Guinea pig chirping?

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Abzz130297

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Hi all again

Tonight one of my guinea pigs started to chirp like a bird. What does this mean, I've checked them both over they seem fine, they're eating and playing and all that jazz but that noise scared me I sat for a second to see if I was imaging it but I could see Bennies chirping and it looked like he was breathing funny. Is this normal? What does the chirping mean?

Please help
 
Abzz130297 said:
Hi all again

Tonight one of my guinea pigs started to chirp like a bird. What does this mean, I've checked them both over they seem fine, they're eating and playing and all that jazz but that noise scared me I sat for a second to see if I was imaging it but I could see Bennies chirping and it looked like he was breathing funny. Is this normal? What does the chirping mean?

Please help
Click to expand...

Hi!

We still don't know what chirping means exactly because it is so erratic. Most guinea pig owners never witness a chirping guinea pig.
So far I haven't seen any explanation that satisfies me.

This guide here has a chirping video and contains a collection of what he know about chirping so far: Chirping
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

We still don't know what chirping means exactly because it is so erratic. Most guinea pig owners never witness a chirping guinea pig.
So far I haven't seen any explanation that satisfies me.

This guide here has a chirping video and contains a collection of what he know about chirping so far: Chirping
Click to expand...

Thank you for getting back to me however there's no explanation on what has caused it and why it has happened. I really just wanna know if Bennies is sick or frightened or something horrid like that.

Thank you for your help though xx
 
Abzz130297 said:
Thank you for getting back to me however there's no explanation on what has caused it and why it has happened. I really just wanna know if Bennies is sick or frightened or something horrid like that.

Thank you for your help though xx
Click to expand...

He is definitely not sick and he is also not frightened to death, so please take a deep breath!
Since most piggies never chirp and a very few do it regularly but without any obvious cause, we can simply not say what the triggers are. There is definitely a situational context, but it is very often not accessible to us humans. The explanation that only upset piggies chirp is not correct.

Please read the link; there are some things we CAN say about it and they are definitely not all bad! ;)
 
Wiebke said:
He is definitely not sick and he is also not frightened to death, so please take a deep breath!
Since most piggies never chirp and a very few do it regularly but without any obvious cause, we can simply not say what the triggers are. There is definitely a situational context, but it is very often not accessible to us humans. The explanation that only upset piggies chirp is not correct.

Please read the link; there are some things we CAN say about it and they are definitely not all bad! ;)
Click to expand...


Thank you I'm so scared I've had guinea pigs all my life but this has never happened I just went upstairs to the toilet and that's when I heard him chirp.

Thank you for putting my mind at rest x
 
Lucky you having a chirping Piggy! Mine either wheek, chunter away or say "boing boing" when they get really excited!
 
Betsy said:
Lucky you having a chirping Piggy! Mine either wheek, chunter away or say "boing boing" when they get really excited!
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It's frightened me to death honestly I'd rather have them wheeling and vhuntering away lol xx
 
Abzz130297 said:
It's frightened me to death honestly I'd rather have them wheeling and vhuntering away lol xx
Click to expand...

The first time ever you hear it, it is very alarming because it is so strange.

If there is a negative connection to some chirping, then it is expressing more of a sense of unease than of outright alarm as the other piggies in the room weren't usually spooked by my own operatic diva Heulwen; they were quiet but not acting frightened. Heulwen would chirp more often during times when there were obvious tensions in one of my groups which transmitted through the whole piggy room.
But she didn't chirp much during the 8 months of building work (no thanks to our neighbours), which was pretty stressful and often frightening time for the piggies.
But there have been a number of occasions the mood in the piggy room was very relaxed or nor were there any unexpected outside stimuli, and yet Heulwen or another piggy would suddenly chirp away.

But my own piggies were sometimes spooked by me playing a chirping video on the computer when it happened totally out of context for them, so any chirping must have a strong situational context. Because at other times the same chirping video would not cause any noticeable reaction...

