---
title: Guinea Pig Care Article
author: codebuddy
type: article
source_topics: exotic_guinea_pig_vitamin_c, exotic_guinea_pig_urolithiasis, exotic_pet_profile_guinea_pig, exotic_nutrition_guinea_pig, exotic_gp_cystic_ovarian_disease, exotic_guinea_pig_pododermatitis
date: 2026-07-28
---

# Guinea Pig Care: What Every Owner Should Know

Guinea pigs — cavies (*Cavia porcellus*) — no longer exist in the wild; they descend from an extinct South American species and have been shaped by selective breeding into some twenty phenotypes. They are tailless rodents weighing 700–1100 g and measuring 20–25 cm, with a captive lifespan that can reach fourteen years. They are gregarious, crepuscular animals that form social hierarchies around a dominant alpha male, and they are strict herbivores that depend on their owners for food.

## The Vitamin C Rule

The single fact every guinea pig owner must internalize is that guinea pigs **cannot make their own vitamin C**. They lack the enzyme L-gulonolactone oxidase needed to synthesize ascorbic acid from glucose, so they require a regular dietary source — roughly 10–25 mg/kg of body weight daily for adults, and 30 mg/kg or more for growing, pregnant, lactating, or ill individuals. Many commercial guinea pig pellets contain a stabilized, heat- and light-resistant form of vitamin C precisely for this reason. One practical caution: supplementing vitamin C through the drinking water is discouraged, because the vitamin breaks down and the changed taste can reduce water intake.

## Other Health Concerns

**Urolithiasis** (stones) is common and is usually made of calcium carbonate precipitating out of normal urine; females are more often diagnosed with ureter and bladder stones.

**Cystic ovarian disease** is the most common reproductive-tract disorder in female guinea pigs ("sows").

**Pododermatitis** is likewise common and can affect all four feet; inappropriate flooring and obesity are the main predisposing factors, so soft, clean substrate and weight control matter.

## Diet in Practice

Because the animals are strict herbivores with a hard requirement for vitamin C, the diet should center on guinea-pig-specific pellets plus generous grass hay and vitamin-C-rich vegetables, rather than generic rodent mix or table scraps. Getting the vitamin C baseline right prevents the large majority of the metabolic problems seen in this species.