The Range Of Squeaks

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Gimz

Gimz

Teenage Guinea Pig
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What is the difference between a stressed out squeaking guinea pig and an excited squeaking happy one?

Whilst Ruby is very relaxed and mostly only gives out little squeaks, Treacle on the other hand is very different and we like to think a bit of a nutter. She is more easy spooked by movement, but is also the main cage pop corning piggie. She squeaks like mad when you take her out of her cage, then quietens down when moved to another room in the house, but she loves to explore and doesn't sit still for long. Sometimes when sat on my lap or shoulder she will start building up her squeaks from little ones to work up to a full vocal stream, ignoring food right next to her. Then after a good squeak she then will stop abruptly and will munch down on some parsley without a care in the world and remains calm for a while.

I thought she might be calling out for her sister Ruby, so last night my wife and I sat with them on a shoulder each, right next to each other. After a few excited piggie kisses and squeaks between them, Ruby settled down at my neck like usual and just chilled out. Treacle went back to squeaking mildly, sitting still, then building up to a good ole squeakathon. Ruby seemed to ignore Treacle completely. Then Treacle again chewed on some apple pieces, snuggled in and went generally quiet. So what is Treacle saying when she behaves like this?

When I take her back to her cage, as soon as I get to the kitchen door she again squeaks like mad, high pitched and wriggles about all over the place. It only gets more vocal the nearer I get to her cage in our utility room. But she is clearly not unhappy, because when back in her cage she runs around to check every corner and then either eats or starts popcorning. I think she is just excited at this point to go back to her cage and doesn't mind who knows it. Ruby on the other hand is pretty relaxed about the return journey too.

I just want to be sure I understand treacle's behaviour and needs and so that I can recognise an unhappy stressed out squeak from an excited "I'm going exploring" or "I'm going back to my cage" squeak.
 
Maybe she's one of those that likes to chunter away to everyone? :)

We've adopted a boar called Jericho and he's vocal, he will talk to us when we go in my bedroom, he shouts at my son (wheeks) and when you pick him up he still chunters lol. We have another vocal one who does it for attention and will also chunter away when sat on you, if he smells the other piggies on your he starts from a small wheek to a BIG wheek.

We also had one who sadly passed away who would make a noise when he was running around the floor, we called it his nee nar noise, he was exploring and really enjoying himself.

You can also look up guinea pig sounds on the net :D
 
I have two who's voice-box appear to be attached to their legs. They cannot walk without uttering 'buddup, buddup, buddup', as they go. I have one who makes a mewing noise every so often. Can't work that one out and I've yet to see what she's doing at the time. I wonder if she makes this noise when she yawns, but I'm yet to catch her in the act! I've had two occasional 'chirpers' - sounds just like a bird, and it's one of those mystery sounds hard to interpret. One almost chirps.
Some are highly vocal, some almost silent. It can be hard to interpret at times, especially when they don't always appear to speak the same language!

Body language is a good indicator of mood when they make their sounds, but even then it's not always easy.
 
It is very difficult to give you a straight guide (we would have one on here already if it was!), as the squeaking is very situational and has to also be seen in context with the body language. Sometimes, the positive and the negative can sound quite similar to us.

Generally, youngsters are very vocal during the first months of their lives when they are at the highest risk re. accidents and predators, so their constant wheeeking is keeping the group updated as to their whereabouts and status. Some babies can be very dramatic. Once they gain the experience they calm down noticeably. Guinea pigs always chunter when on the march; again, this serves to keep the group in contact in the grassland that is their natural home.

This link here can help you somewhat: http://www.jackiesguineapiggies.com/guineapigsounds.html
 
My guinea pig Nelson acts exactly the same as Treacle when I take him out for lap time! I worry that he is unhappy when he is making those noises especially because if I do something he doesn't like for example brush near his bum then the squeaking quickly gets much louder, but often when he is doing what sounds to me to be the same squeak noise just a bit quieter, he is is laying flat out on my knee with his head down looking dead comfy, so how can he be unhappy?! Sometimes I think that maybe our hearing is not always sensitive enough to distinguish between all of their different squeaks properly, after all guinea pig hearing is a lot more sensitive than ours.
 
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