# Cement Guinea Pig **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438 "2013-09-09T20:56:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/1 "2013-09-09T20:56:44Z")
My daughter’s pet guinea pig died. She’d like him cremated and his ashes put in a nice container but (oh thank heavens) she thinks paying the vet $50 to do it is ridiculous. She asked if we could just encase him in cement and she’d have a cement brick with a guinea pig in the middle. Any reason not to do this? Let’s say we use a good-sized shoebox as a form so there would be a minimum of 2 inches of hardware store cement at the thinnest point. I’m assuming he’d liquefy at some point–would that ooze through the cement? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/2 "2013-09-09T21:00:14Z")
I’d guess that unless the concrete is exactly the right consistency to form a tight, solid shell, Mr. Pinny Gig will outgas nastily through even hairline cracks and pinholes. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/3 "2013-09-09T21:02:04Z")
The Mythbusters buried a pig in cement. It stank for months. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/4 "2013-09-09T21:07:05Z")
Concrete is not waterproof. I’d think it would seep through. Why don’t you do a little funeral pyre at home? Then you can either give her the ashes, or mix them into concrete and make a little guinea pig monolith. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/5 "2013-09-09T21:07:37Z")
Better to bury him in a garden or flowerbed somewhere. Even if he doesn’t seep out of the casing, he’s an accident waiting to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/6 "2013-09-09T21:10:37Z")
Just make sure your little pyre reaches what, 3000 degrees? Sure, use a thermite reaction! Pet burial and chemistry lesson (with FIRE!) Win win situation. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/7 "2013-09-09T21:13:34Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’d guess that unless the concrete is exactly the right consistency to form a tight, solid shell, Mr. Pinny Gig will outgas nastily through even hairline cracks and pinholes. Guinea Foul. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/8 "2013-09-09T21:13:35Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Better to bury him in a garden or flowerbed somewhere. Even if he doesn’t seep out of the casing, he’s an accident waiting to happen. Yeah, and as part of the garden, he’d be contributing to the ecology rather than your carbon footprint. I’d suggest a little plot of some kind and hope she goes for it (especially with the anti-global-warming pitch, assuming you’re not politically aligned against that). But if that doesn’t work, be sure to notify the fire marshall prior to your thermite experiment. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/9 "2013-09-09T21:32:22Z")
Ok, cement=bad idea. Thanks. [Acrylic?](https://www.google.com/search?q=encasing+animals+in+acrylic&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ED4uUva5JKmiiQKXhYCICQ&ved=0CCkQsAQ&biw=1129&bih=458) Nah…Lilac fertilizer it will be. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/10 "2013-09-09T21:32:35Z")
Trim a couple of hairs, put them away in a little plastic bag. Incentive to become a doctor and go into cloning research. Edit- there’s all sorts of taxidermy instruction online. You could turn him into a beer cozy. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cement-guinea-pig/668438/11 "2013-09-10T02:55:31Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Trim a couple of hairs, put them away in a little plastic bag. Incentive to become a doctor and go into cloning research. > > Edit- there’s all sorts of taxidermy instruction online. _ **You could turn him into a beer cozy** _. (bolding mine) That’s just… wrong. 😛 Now if you had two of them you could make a really unique pair of ‘ear muffs’. 😃