What are the Best Guinea Pig Beds & Hideouts 2021

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Monique Hanford

There are many different types of beds and hideouts for guinea pigs with everything from patterned fleece hammocks, snuggle sacks and cuddle cups to wooden hides that can be tucked away in the corner of your guinea pigs’ cage.

We love to support smaller sellers who produce handmade items for guinea pigs and one that we found who makes a whole range of guinea pig hideouts including some amazing wooden castle themed hideouts is BlackPawWhitePaw on Etsy. There are several other sellers who also make fantastic beds and hideouts for your guinea pigs and we’ll provide links to the ones we feel are the best in this article.

Do guinea pigs need a bed?

Guinea pigs don’t need a bed as such, but they do need a hideout. Soft, open beds are an optional extra but a lovely addition to their cage if you have enough space for one.

Smooth haired guinea pig asleep with his eyes closed on a bed — Mr Jaffas having a nap on his bed

Doughnut beds, hammocks and cuddle cups are all very popular, and guinea pigs love these. But your pet will also need a hidey that is more enclosed and dark such as a little house or cave or even a fleece snuggle sack or sleeping bag that he can snuggle up inside.

Why do guinea pigs need a hideout?

A hideout not only provides a cozy place for your guinea pigs to sleep, they give these naturally nervous pets somewhere to hide and feel safe too.

Guinea pigs in an extra large luxury wooden mansion hideout — Extra Large Luxury Guinea Pig Mansion Hideout

If a guinea pig is housed without some kind of hideaway, he can become very anxious. Even a very friendly and tame guinea pig, who is happy to sleep in the middle of his cage, will also want somewhere to hide where he feels safe.

How many hideouts does a guinea pig need?

You’ll need a hideout for each guinea pig. This is because they like their own space, and even if they do like to snuggle up with a friend from time to time, they won’t always want to do this. If there is only one hidey for a pair of guinea pigs, it can lead to fighting, particularly with male guinea pigs.

Fleece or wooden hideout… which is best?

Most hideouts are made either from fleece or some kind of wood. Both materials make great hideaways but there are some points to consider before deciding which type of hidey is best for your setup.

Fleece hideys

You may already have fleece liners in your cage so accessorizing your cage with fleece hideys makes a lot of sense. Here are some pros and cons to using fleece hideys:

Advantages of fleece hideouts

Fleece comes in a range of colors and patterns so will brighten up the cage
It’s a soft and cozy material that guinea pigs love
Ideal for hairless guinea pigs
Good for guinea pigs who have skin sensitivities or if they’ve had an operation or have a healing wound
Comes in a huge variety of shapes and designs
Good choice for a cage if you use fleece bedding

Disadvantages of fleece hideouts

Not suitable for outdoor hutch setups as the fleece can become damp
Fleece doesn’t work so well with disposable bedding as the bedding can get stuck to the fleece, especially if you use wood shavings
Fleece hideys need regular washing so you’ll need to buy more than one per guinea pig
Depending on the quality of the product, it may come apart after a while or begin to get holes and need replacing

Wooden hideys

Guinea pig in a log cabin hideout — Guinea Pig in a log cabin hideout

Wooden hideys come in all shapes and sizes and are usually made from pine or spruce wood. Make sure you buy one that is well made without toxic glues and that there are no sharp parts such as dangerous nails accessible to your guinea pigs.

Advantages of wooden hideouts

Wooden hideouts give a more natural and organic look to your cage setup
Ideal for an outdoor hutch as they can offer good solid protection from draughts and bad weather that fleece hideouts can’t provide.
If well made they often last longer than fleece hideouts
Although they’ll need cleaning occasionally, wooden houses are less work to clean than a fleece hideout and don’t need cleaning as often
Suits a cage that has disposable bedding or fleece bedding

Disadvantages of wooden hideouts

A wooden hideout can take up a bit more space
Not all are wood hideys are well made, so may not last as long as others

Our favorite guinea pig hideouts

We have used many different hideouts in our cage setup so we’ve tested quite a few to see which ones our guinea pigs like the best. These are our favorite hideouts for guinea pigs:

Best wooden guinea pig hideouts

One of the best wooden houses for guinea pigs is the Piggies Choice Space House, designed by Saskia from LA Guinea Pig Rescue. Made with pine wood and designed to fit in the corner of the cage, it comes in a range of finishes including a colorful rainbow design.

