Does My Boy Sound Happy?

[Lolly]

We had our boys for 3 weeks now and Patch has started to get very noisey during lap time and I'm not sure if it's a "I like you and I'm happy" thing or a "just put me back in the hutch/ give me more food" noise!

My kids have the guineas on towels on their laps and give them something to eat, both happily eat from the kids and both will stay sitting on the laps once the food is gone and don't try to make off. Patch has started wheeking once food is gone, it has a very particular pattern, one loud wheek followed by 2 or 3 quieter wheeks and he doesn't stop! Whilst he is wheeking he is usually stretched out along the lap, nothing to stop him moving but he just lies there whilst being gently stroked. Last night I had him for a while and he did eventually stop wheeking, turned around to face me stretched out again and laid his head on my hand (uber cute!).

Rosie doesn't make that type of noise but I think we did get a few purrs last night.

Any thoughts - guinea pigs are all new to use so I have no experience to tell me if this is normal or not! I found a few you tube clips with piggies making a similar noise but they were very contradictory about happy or annoyed noises!

 

[Wiebke]

Sounds like yours are settling in very well. Some youngsters can be very noisy and boisterous while others are by nature quiet. They will quieten a lot as adults.

 

[Freela]

My experience with my pigs is that generally the whistles/twittering noises are contented ones, whereas purrs tend to be annoyance. The really loud 'wheeks' are often begging for food. However, there are individual differences in how much noises pigs make (I have a 'talker' and a quiet one) and what specific noises mean. For instance, some pigs will make the purring noise out of contentment, but for my girls it's very clearly a sign that they are annoyed! It sounds as though they are doing fine, though. HTH!

 

[Lolly]

Thanks both! If eating and weight gain are anything to go by I have 2 settled piggies! They eat everything and are both gaining around 30g a week so far. Patch in particular is going to be a big boy I think, his official nick name is "Guts Bucket"!

@Wiebke - that's a mighty fine collection of names for your Tribe!

 

[KittyandNancy]

Yep that all sounds good. All of ours have started to fall asleep on us. Last night Kitty was laying on my chest with one eye open and the other shut I could see the one kind of roll back in her head before she totally closed it hahahaha.