Vibrating?

[Bingley]

Hi, we got our 3 month old baby girls from a rescue place last weekend. We've been slowly building up to regular cuddles and it seemed to be going quite well.

This morning I got them both out (one at a time) and both were vibrating. I've been googling and it seems that it could mean pleasure or fear. Both of them did it and it seemed such a coincidence that they both exhibited the behaviour for the first time on the same day!

I can't say for sure whether they were 'purring' or 'burring' but their teeth weren't chattering.
How on earth do I know? I put them back in after trying to calm them down but if they were loving it I should have kept them on my knee! CONFUSING piggies! Any info gratefully received. We have a C&C cage in our living room so they're pretty used to our company. Still skittish though.

 

[Wiebke]

Guinea pigs take several weeks to really settle fully into a new home. If they never had much in the way of human interaction before, it can take months in some cases to bring them round. As your girls are from a rescue, they are likely to be used to being handled and should come round much more quickly. You may find our tips at the top of the new owners section helpful.

The displeasure burr is usually very short and sharp; it is generally a reaction to a sudden sound or a specific action of yours (like stroking in a place or way they don't like; in that case often accompanied by a head butt against your hand).
The pleasure purr is more like a cat purr, softer and repeated in short bursts; the piggy in question is relaxed.
Guinea pig sounds can often be quite similar and need to be interpreted together with body language and situational context, which can be very confusing for new owners. But you will cotton on quickly enough as piggies are great communicators! Either way, it is a good sign that they are already speaking to you.

With members from all over the world, we find it very helpful in always giving you advice and recommendations that are appropriate for your part of the globe if you added your country, state or (for the UK) your county/city. Click on your username on the top bar, go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thanks!

 

[hattie.r]

Hi, we got our 3 month old baby girls from a rescue place last weekend. We've been slowly building up to regular cuddles and it seemed to be going quite well.

This morning I got them both out (one at a time) and both were vibrating. I've been googling and it seems that it could mean pleasure or fear. Both of them did it and it seemed such a coincidence that they both exhibited the behaviour for the first time on the same day!

I can't say for sure whether they were 'purring' or 'burring' but their teeth weren't chattering.
How on earth do I know? I put them back in after trying to calm them down but if they were loving it I should have kept them on my knee! CONFUSING piggies! Any info gratefully received. We have a C&C cage in our living room so they're pretty used to our company. Still skittish though.

My new piggies are exactly the same. They'll munch away on veg whilst sat on my lap, so I know they're relaxed, then start vibrating (not quite at the purring stage yet!) when I stroke them.

 

[Bingley]

Hmmm, so it's difficult to tell. Mine don't eat from my hands yet so I can't tell if it was relaxation or not. Funny that they were both doing it. I'd hate to think I was upsetting them. One of them let me stroke her in the cage once I put her back in which seems promising. Thanks for the advice! I'm going to try again soon

 

[Freela]

Take a look at the body language that goes along with it. And take a look at what you're doing that provokes the behavior. My experience tends to be that a 'purr' is a sign that they don't like what I'm doing. For instance, one of my pigs does not like being touched on her lower back. She will be perfectly content for me to pat her head, shoulder, chin, upper back, but should my hand stray to her lower back, I will get the 'Rrrrrrr' sound. Out of my pigs, the whistles/twittering noises seem to be the happy ones, and the purr seems to be the 'quit it!' sound, but I have heard of others who purr when happy, so it can be hard to tell. It will get easier as you learn their personalities a bit more.

 

[Freela]

Incidentally, one of my pigs will also 'Rrrrrr' at noises she finds threatening. She hates the sound of me dialing the phone... the buttons make a sound that she clearly doesn't like. I'm not sure if she thinks it's another angry guinea pig or what, but she never fails to make the angry noise at the phone!