So yes, nobody has the full answer and we may never get there, considering that chirping piggies are RARE. There are lots of videos around because it is such an exceptional event that it is over-represented.

I've had nearly 70 piggies in my life so far, but have only ever had one regular chirper and the very occasional one-off one. It is still down to a handful, and most of them were inspired by Heulwen.
 
Wiebke said:
The first time ever you hear it, it is very alarming because it is so strange.

If there is a negative connection to some chirping, then it is expressing more of a sense of unease than of outright alarm as the other piggies in the room weren't usually spooked by my own operatic diva Heulwen; they were quiet but not acting frightened. Heulwen would chirp more often during times when there were obvious tensions in one of my groups which transmitted through the whole piggy room.
But she didn't chirp much during the 8 months of building work, no thanks to our neighbours, which was pretty stressful and often frightening for the piggies.
But there have been a number of occasions where there were no obvious problems or anything at all, and yet Heulwen or another piggy would suddenly chirp away.

But my own piggies were sometimes spooked by me playing a chirping video on the computer when it happened totally out of context for them, so any chirping must have a strong situational context. Because at other times the same chirping video would not cause any noticeable reaction...

So yes, nobody has the full answer and we may never get there, considering that chirping piggies are RARE. There are lots of videos around because it is such an exceptional event that it is over-represented.

I've had nearly 70 piggies in my life so far, but have only ever had one regular chirper and the very occasional one-off one. It is still down to a handful, and most of them were inspired by Heulwen.
Click to expand...


Thank you x
 
Chirping videos should come with a warning, can induce chirping in susceptible piggies!
Ever since I played a chirping video that my odd little Tallulah pig heard on my phone, she chirps every couple of days, she clearly has no clue what its supposed to mean either, its like a hooman child copying an adult they heard swearing or something, and her husboar tries to hush her up... and the main herd freak out... but she loves to chirp! I think she just likes the sound (and it is very pretty but very weird, like everything about Tallulah) but it puts the others on high alert, makes all their ears twitch and their noses go up in the air...
 
PigglePuggle said:
Chirping videos should come with a warning, can induce chirping in susceptible piggies!
Ever since I played a chirping video that my odd little Tallulah pig heard on my phone, she chirps every couple of days, she clearly has no clue what its supposed to mean either, its like a hooman child copying an adult they heard swearing or something, and her husboar tries to hush her up... and the main herd freak out... but she loves to chirp! I think she just likes the sound (and it is very pretty but very weird, like everything about Tallulah) but it puts the others on high alert, makes all their ears twitch and their noses go up in the air...
Click to expand...

I have had the odd video that has inspired a chirp, and have definitely had other piggies picking up chirping from my own regular chirper. That is one reason why I am not at all happy with the current explanations - I feel strongly that chirping is far more complex than that.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

We still don't know what chirping means exactly because it is so erratic. Most guinea pig owners never witness a chirping guinea pig.
So far I haven't seen any explanation that satisfies me.

This guide here has a chirping video and contains a collection of what he know about chirping so far: Chirping
Click to expand...
The video will not play
 
I find this fascinating.
None of mine chirp.
I thought Phoebe was going to at one point - she gave one very brief chirp and seemed so surprised by it she’s never done it again.
 
Betsy said:
Lucky you having a chirping Piggy! Mine either wheek, chunter away or say "boing boing" when they get really excited!
Click to expand...
I do like the boing boing! The budgie copies this, then they all start wheeking at this..when he does his budgie chirps now the popcorn wheeeek starts..!
 
I only had one chirping guinea pig. Her name was Deedee who passed away in Feb 2017. She would do it every night (mostly in the middle of the night which woke up hubby all the time :D) and for like 5mins if we don't force her to stop. Her sister Meemee used to sit still beside her whenever she did it (like the other piggies in @Wiebke's video above). 😂
 
Chirping is very strange when you first hear it ... it is like a bird.
In over 27 years of owning guinea pigs I have only heard it twice - the guinea pig will go into an almost trance like state and chirp.
No-one seems to know why it happens. Only guineas pigs really know we guess 🤔
 
I was 💩 bricks when it first happened! I really thought there was a bird trapped in the house so I sent my husband to investigate. It then happened a further 2-3 times. The last time it was Fudge. I can’t upload a video to YouTube else I would have posted a link.
 
ive had six piggies in five years who have chirped,most only occasionally.......each time it has been in the mid of night.eg 2am.i find its the young piggies that seem to chirp under a year old .beautiful sound.
 
