At last, you have brought your guinea pig home. But, where will your piggie sleep?
If you have limited space in your home or are feeling slightly obsessed as a new guinea pig parent, you are probably wondering if you should allow your guinea pig to sleep in your bedroom.
So, Is It Ok to Keep a Guinea Pig in Your Bedroom?
The simple answer is yes! You can keep your guinea pig in your bedroom, and it’s completely safe. However, you need to ensure the airflow and temperature of the room are ideal for your guinea pigs. Guinea pigs can live well and safely in a temperature range between 18°C to 24°C. Anything below or above that might not be good for their health. More so, you should ensure the room has sufficient air circulation for your guinea pigs to stay safe and healthy.
What are the Pros And Cons of Bringing a Guinea Pig in Your Bedroom?
It is important to check out the cons and pros of keeping a guinea pig in the bedroom before going ahead and making the decision.
Pros
1. Easily Monitor The Health Of Your Guinea Pigs
It is relatively easy to look after your guinea pig’s health when they share your bedroom.
The health of your guinea pig can depreciate fast when they fall sick.
Therefore, if you bring your piggies to your bedroom, then you can analyze them regularly and ensure they are safe.
2. More Attention
Keeping your guinea pigs in your bedroom will enable you to give them more attention.
You will more likely pet them more; they will get additional floor time and be more likely to spend more time with them.
However, if you spend most of your time out of your home, the opposite might be true.
3. Company
If you stay solo and are searching for good company, keeping your guinea pigs in your bedroom may be a good idea.
Although they can’t replace a human companion, guinea pigs are very social and interact with their owners relatively well.
Therefore, having a guinea pig in your bedroom may be right for you in such situations.
Cons
1. Allergic To Some People
Some people can have guinea pig allergies. Although it is not common, some people suffer from these allergies.
In most cases, people are allergic to bedding or hay from the guinea pigs.
So, if you are an individual who might be allergic to beddings or hay, it is advisable to keep your guinea pigs in a separate room.
Additionally, if you have a medical history of respiratory disease or asthma, you should consider keeping your guinea pigs away from where you sleep.
2. Noises Can Disrupt Your Peaceful Sleep
One fact about guinea pigs is that they can be quite noisy during night time.
They are crepuscular creatures that are active during dusk and dawn.
Therefore, if you love a peaceful night’s sleep, keeping your guinea pigs in your bedroom may not be the best decision.
The sound of hay, toys, water bottles combined with the chirp and wheeking of your guinea pig can disturb your sleep fully.
3. It Can Cause A Smelly Room
Guinea pigs like keeping themselves clean. However, this is not the case with their cage.
Guinea pigs are like poop machines that poop after every few minutes. This means that if you skip the daily cleaning schedule, you will have a smelly cage.
Leakproof water bottles and quality bedding are also vital to keep your room smell-free.
4. Attracts Rats And Flies
Guinea pigs can attract rats and flies to their cage, particularly if you frequently overfeed them or don’t maintain the cage regularly.
Although it’s not a common issue to many people, it can be a significant problem based on where you live.
This should hence be an important consideration before keeping your guinea pigs in your bedroom.
5. You Can’t Use Body Sprays, Perfume, Or Essential Oils
If you like using body sprays, perfumes, or essential oils, you might be forced to keep it away from your bedroom if you need to house your piggies.
Guinea pigs have a strong sense of smell and can suffer from severe respiratory illnesses.
Piggies have a sense of smell about ten times more than humans, so if you can smell moderate perfume, it could be overwhelming for your pets.
6. Requires A Big Space
Guinea pigs require a relatively large space to live.
Two piggies require a minimum of 8-10 square feet of space to stay a happy and healthy life. Therefore, you must be ready to give up a large area of your bedroom.
If you are okay with it, sharing a bedroom with them will be fine; otherwise, you might need to reconsider your decision.
Keep in mind that you should not house your guinea pigs in a smaller than required cage because it can significantly shorten their lives.
7. Piggies Are Messy
Guinea pigs are messy creatures.
They like playing with their food and hay and more often tip their food bowls.
Even if you clean the cage daily, it will be messy again in a few hours.
Therefore, if you are the clean type who loves seeing everything clean and nice, keeping a guinea pig in your bedroom may not be the right decision to make.
Can Your Guinea Pig Sleep in Your Bed?
The only time when it’s a perfect idea to sleep with your guinea pig on your bed is when taking a lap or during cuddle time when you are fully awake.
Otherwise, if you intend to fall asleep alone, you should not let the buddy sleep in your bed.
This is because unfortunate things can happen.
You might end up squishing and hurting your guinea pigs seriously, which is an indispensable risk to look out for.
More so, the pig may fall off your bed, leaving it seriously injured.
As if that is not enough, you don’t want to wake up only to be greeted by rivers of pee and piles of poop.
So, better be safe when it comes to your guinea pig rather than being sorry.
What Is the Best Place for Guinea Pigs to Sleep?
When selecting the best place for your guinea pigs to sleep, you must consider the health, happiness, and safety of your guinea pigs.
There are many situations that pet owners can forget to consider.
Normally, the best place for guinea pigs to sleep will be in a quiet area with a stable temperature and a draft-less room.
Even so, the appropriate place should benefit the buddies with more interaction, attention, and family care in the home while still serving as a quiet place for a serene time.
Also, ensure that the space is safe from potential predators, all the electrical cables are well tucked away, and no toxic plants are nearby.
Takeaway
It is okay to keep your piggies in your bedroom.
However, co-sleeping with your guinea pigs needs a lot of planning and consideration.
Although there are solutions to most of the problems, you need to consider if you will be able to put in the time, financial investment, or health needed to keep your guinea pig in your bedroom successfully.
It’s a personal decision that works perfectly for some people and not for others.
Related
What Can You Feed a Guinea Pig When You Run Out of Pet Food?
References
Guinea pigs in the bedroom? – the guinea pig forum