11 Simple Tips To Stop Guinea Pigs From Smelling Up Your Room

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com and other affiliate links, at no extra cost to you. Wanna read something more boring than watching paint dry? Click HERE for a peek at my disclosure.

No one likes the smell of a dirty, stinky guinea pig – especially when they’re smelling up your room. Unfortunately, this is what you’ll be dealing with if you don’t take care of your pet properly.

Using a combination of the following tips will help reduce the amount of smell coming from your guinea pig’s cage, and will help keep your room (and your guinea pigs) smelling fresh.

  • use a bigger cage
  • change your house air filters
  • open the windows and doors
  • use an air purifier
  • invest in charcoal bags
  • clean their cage frequently
  • do regular health checks
  • make sure your fleece is wicking
  • feed your piggie a balanced diet
  • groom your piggie well
  • litter train your guinea pigs

Guinea pigs make a lot of mess.

But, there’s environmental issues (that aren’t exactly your piggies’ fault) that can make your room smell bad, too.

a picture of a guinea pig that insists that he's not smelling up your room

Fortunately, there’s things you can do to make your home fresher and cleaner for your little friends. If you want to keep your room from smelling like guinea pigs, use these 10 simple tips. That way you can keep them (and your room) smelling like fresh and clean.

1. Use A Bigger Cage.

Get A Bigger Cage Is A Good Tip To Stop Guinea Pigs From Smelling Up Your Room

Keeping your fur babies confined to a smaller space will always result in foul odors smelling up your room and more mess.

A bigger cage can help in a few different ways:

  • Guinea pigs can be trained to (mostly) use the bathroom in certain areas of their cage if their cage is big enough. Their waste will be contained – making it easier for you to swoop up and out of the enclosure – which typically will help with the smell
  • And it’s not just the piggie that benefit. You will, too. When it’s time to clean cage, you can maneuver everything around easily instead of trying to reach into a small, cramped cage. That makes things easier for you.
7 secret guinea pig hacks

Plus, a bigger cage will give you more room to easily place other items in the cage that help your piggies live better, healthy lives – like a food dish, bedding supplies, water bottles, etc. (#piggiecare101)

So, you’re really killing two (several?) smelly birds with one stone by using a bigger cage.

2. Change Your House Air Filters.

If you’re finding your room smells more like your guinea pig’s cage than anything else, then it might be time to change your air filters.

Dirty air filters will trap particles and allergens inside your house – including the smells from your guinea pigs’ cage.

If your filter isn’t clogged or saturated, it will remove pollutants and odors from your room that make it stink.

Replacing your air filters every 3-6 months (depending on the type of filter you have and how often you run your air conditioner/heater) will help keep the air in your house clean – and will help stop your room from smelling like a petting zoo.

3. Open the window and doors.

One of the easiest things you can do to help stop your room from smelling like a guinea pig is to encourage air flow. If there is no air movement in the room, the smell will be difficult to get rid of.

Good air circulation in the room where your guinea pigs live is a must if you want to avoid a smelly room.

Open windows and doors as often as possible to let in fresh, clean outdoor air (when weather permits) and push any bad smell out.

If it’s cold outside, please move your piggies to a warmer part of your home until you’ve aired out the room and brought the temperature back up to a comfy level for your piggies. You don’t want your piggies catching a cold.

4. Use An Air Purifier.

If you’re finding that no matter what you do, your room still smells like a guinea pig cage, it might be time to invest in an air purifier.

What does an air purifier do, exactly?

It sucks in dirty/smoky/stinky air and sends cleaner, fresher-smelling air back into the room.

Compare these 3 highly rated, affordable air purifiers right here. One of these should help you stop your guinea pigs from smelling up your room.

If you use an air purifier that also has a HEPA filter, it’ll remove allergens (that can cause respiratory problems in humans and pets) out of your house when you run it – which is good news for your guinea pigs (and for you).

Bottom line?

An air purifier will help keep your room smelling fresh – even if you don’t open any windows or doors during the day.

5. Get Some Charcoal Bags.

No, not the kind you use for your barbecue. I’m talking about activated charcoal bags.

Activated charcoal is known for its ability to absorb bad smells and toxins.

So, if your guinea pigs are making your room smell bad, then it might be something you want to consider.

Just like an air purifier, activated charcoal bags will help remove the smells from your room – but they also have the added bonus of being all-natural and fragrance free. Plus, they’re safe around pets and children. They can be put in any room of your home and they’re super easy to use!

