There are two options when owning a guinea pig and deciding where to house them and those are keeping guinea pigs outdoors or inside the main family dwelling. Many people believe that guinea pigs smell quite offensively and nothing could be further from the truth although if you plan to only clean the cage once in a while it is probably better that you look into other pets that don’t require as much maintenance. Having said that however if you plan to clean your guinea pig cage daily or several times a week at very least, there will be no foul smell and no need to keep guinea pigs outdoors. Lets take a closer look at the pros and cons of guinea pig housing and habitats in the indoor as well as keeping guinea pigs outdoors.

Indoor VS Outdoor Housing of Guinea Pigs
Theoretically a guinea pig can both be housed outside or inside as the are naturally a outdoor dwelling animal however it is highly imperative to remember when planning to keep guinea pigs outdoors that they have much weaker hearts than most rodents and are very susceptible to contracting pneumonia. Always be sure to keep the guinea pig out of the wind and rain because this can actually promote sickness and always be certain that when keeping guinea pigs outside that you provide plenty of shelter in the way of hay so that they can burrow down and protect themselves from the elements. Hay is a perfect example of something for the guinea pigs to hunker down in because they not only need hay daily to provide health to the teeth, it also provides warmth in the winter as well as shade in the summer away from the blazing sun.

The other thing to remember when intending to keep guinea pigs outside is that they are also very likely candidates to suffer from severe heat stroke to the point of death. These animals can get heatstroke in record short periods of time and direct sunlight is not a good thing for them to suffer through for even a brief period of time so make sure that you keep them out of the sunlight. As well, if it is incredibly hot it is wise to give the guinea pigs that you keep outside some ice cubes in order for them to get some relief from the heat. They really do not do well with heat and this is a major downfall when deciding whether or not to keep guinea pigs outdoors.