Guinea chirping noise ?

[ilovepets]

Hi. All. I was quite alarmed tonight when i heard my one 8 month old sow guinea making a loud chirping noise, like a bird. She is in a 4ft indoor cage with another female of around the same age. They do have little squabbles but get on most of the time. When i went to see her she looked a little scared. i don't know why. Any advice appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Guinea pig slave]

It's not unusual for them to chirp but no one can give a real reason as to what it means.
Our top piggy in the herd does it very occasionally and I just go over to her and give her a bit of fuss to reassure her - the other girls don't bat an eyelid.
Some people say it's distress and other piggies may 'freeze' on the spot but others disagree so there is no definitive answer.

http://www.guinealynx.info/behavior.html#chirping

 

[ilovepets]

Well, it sure gave me a fright! i am new to guineas and i never knew they could make a sound like that. I thought she was ill or injured. I did stroke her for a while then she settled down. her friend daisy was just sat their, staring into space. so she didn't seem bothered, but i was lol. Thanks for the reply. anyone else experienced this let me know.

 

[Guinea pig slave]

It is a bit scary, think it's because we don't expect piggies to make this sound.
First time I heard it, I dashed from the kitchen into the lounge where the piggies live as I really thought a bird was in there !
There was Amelia chirruping away sweetly - fascinated me but also unnerved me so researched more with little results. She does it maybe once or twice a year only but never appears to be distressed so cannot explain :{

 

[Mizzpigz]

Funnily enough I have just heard one of mine do it, it's a really high pitched chirp when the other one came to rest with him. I've just moved their hutch indoors so maybe that's the reason why. Quite a cute sound though x

 

[pigtaker]

Mine does this to. Doesnt look scared, but its kind of weird. And loud.

 

[pelicano]

When Cassie was young she used to do it a lot. Unfortunately, she almost always did it in the early hours of the morning, which used to be like waking up in the night to a car alarm!

She hasn't done it for years now. All very odd!

 

[Cibach]

Our Annie is a bit of a chirper. It's usually associated with emotional stress with her. The last time she did it, Latte, the Queen of the herd had been out of the pen all day at the vets having a mammary tumour removed and we were all concerned about her. The piggies had all been subdued and appeared a little "lost" without her. When Latte was returned to the pen the other two piggies (Cappuccino and Ethel) raced over to greet her and started to wash her all over. Annie was fast asleep in a cuddle roll and didn't realise she was back. She woke up suddenly and stood at the entrance of her cuddle roll chirping quite sweetly and looking around. When she spotted Latte she stopped chirping and ran over to her and started to wash her as well. They must have done this for about five minutes and then they all settled back down again. They clearly knew that Latte was not quite herself because they slept in a semi circle around her and nobody tried to oust her from the heating pad I'd put in for her and usually there is competition for them if there is not one each.