Hiding Food - Squirreling Away Veg

Kallasia

Kallasia

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi all,

So I've been noticing that for the past few weeks, when I put veggies down, Errol will sniff out his favourite item that they don't get often (like tomato or pepper - something they don't get every day) and then hide it in a hut or under the ramp. He then goes back to the ve without eating it and will eat his leafy greens with Binky.

Once all the veg is eaten, Errol then goes back to his hiding place and eats whatever he squirreled away. Sometimes he leaves it for an hour or so before going to it.

Am I mistaken in thinking guinea pigs don't normally hide food to come back to later?
Binky never does it and doesn't seem to know what Errol is doing either.

I'm just curious as to why/where Errol has developed this behaviour!
 
I have never known this behaviour it is normally food in belly no thought for later. If I was you I would not leave credit card and laptop lying around in case he starts ordering hay and vegetables online
 
Kallasia said:
Hi all,

So I've been noticing that for the past few weeks, when I put veggies down, Errol will sniff out his favourite item that they don't get often (like tomato or pepper - something they don't get every day) and then hide it in a hut or under the ramp. He then goes back to the ve without eating it and will eat his leafy greens with Binky.

Once all the veg is eaten, Errol then goes back to his hiding place and eats whatever he squirreled away. Sometimes he leaves it for an hour or so before going to it.

Am I mistaken in thinking guinea pigs don't normally hide food to come back to later?
Binky never does it and doesn't seem to know what Errol is doing either.

I'm just curious as to why/where Errol has developed this behaviour!
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What an endearing quirk! Piggies normally will run off with a choice morsel.

My Nerys used to sit on one pellet bowl covering it with her more than ample bum and eat from the adjacent one, then turn around and empty the one she was sitting on. That is as far as my own experience with food hoarding goes.
IMG_2472_edited-1.webp
 
Wiebke said:
What an endearing quirk! Piggies normally will run off with a choice morsel.

My Nerys used to sit on one pellet bowl covering it with her more than ample bum and eat from the adjacent one, then turn around and empty the one she was sitting on. That is as far as my own experience with food hoarding goes.
View attachment 77975
Click to expand...

That's a brilliant picture!

I think it's odd that he's "planning". I didn't know that guinea pigs were able to. It also explains why Errol is gaining weight if he's hiding food away and coming back to it later! He puts it in the hideys that are "his" or under the ramp where Binky doesn't really go!
 
Kallasia said:
That's a brilliant picture!

I think it's odd that he's "planning". I didn't know that guinea pigs were able to. It also explains why Errol is gaining weight if he's hiding food away and coming back to it later! He puts it in the hideys that are "his" or under the ramp where Binky doesn't really go!
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We tend to underestimate piggies, but they can work out things and can plan. You should have met my Minx; she lived to tackle challenges!
 
Blitzen will hoard food to an extent. He'll pick up a bunch of of stuff that he'll half eat and then sit on while he grabs more stuff to half eat. Comet will eventually notice and demand a share though, Blitzen is not a subtle piggy.
 
My three young boys always shared the one bowl of veg in the loft, which I put in first, then came down to the second bowl and shared it too, but I've noticed lately that Chicco is staying 'downstairs' when the first bowl goes in and waiting for me to put the second bowl in, so that he can have it all to himself, so there is some evidence in all our observations that guinea pigs are becoming cleverer, and planning......won't be long till they achieve world domination. (I have now given myself a mental picture of Chicco rubbing his front paws together saying 'I WILL be master of the universe...ahahaha')
 
Out of my 5 pigs only Drom really does this, if you give them all a piece of veg she's suddenly back at the cage bars begging for more while everyone else is munching theirs. She'll dash away, hide it and be back for more giving me the very best "starving face" she can muster :))

It's funny, I didn't realise other pigs did it too. She doesn't leave it that long before she'll eat her hidden spoils though, nothing is truly hidden with 4 other hungry monsters with keen noses around! :D
 
Maybe Errol is part hamster! Do you have any hammies he may have observed?

I have never seen a piggy do this, in my experience when they run off with food they gobble in in peace right then and don’t hide it for later. Errol you smart boy!
 
Squeakz said:
Maybe Errol is part hamster! Do you have any hammies he may have observed?

I have never seen a piggy do this, in my experience when they run off with food they gobble in in peace right then and don’t hide it for later. Errol you smart boy!
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No hamsters or any other pets for that matter - Errol seems to have worked it out on his own :)
 
Reenie said:
My three young boys always shared the one bowl of veg in the loft, which I put in first, then came down to the second bowl and shared it too, but I've noticed lately that Chicco is staying 'downstairs' when the first bowl goes in and waiting for me to put the second bowl in, so that he can have it all to himself, so there is some evidence in all our observations that guinea pigs are becoming cleverer, and planning......won't be long till they achieve world domination. (I have now given myself a mental picture of Chicco rubbing his front paws together saying 'I WILL be master of the universe...ahahaha')
Click to expand...

If my pigs achieved world domination, I get the feeling it would be like the movie Mega Mind. Errol would be Mega Mind himself and Binky would be that dim fish sidekick!
 
Hi, one of my boys does this. I feed them at the top, he'll drag whatever he likes down to the house, then goes up to eat. Don't blame him as his cage mate is greedy....
 
Mine don't hide food for later but Spike and or Peanut have a trick. They are having some pellets they don't like much at the moment. I have mixed them in with some they do like, they get an egg cup full in the bowl twice a day but if there are pellets left from the morning I don't give them more in the evening. They are hiding some of the pellets they don't like under the fleece, as it's the heavy vetbed type with rubber backing it has to be deliberate the pellets wouldn't just slide under there!
 
Mine burry veg they find particularly offensive. I gave them some butternut squash last night, couldn’t see any left this morning but fully expecting to find it under an inch of Aubiose when I clean them out!
 
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