Why Guinea Pigs Eat Their Litter: Rodent Poop

Some habits of rodents can cause bewilderment and fear in the owner, concern about the health of the pet. The situation when the guinea pig eats its excrement is seriously alarming for the owner. However, there is a reasonable explanation for this behavior.

Litter types

Before you start looking for information on why guinea pigs eat their own droppings, you need to know: these animals produce 2 types of excrement:

• cylinders containing unprocessed remains of grass and fiber, which are removed during cleaning;
• a more liquid substance containing amino acids, vitamins K, group B, enzymes.

Animals tend to eat the second variety, and directly from the anus.

Coprophagia: norm or pathology

According to zoologists, such behavior of animals belongs to the absolute norm. When consuming any food, some of the necessary components are not fully absorbed, but the following process comes into play:

• processing lumps of food with gastric juice;
• the production of vitamins and enzymes in the intestine by bacteria;
• removal of the substrate from the body, during which the pig eats it, receiving the missing vitamin complexes.

Absorption of waste products is required by animals to maintain normal functions of the intestinal tract. And, although the picture is unpleasant for the human eye, such actions are completely natural and required for the health of the pet.

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