Here’s a highly rated bamboo charcoal bag set that should suit do the trick.

Simply place a few activated charcoal bags in the room where your guinea pigs live – and replace them as needed.

Charcoal bags can be placed in areas of the room where the smell is strongest.

6. Clean Your Cage Frequently.

If you want your room not to smell like a guinea pig, then you need to spot clean your guinea pig’s cage every day and give it a thorough cleaning at least once a week.

Daily spot cleaning means removing solid waste, damp bedding, and uneaten food.

A weekly full clean involves taking everything out of the cage – including the bottom pan – and giving it a good scrubbing with hot water and a safe pet-friendly soap.

And don’t forget to scrub or wash all of your fuzz spuds’ bedding.  It’s important to use fresh bedding in the cage after a cage clean.

Wanna kick your room odor removal cleaning up a notch?

An odor removal trick is to use vinegar. It removes bad smells that are caused by old things, food, accidents with pets and mustiness.

This works when you spray on pet bedding or wash your piggie’s toys and accessories with it. As it evaporates, it takes away the bad smells.

7. Give Regular Health Checks

If you’re noticing that your piggie’s urine has a distinct, ammonia-like smell, then this could be a sign that they have a urinary tract infection (UTI) and need to see the vet.

Other signs of a UTI include:

  • sluggishness
  • pain (squealing or screaming) while peeing
  • not eating properly
  • blood in the urine

What might this mean for your room’s odor? Well, it will probably be smelly for a while (so all of your hard work to keep the stink down won’t matter).

If you think your little friend has one, act right away.

8. Make Sure Your Fleece Is Wicking

Fleece is an excellent bedding to use for guinea pig – in most cases. But, it has to be used correctly or your room will smell like…well, your guinea pig!

One of the most important rules with using fleece for guinea pig bedding is to make sure that the fabric wicks.

That means that it has to be able to suck the moisture (urine) through the fabric into an absorbent layer underneath the top layer of fleece – and away from your piggie’s skin and body.

If you don’t:

  • properly wick the fleece, so your piggie’s urine passes through it
  • add an absorbent layer to catch the urine

…Then your piggies are going to sloshing around in pee puddles and their bedding (and your room) will stink to high heaven. Not to mention that their poor feet could become infected from all of the moisture.

9. Feed Your Piggie A Good Diet

A healthy diet is important for keeping your guinea pig’s digestive system running smoothly – and this in turn will help to keep your room from smelling like the rejected back corner of an outhouse.

Keeping your guinea pig’s diet on track can go a really long way to help lessen the smell in your room.

If your cavy’s urine smells bad and the vet says it doesn’t have a urinary tract infection or other health issue, try to give them vegetables and fruits that won’t change the smell of their pee.

The urine of the average, healthy piggie doesn’t have much smell to it at all.

But, if it stinks…or if the strong odor is causing your room to stink, it’s pretty likely that your piggies’ diet is to blame.

You’ll need to avoid feeding them stinky foods that are known to make cavies give off strong odors.

So, make sure that you don’t give your piggies too many veggies like broccoli, cabbage, or kale because this will increase the odor of their urine. (the same goes for veggies like Brussel sprouts).

7 secret guinea pig hacks

10. Groom Your Piggie Well

Lots of times, when your little cavy friend smells up your room, it’s actually because they need a little bit more help from you.

One of the best ways to help keep the smell down is to groom your guinea pig frequently.

If you fail to groom them properly or if their fur is dirty, they can start to smell pretty bad – which makes your little friends stink up your room.

Here’s a few tips you need to keep in mind when grooming your guinea pig:

  • Give your guinea pig’s hair a trim. If it’s too long, then the fur will drag in their poop and pee. Trimming their back end may help you avoid that problem.
  • Trim your furry potatoes nails regularly. If your piggies nails get too long, they’ll get poop and pee stuck in them. Short nails don’t have that problem.
  • Brush your piggie regularly. Knotted, shed hair can smell pretty bad and seriously stink up your room – especially if you have several long-haired, little friends.
  • Butt baths are typically a must. If your cavy’s hair is long and it is getting poop and pee on it, you can give it a butt bath. Just fill up the sink with some water and get a washcloth wet. Soap up the washcloth and scrub your cavy’s butt, nails, and feet until all of the dirt and poop comes off
  • Wash out the grease gland. It is where a guinea pig’s tail would be if it had one. You can find it on both males and females. A lot of people use coconut oil to wash it clean.
  • Nails hold poop and pee. If they get too long, you can get poop and pee stuck in them. Always cut your nails so that they do not have too much hair on them.

