Guinea pigs are becoming more and more popular as pets. If you are thinking about welcoming one into your home, it is common to wonder do guinea pigs attract mice?
This article will answer that question and give tips for things to do so your guinea pig won’t bring in any mice into the home.
So, Do Guinea Pigs Attract Mice?
Guinea pigs themselves don’t usually attract mice. However, some things associated with a guinea pig can attract mice, such as their food and bedding if not stored properly. If you keep your guinea’s cage clean and properly store their food and bedding in an airtight container, then your guinea pig shouldn’t attract any mice.
Why Can Guinea Pigs Attract Mice?
A guinea pig doesn’t naturally attract mice. However, if you don’t clean up after them or store their food and bedding appropriately, mice could pop up.
In these cases, the mice aren’t attracted to the guinea pig, they are attracted to the items used to care for the guinea pig.
Mice can be attracted to the smell of guinea pig food and bedding. Make sure to store any open food in an airtight container and store any unused clean bedding the same way.
It is also important to keep both your guinea pig and their cage clean. Guinea pigs don’t need to be bathed often so long as they are kept in a clean environment. Additionally, mice are more likely to be attracted to a dirty cage than a clean one.
How To Prevent Mice When You Have A Guinea Pig
Here are the key steps all guinea pig owners should take to reduce the chances of mice coming around because of owning a guinea pig:
Keep their cage clean
As already stated, your guinea pig’s cage should be regularly cleaned. For an average guinea pig, a full cage cleaning twice a week should be sufficient.
However, you this isn’t a hard and fast rule, you should monitor the cleanliness of your cavy’s cage to determine how often it needs to be cleaned. Some guinea pigs may need their cage cleaned more or less than twice a week.
The key is that your guineas cage should never smell, and they should have plenty of fresh bedding.
Keep your guinea pigs’ clean
Along similar lines, when you clean your guinea pig’s cage, you should also make sure they are clean themselves. Examine them to make sure their bottom, feet, eyes and ears are all clean.
Guinea pigs don’t need to be bathed often, but if their cage is dirty, they can become dirty as well. Another test is to make sure your cavy doesn’t carry an odor.
Store food and bedding properly
Another key for keeping the mice away is properly storing food and bedding. Mice can be attracted to the smell of your guineas food and bedding (yes, even fresh bedding), so storing these items in air-tight containers does wonders for keeping the odor in and the mice away.
Properly dispose of soiled bedding and poop
Lastly, when you do clean the cage, make sure to properly dispose of the poop and soiled bedding. You should dump the poop and soiled bedding in a trash bag (maybe even a fresh scented bad), then toss the bag into a trash can with a lid. The lid will keep any rodents out of the trash.
What To Do If Your Guinea Pig Is Attracting Mice
Here are some extra steps you can take if you’ve seen a mouse in the house and want to get rid of them quickly:
Use peppermint oil
Peppermint oil can also keep the mice away because they don’t like the smell. You can spray some peppermint oil around the entrances of the house.
Some people also soak cotton balls in peppermint oil and leave them around the outside of the house to deter rodents from entering.
Ammonia
There are many experts that say the smell of ammonia deters mice. Although you shouldn’t use ammonia anywhere near your guinea pig. You can use it outside your home and around the borders of places where mice where try and enter or hide.
Professional help
If you do find mice and have trouble getting rid of them, the best thing to do is call a professional. They will be able to quickly irradicate the mice problem as well as give you some professional tips on how to prevent them in the future.
Conclusion
Can guinea pigs attract mice? Yes and no. Guinea pigs themselves won’t attract mice, but uncleanliness or improperly storing their food and bedding can cause mice.
If you are thinking about getting a guinea pig, as long as you make sure you keep their crate clean as well as properly store their food and bedding you shouldn’t have any problem with rodents.