Kitchen Compost

Guinea Pig waste as soil amendment (sp?)?

We have a guinea pig. His bedding is pine shavings. I looked at a previous answer and found that rodent bedding is fine to go into a compost bin.

I cannot have a compost bin outside, due to community regulations. I'm certain that my hubby would be very against having one inside! Finances are tight, so I would not be able to even buy one of those nifty countertop bins, although we are considering saving for one in the future for kitchen waste.

So, my question is: Can I just turn the used shavings (with the guinea pig poop in them) into the soil? We do not have a ton of garden space, as we live in a condo, but I hate to just throw out the stuff if it is usable.

I don't see any reason why you can't put the Guinea Pig waste and bedding in your compost or directly in your garden beds for that matter. Guinea Pigs eat vegetable matter and don't produce large enough quantities of poo to hurt your plants so it should be just fine. The problem with cat and dog poo is due to meat products in their waste and you can't put raw stable manure in your beds because it can burn your plants. You don't have these problems with a Guinea Pig so I say go for it.
Good Luck

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3 Responses to “Guinea Pig waste as soil amendment (sp?)?”

1. sptfyr says:

   April 8, 2009 at 10:42 am

   I don't see any reason why you can't put the Guinea Pig waste and bedding in your compost or directly in your garden beds for that matter. Guinea Pigs eat vegetable matter and don't produce large enough quantities of poo to hurt your plants so it should be just fine. The problem with cat and dog poo is due to meat products in their waste and you can't put raw stable manure in your beds because it can burn your plants. You don't have these problems with a Guinea Pig so I say go for it.
   Good Luck
   References :
2. fargo says:

   April 8, 2009 at 11:18 am

   wood requires nitrogen to decompose, so saw dust/ wood chips actually pull nutrients out of the soil as they decompose, then give it back. they can make a great soil amendment with this in mind, you just need to add a high nitrogen amendment at the same time. this link has some info:
   http://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/soilamendments.html
   grass clipping might work, they are high in nitrogen.
   References :
   http://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/soilamendments.html
3. lisa G says:

   April 8, 2009 at 12:00 pm

   Fargo made an excellent point about the wood chips using the nitrogen in your soil. The poop on the other hand is not a "Hot" manure, like cow or chicken manure, and can be put into your garden with no burning problems.
   References :