Do all piggies have good internal clocks?

Roclibrarian

Roclibrarian

Teenage Guinea Pig
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My (nearly) 3 year old girl Ginny has a stupidly accurate internal clock.
I admit to liking an afternoon nap when I get chance, but get woken up by Ginny demanding her veg at 5:30pm everytime. Then she wheeks again at 7pm for pellets, then 8pm for her metacam (which she is on for life due to a spinal problem).
She doesn't bother in the morning thankfully so I can get a lie in at weekends. In a morning she just starts wheeking when she hears me coming downstairs.
Her sister Luna doesn't do any of this so I'm wondering if it's just Ginny, or can other pigs tell the time?
 
Mine know 4 o'clock is nugget time, we have had problems this winter explaining it's only 3 o'clock after the clocks had changed. It will be interesting to see if they get 4 o'clock right next week! They also wheek like mad for their veggies if one of us gets up to go to the bathroom after 6am, before 6am seems to be acceptable as too early, no lie ins allowed in this house.
 
My Patchy will wheek at meal times then a hour later for pellets and the day after I give them a treat at the same for me to give them another treat, I ignore her as treats are only occasionally or it wouldn't be a treat. When I explain this to her she looks at me like i'm nuts. Coco just stares at me all cute in silence, she's very lazy so I think she doesn't bother wheeking because Patchy does it for her and makes enough noise for them both.
 
Our four will wheek around breakfast time if they hear me walking around upstairs, or hear me speak! And they’ll wheek at dinner time as well if I’m downstairs. HOW do they know what my footsteps sound like?! They don’t do it when my husband goes down. They will sometimes if my youngest goes down the stairs 😳 those clocks are the bane of my life!
 
Kylie80 said:
My Patchy will wheek at meal times then a hour later for pellets and the day after I give them a treat at the same for me to give them another treat, I ignore her as treats are only occasionally or it wouldn't be a treat. When I explain this to her she looks at me like i'm nuts. Coco just stares at me all cute in silence, she's very lazy so I think she doesn't bother wheeking because Patchy does it for her and makes enough noise for them both.
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Yes my Luna is very quiet, she knows Ginny is loud enough for both of them.
 
My sows Cookie and Sierra (and my past piggies too) know what time they need to be fed. The sows know their everyday routine. My boar Prince is so laid back and lazy and just never wheek for food, because he knows if the girls ask for it, he would definitely get some too. He also just waits for me to pick him up (usually from the 2nd floor of their hutch coz if he's there, he never bothers to go down on his own) and bring him in front of the food.
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
My sow is good with times, my boar who lives with her, uses Dot as the clock. Its pretty clever
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Same here with my Lara and Finn. Finn sometimes appear as though he really doesn't know what is up, XD. If not for Lara talking, they won't get their 4th servings of Oxbow hay for the day, and this is after their 3 servings of veggies a day with pellets included. :D.
 
Yup, mine definitely know the time! It changed a bit when I was getting up at 6am (only took a few days!) for a few months but we're back to regular 7.45 'feed us' wheeks now! Lie ins here a rarity too, no matter how much I try!
 
Yes, Bill and Ted like a strict routine that they impose on our household! Up at the bars for Breakfast veggies and hay is at 8, pellets is at 9, out on the grass or playpen in winter 10 and top up with hay. Back into their cage for 3, more hay top up and 5.30pm veggies, pellets and hay. Cuddles between 8 - 9 lights out for them! Phew, glass of wine for us :beer:
 
Mine definitely know when to expect food/out of the cage play, though I think some of it is tied to certain noises/sounds/voices and not necessarily to the actual clock. They are generally better time keepers than some of our other pets... we have joked that some of our hamsters are broken as far as telling time goes. One never knew she was meant to be nocturnal/crepuscular and was up and down all day regardless of the time, one of them follows proper hamster hours, and our new girl seems to follow normal hamster hours but occasionally gets up in the afternoon and runs on the wheel and then sleeps all evening instead!
 
My boys definitely let me know when I'm late to meal time. Guinea pigs do have a pretty good sense of time, which is why you should have a schedule for feeding and keep as close to it as possible. It actually stresses them out a bit if food doesn't arrive when they expect it.
 
Sprout’s the shouty one of my two. Usually around 3.30-4 PM is when he starts wheeking up a storm to inform me that I haven’t fed them for years, and how could I be such a mean slave? Or when I get up at 6. Or just whenever I venture into the kitchen. Spud just stares at me. Or races round his cage frantically, making a complete mess of everything.

I do have a feeding schedule for them, it’s just that they think food is coming whenever I’m within range of the cages!
 
My piggies know hoomans walking about equals food, and our car parking up outside means possible extra veggies arriving home! But they arent too fussed about time, breakfast arrives sometime between 6.30am and 10am and dinner arrives sometime between 6pm and 8pm depending on our work. If they dont hear us they are fine eating hay. If we are at home all day or get home early they know and wheek for extra snacks! Especially our little bat-hippo alarm who sets all the others off wheeking whenever she's hungry (which is always!).
 
I've been keeping to a schedule, small veg treat in the morning before work, small treat when I get home, and veggies n floor time/fresh hay in the evening. Problem is, I'm on holiday today so every time I walked in the room they got excited for their home from work snack 😋
 
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