Guinea Pig Communication Between Others

[Lilythepig2017]

So with my birds (Parakeets) if they hear a parakeet on my phone chirping they will call to it and try and communicate. They will believe a bird is actually there and be interested.

With Lily, if I play her happy guinea pig sounds she literally ignores it and walks away disinterested.

I’m curious as to why? Do the sounds they make not serve to communicate/ simple language to each other? Or are they only made for themselves? Or does the cell phone change the sound slightly enough to not fool her.

I some ways they communicate to each other though as they will weak when wanting food from us and chatter teeth at another guinea pig when mad or cry when scared. She comes when I call her name. But maybe their sounds don’t serve a language function.

Can you tell I’ve been around birds too much? Lol

Just curious others thoughts or observations.

 

[Betsy]

Meg hates being alone and always has done even as a baby. If she thinks she's alone she will call for the others. It is an unmistakable loud call. We have learnt not to leave her alone when we are taking the piggies for run or cuddle time as it causes her distress.

 

[piggieminder]

Mine chatter and call to each other every time they move from one place to another. If I play a video of piggys talking they get very excited and run around.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

I think she probably knows it's not a real piggy and there isn't one there. I know my pigs know it's not real haha. Even though piggies hate to be alone even videos of pigs can't fool them sadly.

It will be very different when Lily has a real friend to talk to and play with. Then they can't get enough of the chatter! I'd certainly recommend looking for a friend for her, she would definitely love the company! I often wonder if keeping pigs on their own for too long would make them a bit socially awkward as they've been alone through their development period. I have an asbo pig like that who was alone for quite some time.

Getting them a friend sooner rather than later is definitely the ideal thing to do

 

[Dindypig]

The Chavs, Billy and Chick Chick, talk to each other all the time and The Students, Ginger, Lilly and Pippin constantly bicker with each other.

 

[Freela]

My guess would be that, in the absence of visual/scent stimuli that indicate the presence of another pig, she knows another pig is not actually present. I know at times when I've had pigs on separate floors (due to quarantine reasons) they could surely hear each other at times, but paid little attention. However, once they could actually see each other, they definitely sat up and took notice.

 

[Lilythepig2017]

I think the lack of scent thing is spot on. My birds are not scent creatures so I think that’s why get get so excited and look for a bird. I think Lily is not fooled lol

When she’s in her play pen area if one of us leaves she definitely calls for that person. It’s very charming. She’s a very loving little pig. If everyone steps out of the room while she’s in there she will call for a for seconds as well.

We would like getting her a little friend at some point. Our first parakeet was alone without friends for two years. We have 4 Parakeets and 3 out of the four don’t like him. He lost his ability to be bird like and they often get annoyed with him. Only one of our guys can tolerate his ways . He doesn’t respect the feeding hierarchy etc and he prefers the company of humans. he has become best friend our third bird who came to our family and they are best friends now in a separate cage which makes me happy. But Tiki still loves his people are well. So yes, I think the isolation can mess them up sadly

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

I think the lack of scent thing is spot on. My birds are not scent creatures so I think that’s why get get so excited and look for a bird. I think Lily is not fooled lol

When she’s in her play pen area if one of us leaves she definitely calls for that person. It’s very charming. She’s a very loving little pig. If everyone steps out of the room while she’s in there she will call for a for seconds as well.

We would like getting her a little friend at some point. Our first parakeet was alone without friends for two years. We have 4 Parakeets and 3 out of the four don’t like him. He lost his ability to be bird like and they often get annoyed with him. Only one of our guys can tolerate his ways . He doesn’t respect the feeding hierarchy etc and he prefers the company of humans. he has become best friend our third bird who came to our family and they are best friends now in a separate cage which makes me happy. But Tiki still loves his people are well. So yes, I think the isolation can mess them up sadly

You're right, isolation for friend loving species is never a good thing. I'd recommend looking for a friend as soon as you can. It's amazing what natural behaviours they miss out on when on their own. You miss out on those behaviours too as they're lovely to watch!

 

[Wiebke]

So with my birds (Parakeets) if they hear a parakeet on my phone chirping they will call to it and try and communicate. They will believe a bird is actually there and be interested.

With Lily, if I play her happy guinea pig sounds she literally ignores it and walks away disinterested.

I’m curious as to why? Do the sounds they make not serve to communicate/ simple language to each other? Or are they only made for themselves? Or does the cell phone change the sound slightly enough to not fool her.

I some ways they communicate to each other though as they will weak when wanting food from us and chatter teeth at another guinea pig when mad or cry when scared. She comes when I call her name. But maybe their sounds don’t serve a language function.

Can you tell I’ve been around birds too much? Lol

Just curious others thoughts or observations.

Guinea pig communication is much more complex than expected, as recent research has found out - it is compromised of sounds, body language, situational context and phermones (guinea pigs have a much stronger sense of smell than we humans).

The longer you keep a young guinea pig away from interaction with its own species, the greater the danger that it will stop to identify as a guinea pig.
Lily has obviously picked up that the sounds are not related to real guinea pigs in the room.