Many apartments don’t allow large pets like cats and dogs due to the damage they can cause. Small animals like birds may also be ruled out, either by landlords or caring neighbors, due to their noisiness. What does this leave for someone who wants a quiet pet that can live in a small space?
Are guinea pigs too loud for an apartment? Will they bother your neighbors or get booted out by your landlord? Let’s discuss the sounds guinea pigs make and whether they can live in apartments happily.
Can Guinea Pigs Live in Apartments?
Most apartments allow small, caged pets like guinea pigs, even if they don’t allow dogs or cats. This is because they’re unlikely to make a mess, destroy the apartment, or cause a disruption.
However, rules vary depending on the apartment complex. Please check with your landlord before adopting guinea pigs. Also, make sure that you can appropriately care for two or more guinea pigs because they should never live alone. Consider whether you have space for a large (7.5+ square feet) cage, time to clean up after them, and the finances to afford everyday costs and vet visits.
Are Guinea Pigs Loud?
Guinea pigs aren’t loud enough that your neighbors are likely to hear them. However, they are more vocal than other pet rodents, such as hamsters or rabbits. They are smaller than rabbits and don’t stomp, though, so they won’t disrupt downstairs neighbors. Even when they sprint around during floor time, their footsteps are light.
What is Wheeking?
The most common vocalization guinea pigs make is called wheeking, which is a high-pitched squeaking noise. Some guinea pigs never wheek, while others are especially chatty.
Wheeking can be loud. I used to be able to hear my guinea pigs from down the hall but not from other floors of the home. It’s unlikely that your neighbors would hear them through multiple closed doors, and if they did, the noise would be less than that of a barking dog or vacuum cleaner.
Guinea pigs primarily wheek when they want something. Most times, this means it’s food time, and they know it! Once they’ve gotten their veggies, hay, or pellets, they’ll usually quiet right down.
However, there is no guarantee that this will be the case for your individual guinea pig.
How Do You Quiet a Guinea Pig Down?
While guinea pigs are unlikely to disturb the neighbors, the most frequent complaints come from people who house their piggies in their bedrooms. This may be necessary for those living in small apartments.
While guinea pigs cannot be trained to be quiet, here are some things that may help:
Ensure their Needs are Met
Make sure your piggies’ needs are met well before bedtime or other times you’ll want them quiet. Guinea pigs need constant access to hay, daily pellet and vegetable feedings, and plenty of exercise.
If they tend to run around at night, bringing them out to free-roam a guinea-pig-proofed room might tire them out before bed. If your guinea pig loves attention, cuddles in the afternoon may stop them from squeaking for you at night.
Once you know what your guinea pig wants, it’ll be easier to provide that for them ahead of time so they don’t need to beg.
Schedule Pellet and Veggie Feedings
Feed your guinea pigs their pellets and vegetables at the same time every day so that they know what to expect. Choose a time that’s convenient for you, when you won’t mind them being a bit noisy. For instance, people who like to sleep in shouldn’t feed their piggies first thing in the morning. They’re likely to wake you up!
Aim to feed them a couple of hours before bed or after you wake up for best results.
Provide a Quiet, Calm Environment
Sometimes, guinea pigs take their cues from us or their environment. One way to do this is to drape a towel or blanket over one side of their enclosure so that they have a dark, quiet place to sleep.
Accept their Quirks
Sometimes, you just can’t stop your guinea pigs from making noise. Maybe they love drinking from their water bottle at midnight, or they get zoomies and sprint around the cage at inconvenient times.
Because guinea pigs need water and exercise, you don’t want to discourage these things. You may need to change your own behavior instead. For instance:
- Wear earplugs
- Run a white noise machine
- Add chenille bath mats or other plush material to the bottom of the cage to quiet their footsteps
- Buy a water bottle that makes less noise
- Move your guinea pigs’ cage to another part of the apartment
Is There Space for Guinea Pigs in Apartments?
Another thing to consider before adopting guinea pigs is whether your apartment has enough space for a proper enclosure. Many people believe that guinea pigs can live in tiny pet store cages, but this is outdated and inhumane.
The minimum cage size for guinea pigs is 7.5 square feet, but the Humane Society recommends at least 10.5 square feet ideally. Many piggy parents disagree even with these guidelines and prefer 12+ square feet of space.
These measurements refer to a flat area, not multi-story cages. For instance, a cage that is 6 square feet with a loft that is 2 square feet is not appropriate. This is because guinea pigs don’t tend to climb and need unbroken floor space to run around.
Are Guinea Pigs Messy?
While most of your guinea pigs’ mess will stay in the cage, they do require a lot of clean-up. Guinea pigs poop over 100 times a day! While their droppings are small and dry, this still means sweeping or vacuuming the cage daily. They’ll also need full cage cleans, which consists of completely replacing bedding and wiping down the enclosure at least once a week.
Hay is another battle for guinea pig parents, as it often escapes their enclosure and falls onto the floor. Some piggies drag their hay all over the cage as well! This is because they don’t only use hay for eating. Burrowing in hay piles provides great enrichment and fun for guinea pigs.
All of that said, guinea pigs aren’t likely to harm the apartment you’re staying in or to cost you your security deposit. So long as you’re prepared for the mess they make, they can be great apartment pets.
