Piggy "cheeping"!

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neoma

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I was sitting at my computer playing a video game when I heard a rhythmic, soft "cheeping" sound. I have birds as well as piggies, so for a moment I wasn't sure which critters were making the sound. It turned out that it's one of the piggies. It's dark in this room, and we keep their cage covered with a fleece at night, so I can't tell whether it's Cocoa or Ginger.

He's been at it for at least five minutes.

It's a cute, sweet sound that sounds a little like a baby bird or a budgie. It is utterly unlike any sound I've ever heard them make.

I know from reading this forum that they can make bird-like sounds. I just never expected to hear it for myself.

Does anyone know what it means?
 
Sorry, I don't know what it means. My piggies cheep occasionally. Usually it's in the middle of the night, which can be a bit annoying. It is a cute sound though :) So far I've only heard it from the sows. :)
 
Thank you for sharing about your sows cheeping, HairlessWillow7. :rose

It is an adorable sound. I hope I get to hear it again someday. Someone on another board also said that their piggies make that sound at night. I may be way off base, but I think it is a contented sound. By the time he finished cheeping last night, he had been at it at least 20 minutes. I think he was "singing" just because he liked the sound. :)
 
Huge debate.. I have 2 video's one I believe the pig in question was happy.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc4F31NYUUU[/ame]

The other most certainly was an alarm call in mind.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wML9NA6g5II[/ame]
 
Very interesting, flintstones. In the second video, the piggy does sound rather distressed.
 
neoma said:
Very interesting, flintstones. In the second video, the piggy does sound rather distressed.
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At the time the pig next door was in a great deal of discomfort you could see the pain, and I was crying because I was at my whits end. During Filming I was looking at both pigs, and do think he picked up on the bad vibes. If or not he knew Bette was in pain and suffering I don't know but he certainly didn't look happy.
 
flintstones said:
At the time the pig next door was in a great deal of discomfort you could see the pain, and I was crying because I was at my whits end. During Filming I was looking at both pigs, and do think he picked up on the bad vibes. If or not he knew Bette was in pain and suffering I don't know but he certainly didn't look happy.
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Oh... That's a sad story. I wonder if maybe he was "singing" to comfort her, or maybe himself.
 
I have one who has just started 'cheeping'. She does it when she is extremely stressed (for instance she hates the sound of the vaccum cleaner and this started her off the other day).

The procedure is as follows:

  • Skulk off to corner (not run but deliberately skulk) in deliberate manner to show to other piggies she means business. (with look of complete contempt)
  • Rumble strut very elaborately to create big impact, very slow and deliberate (she could show a sumo a thing or two!)
  • Then the panting starts (at first I was really alarmed by this but its her revving up!) I thought she was having a heart attack!
  • Then put lips together and hey ho, we have the 'cheep'!

Its most bizarre and all the others stop what they are doing (as I did the first time). Scared the hell out of me the first time. She is an absolute character so I think its her way of getting attention!

Its a cute thing but its definitely a reaction to stress with her and not happiness :(
 
Thank you for your very detailed description of how your piggy revs up to start her cheeping session! :rose Wow, that sounds like quite a production. Such a little drama pig!

I would very much like to see what my piggy looks like when he cheeps.

Interesting... It sounds like sometimes it's a contented sound and sometimes it's a stressed sound.
 
I think you have to take into consideration that Guinea Pigs are prey animals. I beleive this noise is sadly nothing other than an alarm call simply because of the following reasons.

A piggie in the wild brings back a massive slash of their favourite food, to feed her babies and family (I am no expert on the natural living behaviours of wild Guinea Pigs) for example. She is very happy as they have enough food to last them. She starts singing, chirping loudly. It really would serve only to attract preditors to her location, rather than keep them safe.

I beleive it's an alarm call, however, I have no idea why they tend to sing for so long. That seems somewhat counter productive to me.

Also, I played this to my girls, to see what their reaction was. And they froze, their eyes grew wide and had the white 'terror' part clearly visible. A couple of them rumbled a deep, very unhappy rumble. Then they all scattered, faster than I have ever seem them run before. They remained hidden, and VERY upset for the rest of the day. I will not play that to them again :(

I could be very wrong however, and this noise could be something completely different in the domestic Guinea Pig. After all, they live a different life, and have for centuries. I beleive they even now look very very different to their wild cousins. So it could mean something completely different to them now. Perhaps it means nothing at all, maybe it's just an expression for them!

I am looking forward to hearing what the actual sound means, but I think it will be a while before anyone knows!

-Carma

On another note: Could it be a display call? Perhaps they are trying to attract a mate. Which could explain why females scatter at the call. Many animals take massive risks to attract a mate.
 
