Surely more than once we have caught our guinea pigs eating their own feces, which makes us wonder if this type of behavior is normal, or if it suffers from some type of disorder or problem.

We will start by saying that this type of behavior is totally normal, as well as necessary for them and their digestive system, although not all their feces are appropriate for this purpose.

Guinea pigs have two types of feces, some harder during the day, and others more irregular and soft during the night and early morning.

The feces that they usually eat are the soft ones. Through their ingestion, guinea pigs recover some nutritive substances, such as Vitamin B and certain minerals. Thus, this peculiar behavior removes the ghost of suffering food deficiencies and suffering serious intestinal disorders, when repairing the flora. We can compare this behavior with the regurgitation of birds or the rumination of ruminants such as cows.

All these animals have a more complex food utilization system than the rest, by digesting food more than once.

In the case of guinea pigs, it is important that the cage does not have a grate at the bottom, since if this were the case, our guinea pig would not get to catch these droppings and its digestion and nutrient assimilation system would be seriously damaged.

Hay plays a very important role in this whole cycle, since being of a high fiber content, it favors the intestinal transit of the guinea pigs, thus favoring a correct circuit of food through their digestive system and expensive.

"Here you can buy the best hay for your guinea pig"

So starting today, when you catch your guinea pig eating some poop in the morning, don't scold it, since it is doing something normal to maintain its health and vitality!!