The best way to keep a snake from eating your guinea pig is to make the enclosure impossible to get into and to keep your guinea pig away from your pet snake. Snakes are opportunistic predators, and even a small snake can take a baby guinea pig. This guide covers outdoor and indoor setups.
Which snakes are a risk?
Large snakes such as pythons and boas can take adult guinea pigs, and many medium and small snakes can take babies. Rat snakes, king snakes and corn snakes eat rodents, which includes guinea pigs. Garter snakes are generally too small for an adult guinea pig.
Outdoor hutch and run
- Use strong wire mesh with small openings, about half an inch or smaller, over every opening and vent. Chicken wire is not strong enough.
- Cover the top and bottom. Snakes climb and burrow. Use a solid floor or buried mesh under the run.
- Close gaps around doors, hinges and corners, and use latches that cannot be pushed open.
- Raise the hutch off the ground and trim plants and woodpiles nearby where snakes hide.
- Bring them inside at night when many predators are active.
- Remove food and rodent attractants, such as spilled feed and nearby mice, which draw snakes in.
If you own a pet snake and a guinea pig
Keep them in different rooms, ideally with doors closed. Never let them interact, and do not use the same tools or surfaces without washing your hands. Snakes also carry bacteria that can make guinea pigs sick, and guinea pigs are stressed by the smell of a predator even when they are safe.
If you find a snake near the hutch
Do not try to handle it. Move your guinea pigs away if you can do so safely and call local animal control or a wildlife service. Learn which venomous species live in your area.
Bottom Line
Predator-proof mesh, secure latches and a safe room indoors prevent nearly all snake attacks. For more on healthy guinea pig care, see what guinea pigs eat and hay for guinea pigs.
General information, not veterinary advice. If your guinea pig is injured, see a vet right away.