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Very interesting and plausible theory, Carma Violet. Thank you. :rose

Your piggies' reaction seems to prove that. Of course, maybe they reacted that way simply because they never heard it before? My piggies pretty much ignore television until some sort of abrupt sound is played: telephone, bell, etc. Then they freeze for a moment.

I agree that cheeping for long periods is probably counter productive for an alarm call. Maybe it's a call that made sense when they were wild and now...maybe not as much. Just a thought.
 
neoma said:
Thank you for your very detailed description of how your piggy revs up to start her cheeping session! :rose Wow, that sounds like quite a production. Such a little drama pig!

I would very much like to see what my piggy looks like when he cheeps.

Interesting... It sounds like sometimes it's a contented sound and sometimes it's a stressed sound.
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Oh yes she is a drama piggy for sure! It is very fascinating is'nt it? It would be interesting to see what others have experienced too and try to ascertain from their experiences. maybe there are subtle differences in the cheep/chirp that us humans do not hear and sometimes its happiness and other times its a warning? I like someone else's description a while ago on another thread, can't remember who, that it was as if they were trying to contact the 'mother ship'!

One thing is for sure they will always confound and fascinate!

Great thread!
 
Guinea Slave said:
maybe there are subtle differences in the cheep/chirp that us humans do not hear and sometimes its happiness and other times its a warning? I like someone else's description a while ago on another thread, can't remember who, that it was as if they were trying to contact the 'mother ship'!
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Contacting the mother ship! :))

Excellent point about the possibility that there are subtle difference between a stressed out cheep and a "gee I'm content" cheep. I'm sure that there are distinctions that our puny human ears can't hear.

I tutor a little girl whose family is Chinese. From time to time, I will ask her to teach me a word in Chinese. I earnestly imitate her, absolutely certain that I am pronouncing said word perfectly. Inevitably, she bursts out laughing. My puny American ears can't hear the difference between what she said and what I said.
 
Sadly I've only experienced the sad cheaping. Two of my piggies have done this not long before a big fight with their respective house mates so I associate it with a sadness.
I've never heard any cheaping since their living arrangements have changed.
It is the most amazing sound but I don't like to hear it.
 
katiepops said:
Sadly I've only experienced the sad cheaping. Two of my piggies have done this not long before a big fight with their respective house mates so I associate it with a sadness.
I've never heard any cheaping since their living arrangements have changed.
It is the most amazing sound but I don't like to hear it.
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Thank you for sharing that story, katiepops. :rose I'm sorry to hear that it has a sad association for you.

This story clearly goes into the "cheeping as a sad or frightened sound" pile.
 
JanexxM&L said:
Lovely cage, and cute piggies, where did you get your c&c square mesh from? x
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I got them with my C&C Grids, now you going to ask what box. I have no idea, I got them off Ebay. I was looking the other day for the box I got to give the link to someone else but I couldn't find it. It was so long ago, I honestly don't know.

At the time everyone got the same C&C grids and they came with 12 normal grids and 7 mesh I think. There was 16 or 18 grids in total in the box, again my memory. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

I know Wickes sell the mesh grids.
 
neoma said:
Thank you for sharing that story, katiepops. :rose I'm sorry to hear that it has a sad association for you.

This story clearly goes into the "cheeping as a sad or frightened sound" pile.
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Except Patrick :))! He was overjoyed he just got a wife, but I did come to the conclusion, it's either a sad noise or alarm call. Bottom line is it's not good when your piggy chirps! xx
 
I've heard our pigs chirp twice. Once I was sitting down watching tv and heard the strangest noise coming from the front room. It was exactly like you describe - almost like a bird.. I went in to see Putt the quietest of our pair chirping away, she stopped as I approached and just looked at me.

The 2nd time, my wife by accident startled the Piggles and Putt went running into the wooden Villa where Pitch was sitting, now normally this would lead to lots of squeaks but instead Pitch started to chirp with her head out of the window.

I don't know if it is stress related but the 2nd incident would lead me to think so.
 
Thank you for sharing your stories, sport_billy. Oh, my... More of these stories are ending up in the sad or alarmed bucket than the happy and contented one. Perhaps it was just my perception that it was a contented sound. Maybe my boy was sad or stressed and I didn't know it. :(
 
A friends pig chirped every night at veggie time, maybe she was singing for her supper. I have a chirper now, she does it in the early hours of the morning, the light is on & so there's no reason for her to be stressed or sad. Maybe for some it is because they are sad/stressed & for others because they're happy. :)
 
Yay! Another one for the "this can be a happy sound" pile. :)

Thank you for sharing this, Niki. :rose
 
From having heard Flinstone's piggies I do think there are two types of chirping with very subtle differences that probably only piggies can really tell.
 
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