Do Guinea Pigs Fart?

Do Guinea Pigs Fart?

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Published By: Martyn

Do Guinea Pigs Fart?

Like all animals, guinea pigs do fart. However, their farts are relatively small and do not have a strong odor. Guinea pigs are herbivores, and their diet consists mainly of hay and fresh vegetables. This type of food is high in fiber, which helps to promote gut health and prevents constipation. When guinea pigs eat lots of fiber, they produce more gas, which leads to more flatulence. However, guinea pigs generally do not fart as much as other animals, such as dogs and cats. So if you’re looking for a pet that won’t fill your home with smelly gas, a guinea pig might be a good option!

In this article, i’m going to look deeper into why do guinea pigs fart, the causes and how to reduce it.

Why Do Guinea Pigs Fart?

First of all, you should not be alarmed if you hear your guinea pig fart. Since Guinea Pigs are herbivores and consumed a lot of hay, vegetables, and fruits, their bodies produce a lot of gas.

Farts or gas is the sign of a healthy digestive system. When the gas accumulates in the intestines, it needs to be released one way or another. So your guinea pig will either fart or burp.

Guinea Pigs like to eat throughout the day and will typically eat anything they can get their teeth into. This can typically lead to gas build up, as they swallow air as they eat.

Now if they do continue to fart, its worth looking at taking them to see a vet, as it can be a sign of something more serious.

What Causes A Guinea Pig To Fart?

As mentioned gas or farts are very common in Guinea Pigs, when it happens every so often.

There are a number of things that can increase the amount your guinea pigs do fart.

Diet

Their diet can have a big impact on if your guinea pig farts or not. They have a sensitive digestion, therefore if there’s a sudden change then this can cause problems.

There are also certain foods that can increase the amount of gas your guinea pig has. Just like in humans, these are Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale and cabbage.

You should always check that the food is fresh.

Eating Too Quickly

It’s important that your guinea pig always has food available, such as hay. If not then they run the risk of getting hungry and then eating to quickly when they do get fed.

When they eat too quickly, they consume more air which causes bloat and gas build up.

Stress

Guinea Pigs are prone to stress as they are prey animals and this can cause bloat. When stressed it causes the intestine to contract and push food towards the stomach too quickly. This can cause gas and bloating.

Dehydration

Your guinea pig should always have access to water. If they don’t have access to clean water then they may not drink enough and get dehydrated. Dehydration can cause problems in the gut which leads to an increase of gas.

It’s always worth keeping an eye on how much they drink.

Foods That Cause Guinea Pigs To Fart

Like with humans, there are certain foods that will cause your Guinea Pig to fart.

The foods that cause gas the most are;

  • kale
  • cabbage
  • broccoli
  • pak choy
  • beans
  • collard greens
  • cauliflower

The key is to just keep an eye on the amount of leafy or root vegetables they eat.

These do make good treats but as they are higher in fiber, they can be harder to digest and cause gas build up.

Good Alternatives To Reduce Guinea Pigs Farting

Below are some great alternatives to give them as a treat or snack;

  • Celery leaves
  • Zucchini
  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Tomatoes

Like with all snacks and treats, you want to make sure they are given in moderation. Your guinea pigs diet should be mostly hay with a combination of pellets and lettuce.

Remember, if you’re going to give them something new to eat. Try them with a couple of bites first to see our they react to them.

Does Your Guinea Pig Fart Too Much?

If you do feel that your guinea pig is farting too much, there are a few things you can do.

Check Their Diet

The first thing would be to check their diet first. As mentioned above root and leafy vegetables can cause gas. Try and swap these with some alternatives and see how this impacts their farting.

Increase Their Hay

Hay should always be your guinea pigs main source of food. It’s essential for helping your guinea pigs digestion working properly and keeping them healthy.

Make sure your guinea pigs always have access to plenty of hay, as this will reduce their farting.

Hay will help to ensure their digestion is healthy and help nutrients pass through etc. This is going to stop any gas build up and prevent your piggies from feeling uncomfortable.

Keep The Water Topped Up

You should always make sure your guinea pigs have access to fresh water. This is even more important during hot weather.

Water helps to reduce gas and farting, as it helps food pass through the digestive system.

Help Your Guinea Pig To Eat Slowly

When Guinea Pigs eat, they can also allow air to go into their stomach. It’s this that can cause them to fart.

The problem with them eating too quickly is that they consume even more air, which increases the risk of gas build up.

There are a couple of ways that you can help reduce the speed in which they eat.

Provide Food In A Stress free Environment

When Guinea Pigs get stressed out, they tend to try and eat quicker or intake more air. This can cause bloating which results in increased gas or farting. You want to therefore keep their home as stress free as possible.

When feeding them, prevent anything from causing loud noises or other pets scaring them.

Have A Feeding Schedule

Guinea Pigs will graze throughout the day, they do however know when its time for fresh treats or pellets.

They’re also very good at learning routines and knowing when its time to eat. If they know when they’ll get some treats, they wont overeat or eat too quickly.

Provide Additional Places To Eat

If you have several guinea pigs (and you should always have more than one), you might find one is more dominant than the other. This one will usually get the bulk of the food.

The other one is therefore likely to try and rush their food down them, to try and get as much as possible. This results in swallowing more air, which causes farting.

To reduce this, have a couple of food bowls the opposite end of the cage. That way, there should always be a bowl for each piggie.

Do Guinea Pigs Fart Smell?

Let’s face it, Guinea Pigs are pretty small.

So you wouldn’t expect their farts to smell right? Yes and No

Since they’re small, it wont make a massive amount of a smell unless you were holding them pretty close at the time.

Although like humans, it would depend on what they eat.

Many people claim that guinea pigs fart smells like cabbage, which might be very possible since they eat lot of leafy greens.

Are Guinea Pig Farts Loud?

I don’t think I’ve heard my guinea pigs fart, they have made a couple of funny noises that I thought was a burb but could well have been a fart.

People I’ve spoken to have mixed thoughts as well.

Some claim they’ve never heard them, where as others have said that they were very loud.

It does make sense that they would make a noise, since a fart noise is caused by the gas escaping their bottom. The loudness would vary I expect on how much gas needed to escape.

Final Thoughts

So, do guinea pigs fart? The answer is both yes and no. It really depends on the individual piggy, what they’re eating, and how stressed they are. But in general, their farts probably won’t smell too bad–unless you get up close and personal with them–and they’re more likely to make a noise if they’re feeling stressed. So if you hear your guinea pig making some unusual noises, don’t be alarmed–it could just be that he or she is trying to let off a little gas!

If they do fart alot or your concerned, you should aways take them to a vet.

Martyn

I started my journey into the wonderful world of Guinea Pigs, when my 5 year old son wanted a pet. We spent many weeks and months deciding what type of pet to get him. This is when we fell down the rabbit hole of Guinea Pigs...

I had so many questions when we first started looking into them. Hours and hours of research has given me the answers. So I wanted to share what I've learned with you, to help you learn more about these amazing animals.

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