New Piggy Owner - What's Do These Noises Mean?

[Lapixiefairy]

Hi All,

We got 2 new piggies this afternoon! I've had piggies in the past but always males, this time we've two lovely ladies.


Obviously when we first put them in their cage they were v quiet and didn't move much. They've since been exploring and making little squeaky noises while doing this - am I right in thinking this is them just exploring things? It's been pretty constant for about 2 hours now

One of my ladies then started purring? I know we had this with my boys but don't know if this is normal for ladies? I'm not sure which one it was as we weren't watching them at the time.

Can anyone give any advice?

Thanks

Julie

 

[Veggies Galore]

to the forum.

From what you are describing, everything sounds normal. Girls do rumble too . I would imagine your girls are just working out which one is boss and what you are hearing is dominance behaviour.

 

[Lapixiefairy]

Thank you for the reply! Will stop worrying now and leave them to it!

 

[Veggies Galore]

I have a sow who makes contented "clucking" noises whenever she walks around. The others do it sometimes -but she does it all the time. She was quite young when I got her and I thought it was just because she was a baby . She's 2 now and still makes these noises . It's very endearing .

 

[Freela]

This all sounds normal. The squeaky/whispery noise is just a 'busy piggie' sound. Some pigs are louder than others. They are likely just checking things out. And girls purr/rumble too, for much the same reason- to show dominance, because they don't like something, etc. They sound fine. Congrats on your new piggies!

 

[guineagirl2346]

I have two girls myself and the rumbling means that they are trying to say that "I'm the boss" because one of my girls does that constantly and she is the boss

 

[Asian Guy]

I assume that you have old sows and is presently trying to set a domination period within the group. Look after them as much as you can as they might fight. This is a very critical stage for them.

 

[Veggies Galore]

I would like to clarify to our newer members that a bit of squabbling between guinea pigs is perfectly normal - I quite often hear disgruntled wheeks over a hidey !

Obviously, something needs to be done if you see guinea pigs fighting .

These are good threads ...


Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Sow Behaviour

 

[Lapixiefairy]

I would like to clarify to our newer members that a bit of squabbling between guinea pigs is perfectly normal - I quite often hear disgruntled wheeks over a hidey !

Obviously, something needs to be done if you see guinea pigs fighting .

These are good threads ...


Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Sow Behaviour

Thanks, just had a read through these. One of my ladies was doing the bum rubbing on the ground thing that's mentioned too.

I should've said - theyre only 9 weeks old. Here they are...

 

[Veggies Galore]

I don't think we've formally welcomed you to the forum




I imagine you've found some threads already here but , just in case, I'll post a link to a good thread for new members ..

" Starter Kit" Of Information Threads For New Owners

Are you based in the UK?


Are you happy to add your location to your profile ? We have members from all over the world and it is really helpful to know whether you are based in the UK/US – or elsewhere.



Here is a link to help you do this …



https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...cation-and-creating-an-avatar-picture.107444/

 

[Lady Kelly]

aww your girls look so pretty! I have to admit that I read about rumbling in sows as a dominance issue but when I had my first pair I wasn't aware that they could do it when they were in season too so after a couple of months when one started up and mounting the other I panicked but after checking for the 100th time I definitely had two females lol

 

[Lapixiefairy]

aww your girls look so pretty! I have to admit that I read about rumbling in sows as a dominance issue but when I had my first pair I wasn't aware that they could do it when they were in season too so after a couple of months when one started up and mounting the other I panicked but after checking for the 100th time I definitely had two females lol

That's what I thought at first - maybe we had a boy and girl. :o They're still squeaking away this morning and running around so alls good!

I've added my location to my profile, from central Scotland, very cold and frosty this morning

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

That's something I've never quite got, my Cissy is always rumble strutting (she looks so silly, not sure who she thinks she's fooling...) which is always long rumbles as she slinks around the cage. But sometimes when I'm holding her she'll do a similar sound but in a short burst, lasting a few seconds. Is that her saying she's annoyed? When I see the word "purr" I associate that with a good thing as I have a cat, is it a bad thing?

Sorry to interrupt your thread @Lapixiefairy, I had two boys before but now I have girlies too! Yours are so purty! How are you getting on with the cage liner? I've been considering getting one or maybe making one but we shall see aha. All the best with your lovely piggie babies!

 

[Critter]

That's something I've never quite got, my Cissy is always rumble strutting (she looks so silly, not sure who she thinks she's fooling...) which is always long rumbles as she slinks around the cage. But sometimes when I'm holding her she'll do a similar sound but in a short burst, lasting a few seconds. Is that her saying she's annoyed? When I see the word "purr" I associate that with a good thing as I have a cat, is it a bad thing?

Sorry to interrupt your thread @Lapixiefairy, I had two boys before but now I have girlies too! Yours are so purty! How are you getting on with the cage liner? I've been considering getting one or maybe making one but we shall see aha. All the best with your lovely piggie babies!

