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can guinea pigs eat their own poop

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Their Own Poop?

Guinea pig foods,

Guinea pigs are the type of animals that can eat anything and want to eat anything. They will not discriminate if they see something in their path which is vaguely edible.

Can guinea pigs eat their own poop?

One of these things that you may notice that they are eating is their own poop.

image wikpedia

It seems quite a strange thing for them to be doing but is something that they really seem to enjoy.

So can guinea pigs eat their own poop, and is it okay for them to do so.

The good thing is that guinea pigs have been eating their own poop for many civilizations.

In fact, it is healthy for them to do so and they shouldn’t be stopped from doing so.

What it has in it are valuable nutrients for them to eat.

So although they have just excreted the poop, often they will start eating it after they have deposited it.

This can seem disgusting for us, but it is quite normal for guinea pigs.

A good article on what good guinea pig poop is like check out this one

For more foods that guinea pigs can and can’t eat, check out our guinea pig food list

can guinea pigs eat their own pooop

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Their Own Pooop?

Guinea pig foods,

So the grossest thing happened today. I was sitting holding ‘Rocket’ one of my boars and he happened to do a poo on my lap.

Any guinea pig owner will tell you that this is an occupational hazard so I wasn’t phased by it.

I didn’t have any tissues nearby and didn’t have a towel on my lap.

The only thing was, as I was sitting there looking at what to do with this poop sitting on my lap, Rocket sniffed it and promptly gulped it down.

Can guinea pigs eat their own poop?

Seeing your guinea pig eating their own poop is the most bizarre thing!

But is this normal and is it okay for guinea pigs to eat their own poop?

As humans, we are naturally repulsed by such a thing and it is pretty disgusting.

Actually, for guinea pigs its pretty normal.

You see a guinea pig’s poop holds valuable nutrients for it.

Their bodies can’t hold all the nutrients they require and so by eating their own poop, they can look to eat the nutrients they require a second time.

If you hang around them for too long, you will see them eating their own poop out of its own anus. This can often mean reaching behind its body and scooping it out of its anus.

Gross huh?

But its perfectly healthy and the guinea pigs will gain a lot of good nutrients from doing so.

So don’t worry at all about this happening.

 

For more things that guinea pigs can and can’t eat, check out our guinea pig food list