It's one of those random behaviors that hasn't quite been figured out yet.... some of my pigs have chirped extremely sporadically, others not at all. My youngest and I caught Leela chirping a few weeks ago... have never heard it before from her (she's almost 3 years old.)
 
Marshmallow went through a phase of chirping, she certainly wasn't ill (she's the only one of my pigs who to date hasn't needed a vet trip🤞) i found it happened occasionally when being power groomed by nugget and she only did it during her first couple of seasons, never heard it since but m is a very vocal piggy, her protesting to boss piggy nugget being in season is 🔊 Loud 🔊 I found it quite a special sound though and wouldn't be alarmed 😊 I did think we had a bird around when I first heard it lol took a while to figure out it was actually coming from marshmallow, none of my other pigs have ever chirped 💕
 
Abzz130297 said:
Hi all again

Tonight one of my guinea pigs started to chirp like a bird. What does this mean, I've checked them both over they seem fine, they're eating and playing and all that jazz but that noise scared me I sat for a second to see if I was imaging it but I could see Bennies chirping and it looked like he was breathing funny. Is this normal? What does the chirping mean?

Please help
Click to expand...
I’ve heard that they also sing 🎶 when they are happy 😃! Doesn’t happen often but when it does mean happiness ! Your pig is happy and decided to sing ..
 
Milkcoffee said:
I’ve heard that they also sing 🎶 when they are happy 😃! Doesn’t happen often but when it does mean happiness ! Your pig is happy and decided to sing ..
Click to expand...


Thank you

He hasn't done it since so I'm not sure why he did it I know kenthing though - he scares me to death lol x
 
Although we don’t know much behind the reason for chirping, it’s a rare honour to hear it. I hadn’t heard it for years but had a real treat a while ago.

The boys had all been outside in the sunshine and had come into nice, clean beds. I heard a chirping sound coming from the room and Algy was on his ledge chirping to the others. Claudio joined in on exactly the same note and they carried on for about 10 mins. Rupert & Herbie also tried to join in but couldn’t reach the note!

They all looked relaxed but were intently listening to the chirpers. I sing to them a lot and thought we’d developed an entry for Britain’s Got Talent. Sadly, they haven’t rehearsed since so I don’t think we’ll be getting the Golden Buzzer just yet. 😂
 
alexr said:
Although we don’t know much behind the reason for chirping, it’s a rare honour to hear it. I hadn’t heard it for years but had a real treat a while ago.

The boys had all been outside in the sunshine and had come into nice, clean beds. I heard a chirping sound coming from the room and Algy was on his ledge chirping to the others. Claudio joined in on exactly the same note and they carried on for about 10 mins. Rupert & Herbie also tried to join in but couldn’t reach the note!

They all looked relaxed but were intently listening to the chirpers. I sing to them a lot and thought we’d developed an entry for Britain’s Got Talent. Sadly, they haven’t rehearsed since so I don’t think we’ll be getting the Golden Buzzer just yet. 😂
Click to expand...

Well that's a shame would have voted for you to win as well lol xx
 
I had a piggie years ago who chirped! She would always do it in the dark super early in the morning (like 2-3am!). The first time she did it I was absolutely convinced there was a bird stuck in the house... Went searching for ages until I heard it coming from the piggie cage! It took me a few times before I figured out which piggie it was. Every time there was nothing different about her surroundings. Same spot, same cage, same cagemate and same noises etc. She'd just sit there and chirp.
 
One of the pigs was chirping very very quietly last night! My daughter heard them as well.
 
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