Taking care of guinea pigs has the potential to be very satisfying. These little animal companions are a ton of fun, and they’re very playful once they get used to you.
If you’ve been caring for a guinea pig for a little while now, then you might have noticed that it will pee on you sometimes. Of course, this is less than ideal, and you probably wish that you could make the guinea pig stop doing that.
You also might be wondering why this is happening in the first place. Is there something that you’re doing that is causing the guinea pig to pee on you?
Keep reading to learn about why guinea pigs might pee on people. This should help you to understand your guinea pig a bit better, and you might be able to keep this from happening quite so often.
This Is Fairly Normal Behavior
This is actually fairly normal behavior and it isn’t anything that you really need to worry about. Guinea pigs aren’t really capable of holding their urine for long periods of time.
When a guinea pig feels like it needs to relieve itself, it’s going to relieve itself whether it’s sitting on your lap or not. This is kind of strange for someone who isn’t used to caring for guinea pigs to be sure, but it’s not something to fret over.
Guinea pigs can produce quite a bit of urine as well, and this means that you shouldn’t be alarmed if your guinea pig makes quite a mess. These little animals also poop pretty much everywhere, and it’s probably more common for people to get pooped on than it is for them to get peed on.
You’ll probably notice that guinea pigs will kind of just poop and pee anywhere when they’re outside their cages. This is sort of problematic, but it is what guinea pigs naturally do.
If a guinea pig is inside of its habitat, then it’ll be a bit pickier about where it pees. Generally, you’ll find guinea pigs peeing in only one spot inside of their habitats.
The same doesn’t hold true for pooping, though, since they’ll go wherever in the cage. Regardless, you should feel a bit more at ease knowing that this urination issue is not unusual in the slightest.
Some Guinea Pigs Might Give Signals That They’re About to Pee
While many guinea pigs will just pee on people when they feel like they need to go, there are also some that give their owners signs. Many guinea pig owners have said that their guinea pigs have little signals that alert them to the fact that their guinea pig needs to pee.
You might find some guinea pigs will start fidgeting when they really need to pee. Others might make squeaks or certain noises.
Pet owners have even noted guinea pigs freezing up momentarily before releasing urine. If you get to know your guinea pig well, then you might start to recognize the signs that indicate when the animal needs to urinate.
Being able to recognize these behaviors could allow you to get the guinea pig back to its cage in time. Or you could at least try to place the guinea pig under a towel to avoid having a mess on your hands.
Limit Time Outside the Cage
Limiting time outside the cage is going to be wise if you wish to keep guinea pigs from urinating too much. When you’re holding your guinea pig, you should try to stick to a 15-minute time limit.
If you go too far beyond 15 minutes, then you’ll run the risk of having the guinea pig pee on you. It’s a lot easier to just be mindful of how much time you’ve been holding the guinea pig.
You don’t need to avoid holding the guinea pig, but you can just take caution not to hold it for too long. As long as you’re paying attention to the clock, this isn’t going to be too hard.
Always Place Guinea Pigs on a Towel While Holding Them
Another handy tip that you should utilize as often as possible is to place your guinea pig on a towel when you’re holding it. If the guinea pig is going to sit in your lap, then you can place a towel on your lap to prevent your pants or legs from being peed on.
You won’t always be able to stop the guinea pig from peeing, but you can take steps to limit the mess that is made. This is a wise thing to do that will make it a lot easier to enjoy your time with your animal companion.
Fear or Nervousness
It’s possible that a guinea pig might urinate due to feeling afraid or being nervous about something. Most of the time, guinea pigs are just going to pee on people when they have to go, but there could be other causes.
If something startles the guinea pig, then it might pee due to being afraid. It might not always be easy to tell if a guinea pig is urinating because it has to go like normal or if it is afraid.
The only easy way to tell will be if there is something in the room that could obviously make the guinea pig afraid. Another animal or a loud noise happening suddenly would fit the bill.
Stress or Being Agitated
Certain people have said that guinea pigs will use urination to express their discomfort. For example, if a guinea pig is stressed by a certain situation, then it might urinate to try to let you know that it doesn’t like what’s going on.
If your guinea pig is agitated about being held or being on your lap, then it might pee on you out of spite. This isn’t something that is well understood right now, but there are doctors who say that guinea pigs will urinate on people for reasons like this.
What About Marking Territory or Establishing Dominance?
Guinea pigs will sometimes pee on each other to mark territory or to establish dominance. It isn’t outside the realm of possibility that some of these instincts could come into play when they pee on humans.
However, it’s hard to know one way or the other whether guinea pigs are motivated to urinate on people for more complex reasons. It’s thought that, most often, guinea pigs just urinate because they can’t hold it or they don’t care to hold it.
Take the Right Precautions
Take the right precautions so that you can avoid having your guinea pig pee on you too often. This is likely something that will happen from time to time so long as you’re raising guinea pigs, though.
It’s smart to place towels on your lap when you’re letting your guinea pig sit on your lap. You should also try to limit the amount of time that a guinea pig spends outside of its cage.
Being smart about how you do things makes it so much simpler to get good results. Guinea pigs are good pets, but that doesn’t mean that the urination issues won’t be annoying
You know more about why this happens now, though, and it’ll be possible to avoid it more often. Just care for your guinea pig well and try to ensure that you have a good time together.
I have a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When I’m not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, I’m at home with my wife, two daughters and a dog. Outside of family, I love grilling and barbequing on my Big Green Egg and working on projects around the house. Growing up, I had pet dogs, cats, deer, sugar gliders, chinchillas, a bird, chickens, fish, and a goat.
Gabriel
Monday 2nd of January 2023
I’ve been trying to figure out why my Guinea pig loves to pee and poo on me. The little fart will back up his bum right up against me and let his bowels empty like I’m a porcelain owner. I know he loves me dearly but the only thing I can come up with is spite. I can’t think of any reason he would have spite for me though. He gets total freedom, He gets fed like a king and tons of attention. I can not figure it out unless it’s some kind of territorial thing. The only thing I think it can be is that he is marking me as his. Idk, smh!