Why Do Male Guinea Pigs Spray Urine? (Find Out Now)

Did you just clean your guinea pigs’ cage, only to watch them scurry around it and spray urine everywhere again? As confusing as this behavior is, guinea pigs have a pretty good reason for doing it.

Male guinea pigs spray urine to talk to each other and to you, too. Guinea pigs spray to mark their territory, show who’s boss, or simply to say they’re stressed. It all depends on the situation.

Even though this behavior is normal, we need to to know what it means.

Understanding this quirk can help keep your fur babies happy.

It’ll also help you keep the cage cleaner just a bit longer.

Let’s read on to find out why males spray and what you can do about it.

Why Do Male Guinea Pigs Spray Each Other?

We already know our boys can show some bossy behaviors. So, what are our guinea pigs saying when they spray? Here are a few reasons.

Dominance Behavior

Guinea pigs are social animals. Living with one another, they need a way to show who’s the top pig. The hierarchy of cavies is instinctual. The dominant pig gets the best nap spot, first dibs on food, or claims on a mate.

The more submissive pigs follow the dominant one and are calmer. Spraying is a part of showing dominance. Spraying marks their territory as theirs. They spray on other guinea pigs as a way of saying they’re the boss.

Annoyance

Guinea pigs can get annoyed with each other, just like we do. They tell each other they’ve had enough by spraying. If a guinea pig doesn’t stop bugging their cagemate, even while playing, a boar might spray to get the other to stop. It’s a way of saying, “knock it off!”.

Boars can get annoyed with us too. Too much handling or playing can irritate them enough to spray. Getting peed on isn’t fun. It’s a pretty good way to tell us that they’re not happy.

Stress

Another reason your male guinea pig could spray is stress. Irritation with another pig could easily turn to stress, making them pee all over. Fighting for dominance can be stressful.

Hormonal changes or mating behavior can be another stressor,  just like boredom. If they’re not getting picked up or handled, they spray to show anxiety.

Do Male Guinea Pigs Spray On Female Guinea Pigs?

Yup. Male guinea pigs do spray on female guinea pigs. This strange behavior is to mark the sow as theirs. Hormonal pigs can try to claim a female as their mate and ward off other males by spraying on her.

The scent says this sow is spoken for. The other males smell it and might stay away. If the odor isn’t enough to stop another boar, some dominance fighting can happen.

This is one of the many reasons it’s important to house the right balance of male and female guinea pigs.

Typically, you want to keep multiples males and females separated….or just have one male with several females.

Males fighting over females can become stressful and messy.

Everyone can end up getting peed on.

Can You Stop Your Guinea Pig From Spraying?

You can’t really stop your guinea pig from spraying. All of this peeing might leave you wondering if there’s any way to and I don’t blame you. This type of pig talk is very messy. Maybe you can stop your guinea pig from spraying a bit less by taking some preventive actions.

Spraying is a natural behavior for them. This is an efficient way to communicate with others and it’s very instinctual.

As strange as it is to pee everywhere and on one another, it’s better than aggressive behavior like biting and fighting.

What to Do If Your Guinea Pig Starts Spraying?

If your guinea pig starts spraying, there are some tips to help you out. First off, watch your guinea pig to see why it’s marking. Is it trying to be the dominant one? Or maybe it’s trying to claim a mate? Guinea pigs need to establish a social hierarchy. In this case, spraying is necessary.

There’s not much you can do except let them figure it out. As long as your cavies aren’t hurting each other, this will help them figure out how to live happily together.

If not, you may need to separate them. This will slow down the spraying too. Housing female and male guinea pigs will lead to hormonal behaviors. Sometimes one neutered male can be okay with some females. Even then, they can spray to try to claim one.

The instinct to reproduce is strong, and it’s best to house piggies of the same sex together.

If your fur potato is peeing because it’s stressed, figure out what’s upsetting it and try to calm it down. Picking it up more often if it’s bored can work. If it’s getting stressed out when you pick it up, talking softly can help your fluff ball out.

Do Male Guinea Pigs Spray? (Pet Parents Weigh In)

Wondering if you’re the only one dealing with all this pee? I figured you would. I surveyed some other parents to see how many had boars that sprayed and how they handled it. Here’s some interesting things I found out.

Out of 47 guinea pig pet parents:

• 32 had issues with their piggies peeing right after cleaning up the cages. Piggies would run around peeing and remarking their territories. Some advice for this problem was to leave a small part uncleaned. Another suggestion was to leave a dirty pee pad inside so they wouldn’t feel the need to mark again.
• 6 had cavies peeing on them while they were held. Cavies would be so excited to be held and cuddled that they would back up into their owners and pee! The solution was to pick up their fur babies for a few minutes and then place them back in their cages to pee before picking them up again.
• 5 pet parents had some peeing on each other. This happened after introducing a new male cage mate. The recommended action was to get a bigger enclosure. Larger cages seemed to give the boys enough room to have their own space.
• Interestingly enough, 4 pet parents chose to neuter their boars in hopes of stopping the marking, but only two had success. The other two kept marking.

