Callie Chirping! (videos Included)

[Arcticwolf]

Callie started going through puberty a couple of weeks ago. Besides the increase in energy, brattiness, and weight, she's started chirping! I've never owned a chirping guinea pig before, so I was in awe when I heard it for the first time. She does it at random times throughout the day whenever she's in a playful mood.

I also think it's interesting that she doesn't wheek like a normal guinea pig, either. Though she's tried in the past, all that came out was a quiet half chirp/half wheek sound. And ever since she started chirping, she hasn't tried to make any other sound at all.

Here's two video clips of the times I was able to catch the chirping on camera:

And a bonus picture of my little chirper when she was 2 months old (maybe 3? She looked so young!):

Side note: Don't worry, the lights on my cage are out of my pigs' reach. After the videos were taken, I used even more ties to make sure they wouldn't hang low enough that a piggy could chew on them if they stood on their back legs (not that they were trying to- but to be extra safe). Now, none of them hang lower than the highest square on the grids.

 

[Beans&Toast]

Oh wow! I've never heard of guinea pigs chirping
If you listen without looking it sounds like a bird

 

[span]

Great that you got it on camera, one of my girls, Sephy, is a chirper too! Love Callie, she's gorgeous!

 

[Kit06]

Great set up, love the colour coordination!

 

[7squeakers.]

Why guinea pigs chirp is a great mystery. It is often thought to be an alarm call, but Callie clearly is not alarmed about anything! Pigs usually stand or sit still when chirping, too. First time I've heard of a piggie running about while chirping! If only they could tell us what it means! @Arcticwolf very well done on getting it on tape! I have heard chirping 3 times in my own herd, but unfortunately never managed to film it.

 

[Arcticwolf]

Glad you all enjoyed it. It makes my day every time she does it.

Great set up, love the colour coordination!

Thank you! x

Why guinea pigs chirp is a great mystery. It is often thought to be an alarm call, but Callie clearly is not alarmed about anything! Pigs usually stand or sit still when chirping, too. First time I've heard of a piggie running about while chirping! If only they could tell us what it means! @Arcticwolf very well done on getting it on tape! I have heard chirping 3 times in my own herd, but unfortunately never managed to film it.

I've heard that too about it possibly being an alarm call! Maybe it varies from pig to pig? Sometimes fresh hay added to the hay rack or a cleaned cage will set of the chirping, and she's definitely not in distress then!
Callie will even eat while chirping. I'm not sure how that's even possible, but it apparently is!

 

[Galaxy&nibbles]

That's so sweet!

 

[Alex2016]

That is very cool you have a budgie/ g pig lol she is a sweetheart and very very cute ! Also lovely cage set up I love the use of pallets looks super good !

 

[Arcticwolf]

That is very cool you have a budgie/ g pig lol she is a sweetheart and very very cute ! Also lovely cage set up I love the use of pallets looks super good !

Thank you! My dad made the stand. The old cage's stand was too small for this cage to fit on, so he was nice enough to make one without me even having to ask! We got the pallets because I was going to use them to build something at an animal sanctuary I volunteered at, but they changed their mind. So that's where the idea came from.

 

[Glynis]

Oh how sweeeeeet
I too have only seen videos of a piggie standing still with their heads up in air chirping. She cracked me up zooming around still chirping then bumping the bell and then going for a drink

 

[Jenncasey30]

I am trying to introduce my 4 year old Guinea Pig to a new 3 month old Guinea Pig. My 4 year old keeps chattering his teeth at her. How long will it take for him to get along with her?

 

[Critter]

I was just thinking the same as @7squeakers. , in that it seems to be unusual that she's poddling around the cage as if all is normal instead of standing still. My chirpers also chirped around puberty, and I thought I may have found a link, but other members here have found theirs chirping at times not linked to that.
Great videos

 

[Arcticwolf]

I am trying to introduce my 4 year old Guinea Pig to a new 3 month old Guinea Pig. My 4 year old keeps chattering his teeth at her. How long will it take for him to get along with her?

I was in a similar situation when I introduced Callie and Nikki (Nikki's almost 5, and Callie was 3(?) months old at the time). Nikki's an alpha, and a very stubborn one. Callie is a cuddle bug and although Nikki makes it clear she doesn't like the attention, she doesn't react with violence. She'll sometimes chase Callie away from her with her nose in the air, or give her a light warning nip if she gets really frustrated, but it doesn't phase Callie one bit. They are bonded now and sleep together in the same hidey, it's just how they interact with each other.

To get to my point, chattering isn't something to be too worried about. Unless there's actual fighting going on (as in blood drawing), I'd just let them be. Your older pig is probably just trying to establish dominance. It'll likely pass for the most part once they sort things out and get used to each other (which could take a couple of weeks), but there's a good chance there will always be a little bit of squabbling going on, especially until the younger pig is finished going through puberty. Puberty can make the young ones go wild.

I was just thinking the same as @7squeakers. , in that it seems to be unusual that she's poddling around the cage as if all is normal instead of standing still. My chirpers also chirped around puberty, and I thought I may have found a link, but other members here have found theirs chirping at times not linked to that.
Great videos

I didn't even think about the fact that most (if not all) of the videos I've seen of chirping guinea pigs were of them standing still. Callie's just a wild pig! When I used wood shavings instead of wood pellets in the cage, she'd fling a ton of it all over the fleece and onto the floor on a daily basis. And the vacuum sets off her zoomies and popcorns, so the more I'd try to clean up, the bigger of a mess she'd make.