Should Guinea Pig Owners Be Concerned Their Favorite Pets Will Climb Out of Its Cage?

As a Guinea Pig pet owner, the safety and well being of your pet is of the highest concern, which all start with the safest place to be for your Guinea Pig: the cage.

However, beyond the four walls of its enclosure the Guinea Pig has little defense against the surrounding environment. Having a Guinea Pig climb out of its cage would not only expose the Guinea Pig to the dangerous of an unfamiliar environment, but a potential fall from falling off the top of the cage could cause serious injuries to the lovable furry creature.

With the safety of the Guinea Pig in mind, it is important for any Guinea Pig owner to understand the likelihood of a Guinea Pig being able to climb out of their cage.

Are Guinea Pigs able to climb?

Although Guinea Pigs don’t like the most athletic creatures, Guinea Pigs do possess some ability to climb- just not very well. Guinea Pigs are able to climb up inclines and ramps of up to 30 degrees but are severely limited to anything beyond that.

The Guinea Pig’s lack of climbing prowess is rooted in its physical build, as the Guinea Pig’s front legs simply aren’t strong enough to pull its weight up steeper inclines or walls, unlike its rodent relatives which typically are strong climbers.

With the Guinea Pig’s lack of strength, climbing out of a cage is a bit too tall of a challenge for a Guinea Pig. Due to the steepness of a typical cage wall, the Guinea Pig would hardly even be able to attempt a scaling of a cage wall. In addition, the Guinea Pig doesn’t possess a lot of grip strength in their paws, making them unable to latch onto any wire walls to help pull themselves up.

As long as the cage is a normal size (usually two-foot tall cages are the recommended dimensions) the Guinea Pig will be completely unable to climb out of the cage without any additional assistance.

Will Guinea Pigs attempt to get out of their cages?

Although climbing attempts would seem to be futile for the Guinea Pig, the Guinea Pig does occasionally enjoy climbing as a form of exercise, as they will take advantage of any ramp or easily climbable object that is put in their cage.

Guinea Pigs also will occasionally climb to reasonable higher points to look out for any predators, a behavior trait that comes naturally for the Guinea Pig regardless of its pet status. However, these occurrences tend to be rare and the Guinea Pig will not fight very hard to reach a new view if the climb is too difficult or strenuous on the Guinea Pig.

Instead, the Guinea Pig much prefers to be closer to the ground than high places. The Guinea Pig is naturally a creature of prey and will instinctively avoid open areas and would much prefer hiding close to the ground and under various objects than being exposed in higher places.

With the Guinea Pig already seeking to not push their climbing abilities, a Guinea Pig attempting to climb out of their cage is essentially pointless, and a Guinea Pig carries enough understanding of it’s limitations to not try in and climb out of their cages on their own.

However, if given assistance from an easily climbable ramp to the direct exit of the cage, a Guinea Pig may attempt to climb out of the cage and escape. However, these instances are easily avoidable.

How to Prevent Guinea Pigs From Climbing Out of their cages.

Due to their lack of climbing prowess, the Guinea Pig would not be able to climb out of their cages because of their limited athletic ability and lack of passion for daring heights. However, a grand escape for a Guinea Pig is not impossible if the items within the cage are not positioned for the Guinea Pig to climb them toward the exit.

With the Guinea Pigs still being able to climb up ramps that feature a small incline, a Guinea Pig would be able to climb out of a cage with assistance of a ramp that led directly to the cage’s opening.

With the right placement within the cage, these types of occurrences are easily avoidable by simply checking the cage to make sure that none of the ramps or other climbable objects within the cage could lead directly to the cage’s exit.

Preventing the Guinea Pig from even attempting to climb out of the cage is massively beneficial for its safety, as if any ramp or object that the Guinea Pig could climb on could be considered unsafe or unstable for the Guinea Pig, any fall from a ramp’s height could lead to serious injury as the Guinea Pig’s joints are not built for landing or the impact from hitting the ground.

However, even if the cage has ramps leading to the cage’s exit, all is not lost. A Guinea Pig would not be able to undo any safety hatch that would keep the cage enclosure safe, so even if the Guinea Pig was able to reach the top exit it still would not be able to climb out of the cage.

Regardless, it is recommended to not even give the Guinea Pig the chance to climb out of the cage by simply making sure that there’s nothing enabling the Guinea Pig to begin his cage climb. If the cage is safe, so will the Guinea Pig.

Recap:

With the Guinea Pig already struggling to climb steep surfaces, the Guinea Pig is physically unable to climb out of cages without the assistance of other easily accessible ramps that lead them to the cage’s exit.

However, Guinea Pig owners shouldn’t worry about their favorite pets trying to make an escape since their natural tendency is to be closer to the ground and safely in their cages.