Can Guinea Pigs Swim?

If you search YouTube, you can find lots of videos of guinea pigs swimming. While this proves that guinea pigs are capable of swimming when necessary, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good idea to make your guinea pig swim. Why not, you ask? Well, consider the following:

• Guinea pigs are not built for swimming. Our paws are very small in relation to our bodies, and our backs are delicate.  This means swimming is difficult and stressful for us, and we might hurt ourselves.
• Getting water up our noses might lead to an upper respiratory infection.
• As we mentioned in our Ask A Guinea Pig post on bathing, frequent bathing can dry out our skin and make us itchy.
• There might be some guinea pigs who enjoy the water, but most do not. 

I can't speak for other piggies, but I don't like the water!

If you think your guinea pig might actually enjoy the water, we'd recommend giving them the option to wade in water, rather than actually swim in it. You can do this by having a setup where your piggy can get in and out of the water him/herself (for example, using a gradual ramp to the water, or a building a brick staircase in a bathtub). Do not throw your piggy into a kiddy pool with no way of getting out! (We've heard there are some YouTube videos where people do this.) Only fill the water up to our legs and no higher. Some guinea pig owners use this as an alternative method of bathing. If you do have one of the rare guinea pigs that enjoys water and you decide to do this, keep in mind what we said before about how frequently guinea pigs should be bathed.

We should also note that Peter Gurney, a "campaigner for the rights and welfare of guinea pigs," discussed the use of "swimming therapy" for guinea pigs with "weak or stiff joints." He also stresses the need to introduce your guinea pig slowly to water, watch their reaction, and being willing to take them out if they are getting stressed out.