Guinea pig short chirping noise

[cdt1]

Good evening,

A week ago my guinea pigs sounded a bit croaky and snuffly

He also had a few sneezes. We took him to the vet, who listened to his chest, checked his teeth and did a swab. Everything was ok.


He is still perfectly happy in himself, eating,pooing and running around.
In the last couple of days he had made a short chirping sound a couple of times. I tried to attach a recording but didn't know how!

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[cdt1]

Think I've managed to attach it...

 

[Wiebke]

Think I've managed to attach it...

Hi and welcome

You will need to up upload any videos elsewhere on a public setting (youtube is best) and then copy across. Our forum is independent of social media (which hs it advantages) but since we are run entirely by voluntary member donations, we do not have a supported video upload.
Any pictures are best uploaded via the Attach files button underneath your post when you write it; it works for all formats.

You may find our chirping guide link interesting: Chirping

 

[cdt1]

Hi and welcome

You will need to up upload any videos elsewhere on a public setting (youtube is best) and then copy across. Out forum is independent of social media but since we are run entirely by voluntary member donations, we do not have a supported video upload. Any picture are best uploaded via the Attach files button underneath your post when you write it; it works for all formats.

You may find our chirping guide link interesting: Chirping

Hi.

Thanks for this. I'll try you tube tomorrow. He does the long chirping occasionally too but this is shorter ones...1 every few seconds. Possibly it could be the same.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi.

Thanks for this. I'll try you tube tomorrow. He does the long chirping occasionally too but this is shorter ones...1 every few seconds. Possibly it could be the same.

You obviously have a chirper. It is a slightly unsettling experience but also a special one.

We just don't have the full context yet why just a small minority of piggies do it and what it was used for originally. When chirping breaks out of a piggy for the first time, I can totally surprise them, too. I have watched that with a piggy of mine.

My own guess is that it is a not quite fully lost remnant of their wild ancestors but something that has rather lost its original meaning and context when our domestic species was bred out thousands of years ago but that must have still had some function for long enough to survive until now. If it happens out of context (whether that is real chirping or a video replay), it can send my own piggies racing for cover so it could have been a predator warning of some sort initially? If there is a certain tension in the room, then the other piggies will carry on quietly with whatever they are doing. But these are all questions. We simply don't have the answers yet.