11. Litter Train Your Guinea Pigs

Last, but not least, one of the best things you can do to keep your room from smelling like a petting zoo is to litter train your guinea pigs.

Here’s a quick disclaimer:

Although piggies can be encouraged to use certain areas of their cage as toilets, it’s not guaranteed that it’ll happen all the time or even at all.

If you’re thinking about litter training your guinea pigs, keep in mind that it’s not a 100% fool-proof way to stop them from smelling up your room.

But, spot cleaning will go sooooo much easier if you train your little friends to go in one particular spot of the cage….

So, I’d say it’s worth a shot.

That being said, there are some helpful steps you can take when trying to teach them where their toilet is:

  • Get a litter tray or a litter box. Preferably one that’ll fit most (if not all) all your piggies. Put a washable puppy pad or newspaper on the bottom of the tray and pack hay on top of it.
  • Find a dark, corner spot of the cage for the litter tray. Put some sort of fleece cover over the spot where the litter box is located to encourage your piggies to use it. Cavies don’t like peeing in the open. (They’re a lot less picky about where they poop, though)
  • Put potty pads in the other dark places of the enclosure where your piggies might like to poop and pee. The potty pads are a lot easier to wash than a huge liner. They actually help keep the liner fresher for a longer period of time.

Things To Remember To Stop Guinea Pigs From Stinking Up Your Room

When you’re dealing with a room that smells like guinea pig, it can be hard to know what to do.

I’ve highlighted some helpful tips that should help you get on the right track to stopping the smell.

  • Change your air filters
  • Encourage air flow in the room
  • Use an air purifier
  • Invest in charcoal bags
  • Clean their cage frequently
  • Do regular health checks
  • Make sure your fleece is wicking
  • Feed your piggie a good diet
  • Groom your piggie well
  • Litter train your guinea pigs.

If you’re looking to get rid of a foul smell that’s coming from your furry friends, then you definitely need to try one of these options. 

Experiment with different combinations: use a litter box with the air purifier and the health checks; up your cage cleaning and double check that your fleece beddings are wicking properly.

Eventually you’ll find the secret sauce for your and your furry burritos.

And then you cut down on the stench while also keeping your furry friends happy and healthy.

If you have any other tips that can help keep their smell to a minimum, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below! 

7 secret guinea pig hacks

Air purifier buying guide. (2021, November 2). Consumer Reports. https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/air-purifiers/buying-guide/index.htm

Basic information sheet: Guinea pig. (2019, February 6). LafeberVet. https://lafeber.com/vet/basic-information-for-guinea-pigs/

Beck, A. (2013). Guinea pigs: Keeping and caring for your pet. Enslow Pub.

DVM, S. L. (2015). The Guinea pig handbook. Barron’s Educational Series.

Guinea lynx :: UTI. (n.d.). Guinea Lynx :: A Medical and Care Guide for Your Guinea Pig. https://www.guinealynx.info/uti.html

Guinea pig feeding. (n.d.). The Humane Society of the United States. https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/guinea-pig-feeding

Guinea pig feeding. (n.d.). The Humane Society of the United States. https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/guinea-pig-feeding

Guinea pig housing. (n.d.). The Humane Society of the United States. https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/guinea-pig-housing

Harding, J. (2021, February 17). The best bamboo charcoal air purifier bags for clean air. Bob Vila. https://www.bobvila.com/articles/best-bamboo-charcoal-air-purifier-bags/

Health problems in Guinea pigs. (n.d.). vca_corporate. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/guinea-pigs-problems

How much water does a Guinea pig need? All about water for Guinea pigs! (n.d.). Guinea Pig 101. https://guineapig101.com/guinea-pig-water/

Nutrient requirements of the Guinea pig – Nutrient requirements of laboratory animals – NCBI bookshelf. (n.d.). National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231932/

Social experience, behavior, and stress in guinea pigs. (1991). PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1946736/

Vitamin C recommendations for Guinea pigs | Arizona exotics | -Guinea pigs resources. (n.d.). Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital | Veterinary care for exotic pets in Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert AZ. https://azeah.com/guinea-pigs/vitamin-c-recommendations-guinea-pigs

What should I feed my Guinea pigs? (n.d.). RSPCA Knowledgebase – Let Australia’s most trusted animal welfare charity help you answer the big questions. https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-should-i-feed-my-guinea-pigs/

Similar Posts