Some general tips I noted:

• Most male guinea pig owners clean their piggies’ butts using wipes or warm water to help keep them clean and less stinky. Wiping down their scent glands helped keep the pee smell down.
• Air purifiers were a popular option for most guinea pig parents to keep the stink down. A common complaint was that their males were much stinkier and messier than their girls. Still equally as cute.
• Litter training helped owners clean up after their piggies and keep the pee smell down too.
• Most parents said the smell right after marking was strong (and very stinky), but it went away after 10 minutes or so.

Is There a Way to Prevent Male Guinea Pigs From Spraying In the First Place?

No, there isn’t a way to prevent male guinea pigs from spraying. We can’t stop this quirky behavior any more than we can tone down their cuteness.

Spraying is a natural part of guinea pigs. So, as stinky and weird as peeing on everything is, these cute fur potatoes make up for it with their adorable wheeks and zoomies.

Should You Get A Female or a Male Guinea Pig If You Don’t Want Them to Spray Urine?

It’s important to note that both females and males spray. The difference is that males have a scent gland that makes their pee a little bit more stinky than females.

This anal scent gland secretes oils that help their scent stick to whatever they spray or rub their butts on.

While owning a female might mean you have a piggy that won’t spray or smell as much, you will still deal with peeing here and there. I

t’s a well known fact that females can be tidier than their male counterparts, but boys do have their charms. So it’s up to you to decide what option works best.

Do Guinea Pigs Scent Spray?

Yes, guinea pigs do scent spray. Scent spraying is stronger with males because of their scent glands. These are special for marking territories and are different from sows. While females will also pee to establish dominance, males tend to do this more than girls do.

How Do I Stop My Guinea Pig From Peeing Everywhere?

Now, I know I said you couldn’t really stop your fur baby from peeing all over the place. But there’s still some tips to help keep the mess down. Here are some ways to keep them (and your homes) cleaner.

Keep Them In a Contained Location

Floor time is important to keep our fuzz spuds entertained and stimulated. This is tough to do if they keep marking all over your floors. To keep them and your house clean, keep them in a contained area while they explore.

That way, they still get time outside their cages, and you only have a specific place to clean up after putting them back.

Use Blankets and Pee Pads

Floor time will be much easier if you cover the space with some pee pads and piggy fleece blankets. After they run around, clean-up will be a breeze. Just replace the pee pads or wash the blankets.

You can wrap them in blankets while you hold them too. That way, they can’t pee on your clothes. Using pee pads and blankets under their hay and bedding makes cage clean-up easier too.

Try to Litter Train Them

Guinea pigs can also be litter trained. A small litter box they can get in and out off is needed. Kitten litter boxes normally work well. Encourage your fuzz spud to pee in the box by having hay close by so they can munch while using it.

Piggies eat all the time, including when they use the potty. Have several boxes spread around their cages until they learn to use them. Once they learn, a few in the corner should be enough. Teaching them to pee in one area can discourage them from marking everywhere.

Do Male Guinea Pigs Smell?

Male guinea pigs can smell. That scent gland I mentioned earlier can have some build-up, making them pretty stinky. You can help this by just wiping their butts here and there. The area is oily, so they might need extra help to keep themselves clean.

Pet wipes can do the job. Warm water and pet wash are another option. Wipe gently and reward your fuzz spud, so they learn this is a positive thing for them (and for your nose).

Do Male Guinea Pigs Calm Down As They Get Older?

Male guinea pigs can calm down as they get older. Generally, they tend to sleep and chill a bit more. This can happen around four years old when piggies enter their “old age” years. As they calm down, marking behaviors can slow down too. Naptime seems more fun to them than peeing at this age. Thankfully!

Do Male Guinea Pigs Need to Be Neutered?

Male guinea pigs don’t need to be neutered. Neutering is only necessary if you’re housing them with other females.

Neutering stops your females from becoming pregnant. It’s easier to have your male guinea pigs fixed rather than your females. Spaying your females is a more invasive surgery.

Fixing your males is really only needed to prevent unwanted breeding. In some cases, genetic mutations occurs with piggie babies – especially if the wrong breeds are matched together.

But, honestly, it won’t help change any hormonal behaviors, like spraying. If you’re planning on having boys and girls together, neutering is definitely a good idea, though.

Exceptions are if your cavy might have problems going under anesthesia or if going to the vet would be too stressful. Talk about your options with your vet to decide what’s best for your fuzz spud.

Things to Remember About Separating Male and Female Guinea Pigs

While separating your male and female guinea pigs might slow down spraying, it’s important to remember a few tips. Guinea pigs have great noses. It won’t be enough to keep them in different cages. It’s best to house them in separate rooms.

Keeping them in different cages but in the same room might actually make their spraying worse. Since they can’t spray on the sows, they will attempt to spray on cage walls or other pigs. This is to assert dominance.

Remember, males and females need to be kept far away from each other to slow down marking.