Super impressed with my very potty trained pigs!

[h.h.lovecraft]

Today I realized just how insanely well mannered my girls are about using their potty area.

They are very strict about where they use the bathroom in their cage. They both only ever go in the hay tray/litter box, and will actively get up from wherever they are laying to go poo/pee in the tray. Their fleece bedding stays fresh for a super long time because of this and I end up changing it because of the pellet/hay crumbs rather than a bathroom related issue.The pee pads in their hay tray get changed out very frequently however.

They also have a hay tray/litter box in their run and I would say 90% of all poos end up in the box as well.

I get both of my piggies out and hold them in a cuddle sack at least once every day, sometimes more. They both usually rest or doze off for a good while before emerging from the sack wanting to be returned to their cage. More often then not, one or both of them will run to the hay tray and use the bathroom as soon as I put them back. I do think they try really hard to hold it until I can get them back into their cage.

I have not been peed or pooped on since the first month I had them when they were quite ill little babies. They also rarely use the bathroom on anything they aren't supposed to like the couch, floor, etc.

I know it's a bit silly, but I feel grateful and actually quite proud of my girls because I know this isn't possible with every pig. I think their success with potty training is due to a few things.

First, you need pigs that are even willing to control their bowel movements at all

Second, I always had a "kitchen area" for my girls that encouraged using the bathroom in one area. I bought a litter tray from a website that sells them to perfectly fit the c&c cage I bought from them. It is very large, made of coroplast, and has a small lip to keep the poos in. (I highly recommend it!)

Third, you gotta listen to the pig! I'm sure there would have been more accidents had I not put them back in their cage when they wanted to go back.


Hexi emerging from a nap in the cuddle sack

I feel like they have really changed the minds of many of my friends and family when it comes to how they see guinea pigs. People are always impressed with how much they are capable of!

 

[Freela]

We've been lucky that all our pigs have been really good about this... they do go at random in the cage, but they don't go to the bathroom outside the cage. We have had the odd accident when holding them, but they are infrequent and we have usually missed their signals (squirminess, etc.) and not gotten them back soon enough. I chalk it up to one of our original pair of pigs, Linney, who was very bossy and would always go back into the cage to pee. Because she was the boss, the two more submissive pigs that she lived with did what she did. Even though she has been gone for a long time now and we are actually on our third generation after Linney, we have always been introducing a new pig to a pig who already knows to go to the cage to go to the bathroom, and hence we've had over a decade of potty-trained pigs!

 

[My Piggies]

Lucky you
My pigs enjoy flinging their poos everywhere

 

[Black piggies]

I've had the full range but most have been poo everywhere and anywhere.

 

[h.h.lovecraft]

We've been lucky that all our pigs have been really good about this... they do go at random in the cage, but they don't go to the bathroom outside the cage. We have had the odd accident when holding them, but they are infrequent and we have usually missed their signals (squirminess, etc.) and not gotten them back soon enough. I chalk it up to one of our original pair of pigs, Linney, who was very bossy and would always go back into the cage to pee. Because she was the boss, the two more submissive pigs that she lived with did what she did. Even though she has been gone for a long time now and we are actually on our third generation after Linney, we have always been introducing a new pig to a pig who already knows to go to the cage to go to the bathroom, and hence we've had over a decade of potty-trained pigs!

That is amazing! I've never thought about that situation before with my girls. I think my diva pigs would be very quick to teach a new piggy where to use the bathroom. I wholeheartedly believe they would be very offended if some new pig would start pooping up the place.