any toys that get soiled. Either wash them in the washing machine or -if it’s a hard toy – spritz it with a vinegar and water mix, followed by a thorough wipe down.
If the toy rotation still doesn’t work, you could try…
6. A Bigger Cage
Actually, this is probably one of the most basic solutions to guinea pigs eating fleece – give them more space!
A bigger cage means that your guinea pigs will have less opportunity to get bored and start munching on the fabric.
Plus, it never hurts to have a bit of extra room in case there’s a squabble over toys or food.
If you’re considering a bigger cage, make sure to get the one with the most horizontal space – guinea pigs love to roam around and do zoomies. Multi-level cages are usually best for hamsters and other rodents who like to climb – not necessarily piggies.
If you’ve tried all of the above and your guinea pigs are still eating fleece, you might want to try…
7. New Chew Toys
Guinea pigs love to chew and gnaw on things. In the wild, they would be chewing on sticks and leaves all day long.
One way to stop guinea pigs from eating fleece is to give them new chew toys to play with.
There are a ton of different types of guinea pig chews available in pet stores, like:
- Willow Balls
- Empty Tissue Box
- Apple Sticks, pear sticks or other fruit tree chew sticks
- Willow Bridges
- Wooden Blocks (child-safe ones without paint)
- Cardboard Boxes
- Paper bags stuffed with hay or shredded paper
When it comes down to it, if you want your little buddies to stop munching on fleece, you need to give them plenty of things to distract them.
New toys…if you can find the ones that interest your fur babies, are a fantastic way to do that.
8. Fleece Scraps, Tents, Or Cuddle Sacks
Another way to stop guinea pigs from eating fleece is to give them scraps of fleece to play with instead.
Sometimes cavies gnaw into fleece as a way of trying to pick it up and play with it.
You can make little tents or hideaways for them out of the fabric or just toss a few scraps into the cage and see what they’ll do with them, and they’ll be entertained for hours (hopefully).
Or go with the time efficient way and try out a few new cuddle sacks for your little friends.
Just make sure to supervise your guinea pigs when they’re playing with the fabric, in case they ingest any of it.
9. Extra Playtime or Floor Time
Removing your little friends from the fleece is one way to get them to stop eating it.
Cavies love to play, and they also need plenty of exercise. So, the added distraction of more play time outside of the cage might do the trick.
Be sure to keep a close eye on them and make sure that you’ve piggie-proofed the area. (Like moving electrical cords, plants, and making sure that your little friends can’t escape their play area.
If you’ve tried all of the above solutions and your guinea pigs are still eating fleece, you might want to try the last resort, which is …
10. Change Your Bedding
If all else fails and you can’t seem to stop your guinea pigs from eating fleece, there is one more solution:
Change their bedding material.
If you’re finding that your guinea pigs can’t stop eating fleece, consider switching to a bedding like :
They’ll still be able to burrow and play in it, but they (likely) won’t have any desire to eat it.
Things To Remember
With a little bit of creativity and some persistence, you can stop guinea pigs from eating fleece.
There are a lot of different solutions out there, and you might have to try a few before finding the one that works for your guinea pigs.
Just be patient, keep an open mind, and most importantly: try to have fun with your furry friends.