The purr is something that confuses a lot of people, and on it's own it's hard to tell. I think the only way to know is to look at the body language and how relaxed they are. If they purr and get restless they are probably not wanting to be stroked at that moment, but if they purr and completely relax out they're happy
There's a lot of different opinions on the purr, with some insisting it's happy, and some insisting it's a sign of annoyance.

 

[Critter]

Welcome @Lapixiefairy , and welcome to your lovely little ladies too
I've not got any new information for you about the noises, but welcome

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

The purr is something that confuses a lot of people, and on it's own it's hard to tell. I think the only way to know is to look at the body language and how relaxed they are. If they purr and get restless they are probably not wanting to be stroked at that moment, but if they purr and completely relax out they're happy
There's a lot of different opinions on the purr, with some insisting it's happy, and some insisting it's a sign of annoyance.

Ooh okay, yes I wasn't too sure, when I was brushing the little monster in my profile pic she made the noise but didn't really do anything afterwards. If she's annoyed at me and wants me to stop doing something she likes to headbutt my hand and let me know and she didn't do that when she purred.

 

[Critter]

Ooh okay, yes I wasn't too sure, when I was brushing the little monster in my profile pic she made the noise but didn't really do anything afterwards. If she's annoyed at me and wants me to stop doing something she likes to headbutt my hand and let me know and she didn't do that when she purred.

I can only assume she's content
My Penny-Pops does the short-low purr-and-vibration sometimes when I stroke her, and it's followed by the head-butt and fidget, so for her it's a sign to tell me to stop. For yours I assume it's a sign for you to continue This is probably why people cannot agree on the matter

 

[Lapixiefairy]

That's something I've never quite got, my Cissy is always rumble strutting (she looks so silly, not sure who she thinks she's fooling...) which is always long rumbles as she slinks around the cage. But sometimes when I'm holding her she'll do a similar sound but in a short burst, lasting a few seconds. Is that her saying she's annoyed? When I see the word "purr" I associate that with a good thing as I have a cat, is it a bad thing?

Sorry to interrupt your thread @Lapixiefairy, I had two boys before but now I have girlies too! Yours are so purty! How are you getting on with the cage liner? I've been considering getting one or maybe making one but we shall see aha. All the best with your lovely piggie babies!

Cage liner seems to be going well. It's the first time we've used it for our piggies. Gave it a little sweep up this morning and it's as good as new. Seems much more piggy friendly and pocket friendly too! My mums a sewing wizz so she made us a couple

We have a little teepee thing for them too but they've not realised they can go in it yet, just like knocking it over!

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Cage liner seems to be going well. It's the first time we've used it for our piggies. Gave it a little sweep up this morning and it's as good as new. Seems much more piggy friendly and pocket friendly too! My mums a sewing wizz so she made us a couple

We have a little teepee thing for them too but they've not realised they can go in it yet, just like knocking it over!

Ooh lovely! I'm just using normal fleece atm but it wrinkles up around Bellas racetrack and they sometimes untuck it and burrow underneath to annoy mummy I think I'll have to get one or try to make one, how did your mum make yours?

Awh bless, they may be like my piggies and just wanna sit on top, the snuggle sacks I have just get used as cushions, after I slaved away at them... They're like their big sister, the cat!

 

[Lapixiefairy]

Ooh lovely! I'm just using normal fleece atm but it wrinkles up around Bellas racetrack and they sometimes untuck it and burrow underneath to annoy mummy I think I'll have to get one or try to make one, how did your mum make yours?

Awh bless, they may be like my piggies and just wanna sit on top, the snuggle sacks I have just get used as cushions, after I slaved away at them... They're like their big sister, the cat!

When we collects them they went straight under the fleece in their carrier to hide!

She's made it with fleece and wadding - think she said 4oz? Just made a pocket and put the wadding in before sewing up.

We've put puppy pads underneath for now, just until we see how absorbent everything is

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

When we collects them they went straight under the fleece in their carrier to hide!

She's made it with fleece and wadding - think she said 4oz? Just made a pocket and put the wadding in before sewing up.

We've put puppy pads underneath for now, just until we see how absorbent everything is

Okay thanks! I've made a few piggy bits but not something quite that big so far, it'll be fun!

Yes I have some puppy pads too, but they're just a short term solution I hope. Washable is better than disposable!

 

[Lapixiefairy]

Okay thanks! I've made a few piggy bits but not something quite that big so far, it'll be fun!

Yes I have some puppy pads too, but they're just a short term solution I hope. Washable is better than disposable!

Here's their cage yesterday...



We've taken the ramp down for the mo, letting them get used to the bottom first!

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Here's their cage yesterday...

View attachment 40110

We've taken the ramp down for the mo, letting them get used to the bottom first!

That looks fantastic! I only have one level of my cage currently, I'm planning on making it bigger in the future as I'd like to expand my herd I'm not sure about multi levels though as I'm a worrying mummy and I'd be worried of them falling off the ramp aha. What material have you got on the ramp, carpet?