It’s corner design helps save space in your guinea pigs’ cage and maximize the room they have.

Abyssinian guinea pig in a wooden corner house with a silkie guinea pig outside — Wooden corner house

If you’re looking for something really special, the Abbie Estate castle hideout from BlackPawWhitePaw will make the cage setup look really special as well as giving your guinea pigs a lovely place to hide. It comes complete with 3 flags and fleece doors. You can even personalize the larger flag!

The Kaytee Woodland Getaway is also a good wooden hideout for your guinea pigs and comes in a range of sizes for various sized pets. We recommend you buy the large or extra large size for your guinea pigs.

Best guinea pig hammocks

A hammock can be really cozy for indoor guinea pigs and is great for a cage that has fleece liners.

If you like the idea of a fleece bed, but have disposable bedding, a hammock may be a better option than a cuddle cup or doughnut bed. Because it hangs in the cage, it won’t gather so many bits of bedding which can become stubbornly stuck to the fleece.

Before buying a hammock, do bear in mind that guinea pigs are not good climbers so elderly or less mobile pets may find these more difficult to get into. Our advice is to make sure your hammock doesn’t hang too high in the cage, so it’s easier for them to access.

We love the double hammock with a wooden stand by BlackPawWhitePaw and if a double is too large for your cage they also make a single hammock with wooden stand too.

The wooden stands that come with these hammocks have a wooden top to them which makes them a great hideout too.

We also like the more simple hammocks that you can hang from the cage sides but make sure you fit them fairly low down as guinea pigs don’t like to climb.

Best fleece beds for guinea pigs

A fleece bed gives your guinea pigs a lovely soft place for them to snuggle down and there’s a good range to choose from including doughnut beds, cuddle cups or cuddle couches.

PiggyCentral make lovely Cuddle Cups which come in a huge range of different designs and colors and you can also have your guinea pig’s name embroidered on the item if you like. These also come with a pee pad and there’s an option to buy extra pee pads too which will mean you won’t have to wash the whole bed as often.

Another beautiful fleece bed is the 8 inch square cozy bed from Kelliscraftsandmore which actually looks like a fabulous cozy armchair.

Brown silkie guinea pig next to Haypigs fleece crash mat bed — Haypigs Crash Mat

Remember that these beds aren’t a good substitute for a proper hiding place so this should be considered an extra rather than an alternative to a dark, enclosed hidey.

Best snuggle sacks and sleeping bags for guinea pigs

Snuggle sacks, also known as sleeping bags or snuggle pouches, tend to be cheaper than some of the other fleece beds, but guinea pigs love these because they can get right inside making a cozy sleeping place.

The only issue we’ve had with snuggle sacks is that some of them are quite flimsy so the guinea pigs don’t see the opening and lie on top of them instead. Those sleeping pouches that have a thicker lining tend to work better for guinea pigs as they don’t flatten down as much. Folding back the opening will also help give it more structure.

We love the 10×12″ snuggle pouch from Keepchummy on Etsy, which comes in a choice of different colors. You can have it personalized with your guinea pig’s name embroidered on the top of it together with a cute embroidered guinea pig face too.

We also like the snuggle sack from Kelliscraftsandmore which is available with boning so that it stays open enabling your guinea pigs easier access. This is a really good idea as it will prevent them from simply lying on top of the sack. This one is very slightly larger than the Keepchummy sack and measure around 11×12″.

Best fleece hideouts for guinea pigs

Fleece hideouts give your guinea pigs a good place to hide that is also soft and comfortable. If you have fleece bedding in your cage, a fleece hidey is a good alternative to a wooden one.

We like the ThePiggyPalace Cuddle Cubes which come with 2 pee pads and are 10″x10″ square. It looks really cozy and is available in a great choice of colors and designs to fit in with your cage color theme.

Guinea pigs always love tunnels and fleece tunnels make a great hideout for them. One of the best tunnels we found was from CherylAnnsPets. You can order this fleece tunnel with 2 fleece potty pads and choose from some amazing designs including mermaids, unicorns or moons and stars to name just a few.

You can also buy other handmade guinea pig fleece tunnels in various designs from ThePiggyPalace and BlackPawWhitePaw.

Category: Buying Guides, Housing & Bedding