That Wheek Though

[Lorcan]

So every so often Blitzen decides he wants to wheek the place down for the hell of it. He popcorns everywhere at the same time, is as loud as he possibly can be, and generally body language wise he's playing, he's not upset. The problem is his wheek is a very shrill, very "urgent" sounding wheek.

Now I'm pretty sure the wheek and the body language just aren't adding up, but I'm terrified at this point one of the neighbours is going to hear him going off and think there's a major problem because I guess that's how it would sound if someone wasn't used to hearing them. I know there's nothing I can do to stop him wheeking, but if someone asks, does anyone have a good way of explaining this? Because I'm not very good at explaining things like that.

 

[Fweeper]

Just say that when he's happy, he likes to sing...and he's not that great at carrying a tune! Like a tone deaf, veggie obsessed bird ehehe

 

[Kylie80]

Lol I had both my piggies do this for hours about two weeks ago and everytime I moved or spoke they would start wheeking excitedly and loudly. I don't know what they were so excited about.

 

[Lorcan]

I have no idea what he's so excited about either. It might have something to do with the fact he generally shuts up when you give him hay...but then he starts again 5 minutes later. I have noticed he generally only does it if Comet isn't right there next to him and I half wonder if it's a "come here and play!" call.

If it is, it probably doesn't help that Comet generally ignores it

 

[Wiebke]

So every so often Blitzen decides he wants to wheek the place down for the hell of it. He popcorns everywhere at the same time, is as loud as he possibly can be, and generally body language wise he's playing, he's not upset. The problem is his wheek is a very shrill, very "urgent" sounding wheek.

Now I'm pretty sure the wheek and the body language just aren't adding up, but I'm terrified at this point one of the neighbours is going to hear him going off and think there's a major problem because I guess that's how it would sound if someone wasn't used to hearing them. I know there's nothing I can do to stop him wheeking, but if someone asks, does anyone have a good way of explaining this? Because I'm not very good at explaining things like that.

He is just a boy having what I call a "boarly moment" when voice and body kind of explode with sheer joy of living as if they cannot contain it any longer.

 

[Lorcan]

He is just a boy having what I call a "boarly moment" when voice and body kind of explode for sheer joy of living.

I actually really love watching him popcorn...even though he's bigger now his entire body just goes straight up with a head shake every time. And he is generally acting a lot happier recently, the last few months have clearly been stressful for him. Now the dominance challenge is becoming a bit more pronounced but I think that's to be expected now that he's found his groove.

I mean he's still silly. He tried to climb over a seagrass tunnel to get a seedhead from me this morning and apparently wasn't expecting it to roll out from underneath him.

 

[Wiebke]

I actually really love watching him popcorn...even though he's bigger now his entire body just goes straight up with a head shake every time. And he is generally acting a lot happier recently, the last few months have clearly been stressful for him. Now the dominance challenge is becoming a bit more pronounced but I think that's to be expected now that he's found his groove.

I mean he's still silly. He tried to climb over a seagrass tunnel to get a seedhead from me this morning and apparently wasn't expecting it to roll out from underneath him.

He is a typical teenager. They are the loudest. Some are more vocal than others.

This is the age when young guinea pigs are most vulnerable to get into scrapes and fall prey to danger or predators, so having audible update of what they are up to while the group is on the way in the grassland works kind of as an inbuilt baby alarm...
My Telyn had a literally ear splitting wheek during that time that left your ears rinning at dinner time... She was what I dub one of my "operatic divas".