Fun Things to do with Guinea Pigs as Pets • A Family Lifestyle & Food Blog

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Guinea pigs make great pets for kids and families, or even adults. We have two guinea pigs. One guinea pig is named Butterscotch, aka Scotchy, and the other is named Twix. We love our guinea pigs very much. We really have a lot of fun with them. Guinea pigs as pets are a fun addition to any family. Guinea pigs are great pets for people who live in apartments or who don’t have a lot of space as well. They are friendly little animals, and if properly socialized as babies, they can even be very affectionate, gives kisses, and snuggle. I’m going to share some fun things we do with our guinea pigs so you can also enjoy the same fun times with your pet guinea pigs.

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guinea pig in pot with planted grass — Meet Twix:) He enjoys hanging out in the grass pot and nibbling away.

Fun Things to do with Guinea Pigs as Pets!

Make an Obstacle Course for Your Guinea Pig using Books

My sons love to make book tunnel obstacle courses for Scotchy and Twix. They line up hardcover picture books to make a tunnel for our guinea pigs to run under. It makes a great tunnel. They create a fun little play area for the pigs to run around in and hang out in. Pigs love to have some sort of cover over them, they feel safer that way. So, boxes, books, towels, blankets, and little beds are perfect things to add to a play area for them so they can hide out and hang out under some sort of cover.

Other things my kids have used to create obstacle courses for our guinea pigs include magnet tile toys, couch cushions, boxes, pillows, bean bags, and mounded up piles of blankets or sheets.

Guinea pigs as pets obstacle courses for pigs…fun with pigs.

Guinea pigs as pets and fun activities — Peekaboo Twix!

Grow Grass in a Pot

Guinea pigs love to eat plain old green grass, like regular lawn grass. We love to take our guinea pigs outdoors so they can walk in the grass and have a snack. They love it and will just chow down on the grass.

However, we have a lawn service come and periodically spray our lawn to take care of weeds, so to give our guinea pigs fresh grass at any moment all year round, we grew some grass in a pot. This way the guinea pigs can chow down on the grass anytime without worrying about exposing them to harmful chemicals because this grass in the pot is never sprayed. Plus, as a bonus, the guinea pigs can sit in the pot, even in the winter, and enjoy some grass time as well eat some fresh grass.

I simply bought some grass seed and dirt and planted the grass in a pot. I like this because then the grass pot is mobile so it can be moved from room to room.

Twix eating grass in pot video on YouTube.

Let Your Pig Free Roam Around a Room

Giving guinea pigs some time to free roam is huge for them. They absolutely love it. Just make sure there are no cords they can reach and chew on, as they love to do that, but it’s not safe plus it wrecks the cord. Block off any spots where they could sneak under a couch or something else that would be difficult to get them out of, and make sure you don’t do it for too long in case they have to go to the bathroom. We will often put down a pad and towels when our pigs run around and they have learned to go to the bathroom on the pads. We have had the occasional accident of course, but for the most part they are used to urinating on the pads.

Of course they poop, and they poop a lot, so be prepared to have to pick up some guinea pigs poops around the room after they have run around for awhile. They also vacuum up well.

They will give lots of fun squeaks and sounds as they run around because they love the freedom so much. It’s great to treat them to this free roam time whenever you can, it makes them so happy and improves their quality of life.

Other ways to have them free roam are to set up gates around the room confining them to a certain area. Plastic kiddie pools work great for this too, but they can be a bit small for much a free roaming time.

Our guinea pigs tend to like to walk on carpet rather than hardwood or smooth flooring. They like the grippiness of carpet over the slippery type floors. So that is something to keep in mind when choosing the free roam area for your pig.

Toss Fresh Fruits and Veggies Around to Let Pigs Find Them

When your pig is free roaming around a room, scatter some pieces of fruit, veggies, and herbs about so they can naturally find them and snack. They love this and it’s more close to their natural way of life of foraging and eating as they find food. We do this with our pigs and they adore it. They will run about and find something yummy to eat, then mosey about and find another delicious morsel. It gets them moving about and gives them something fun and interesting to do.

Feed Your Guinea Pig New Foods

We love to try new foods out for our guinea pigs. We set them up on the couch on a absorbent washable pad and towels and feed them various foods. Offering your pig new foods is a mutually fun activity. It is really fun to watch them pick out favorite foods from a pile on a plate, plus, it’s funny to watch how fast they eat. We have successfully fed our pigs the following natural foods:

apple
arugula lettuce
asparagus
banana
blueberries
broccoli raab, regular broccoli florets, and broccoli stem
Brussels sprouts
green cabbage
red cabbage
cantaloupe
carrots and carrot green tops
cauliflower
celery and celery leaves
cherries (no pit)
cilantro
corn on the cob
cranberries
cucumber with peel
dandelion greens
dill
endive
grapes
grass
green beans
hay
kale
honeydew
kohlrabi
butterhead lettuce
romaine lettuce
red leaf lettuce
mandarin orange
mango
watermelon fruit and rind
mint leaves
mustard greens
orange and peel
papaya
parsley
parsnips
peach
edible podded peas
Bartlett pears
sweet green peppers
sweet red peppers
yellow peppers
plum
pumpkin
radicchio
radishes
raspberry leaves
spinach leaves
squash
strawberries
sweet potato (no white, toxic)
sweet potato leaves
Swiss chard
thyme
tomatoes
turnip greens
zucchini

Guinea pigs need vitamin C daily so be sure to give them some peppers, strawberries, oranges, or tomatoes everyday so they they can get their necessary vitamin C.