Where Does It All Come From?

When my sister pigsat Pinniped and Cannoli, one of the first things she said when I came to pick them up was:  there was so much poo!  Even though we had guinea pigs when we were young, we bedded them on wood shavings and much of the poo remained hidden.  That is not the case with fleece bedding.  It's all right there for you to see.

Pinni and Noli recently stayed a few days with their favorite pigsitter.  When we returned on Tuesday, the first thing she exclaimed was:  where does all of the poo come from?!?  The last time she pigsat, I was still using shavings, and so she had been blissfully unaware of their ample output.

A day's worth of poo.
Right now, all of my non-guinea pig readers are going "Ewww..."

Yes, guinea pigs produce beans at an amazing rate.  Rob often calls our sows The Poopy Pigs.  It's accurate!  Piggy caretakers may not realize the volume of poo produced unless their guinea pigs are housed on fleece.  It can be impressive or gross, depending on your point of view.  New guinea pig owners often ask: is this normal??

Those of us who have dealt with a sick guinea pig know the joy and relief at seeing a hill of beans.  Their digestive tract can shut down if they stop eating for a long period of time.  From what I understand, if that happens, there's not much hope in getting it going again.  Some of the happiest posts on the guinea pig medical forums announce a sick pig is finally pooping.  Laughable, but true! 

So, yes - my guinea pigs are poopy.  It keeps my compost pile full of preprocessed hay and veggies.  It's the sign of happy, healthy and well fed guinea pigs.  That's a good thing... now hand me the dustpan and broom.