Guinea Pig Pages - Introduction

Guinea Pig Behaviour

Guinea pigs are very timid by nature. In the wild they are preyed upon by carnivores, and so they have evolved to be highly cautious. Being largely defenceless (though they have sharp incisors), guinea pigs respond to danger by freezing or running away, rather than by fighting. This means they require careful and patient handling if they are to get used to your company. They have a keen sense of smell and reasonable eyesight, and can distinguish between humans they know and those who are strangers. This means they will eventually get to know you and become comfortable with being handled. One of our pets has developed a cute habit of turning around so that we can pick him up more easily; the other will even come when called, but that is rare!

Our guinea pigs get regular exercise out in the back garden, and they have learned to come home to the back door and wait to be picked up and popped back into the cage. Each guinea pig has its own disposition, however. We have heard from some owners whose well-loved pets try to run away from being picked up, even after a lot of handling. It's an instinctive reaction, so don't take it personally! If you persevere, most will learn to trust you.

Are they intelligent?
Guinea pigs have a different kind of intelligence than that of, say, a rat or a dog. Studies show that they have difficulty solving abstract problems; but they are strong associative learners -- which means they can learn to link up events quickly (eg, associating the sound of the 'fridge door with the imminent arrival of fresh vegetables!) They also have an excellent sense of geography, and will learn the locations of objects, and the paths between them, very quickly. This is a skill that guinea pigs rely on in the wild -- or in the garden, in the case of "free range" piggies. It allows them to memorise many alternate paths between their home base and their food sources, so as to outrun predators.

They also have complex social behaviours. In the open, guinea pigs will work together to evade predators or to achieve goals, such as reaching a food source. We have seen our piggies cooperate to bend down branches on a shrub whose leaves they want to nibble -- and we have also seen them trick each other out of food! When in exposed areas, such as grazing on the lawn, they will take turns watching out for each other. These are forms of intelligence that reflect the guinea pig's herbivorous nature and herding instincts. Sadly, this is a side of guinea pigs that many owners never see. When kept as single animals, guinea pigs tend to become bored and will huddle in one place for a long time. But when paired with a friend and given an interesting environment, guinea pigs show surprisingly complex behaviours.

Guinea pigs are never aggressive toward humans, and it is very rare for them to bite. Mature males are known to fight one another over territory or mates, however, and you need to keep this in mind when choosing pets. As a general rule, two females will get along better than two males. But we have have our two males together for years and they get along just fine.

Piggy 'language'
Like many herd animals, guinea pigs communicate mostly by sound, using a variety of rumbles, whines, 'oinks' and chattering sounds that you will quickly learn to interpret. They also use postures and movements to indicate their moods and intentions, including nudging and pushing, dancing, and leaping. When happy, guinea pigs will jump up vertically, 'popcorning' into the air (this seems to be a habit of many grassland animals, such as springbok for example).

This table summarises some of the common sounds and postures that guinea pigs use to communicate. You can use this as a rough guide to interpret your pet's behaviour, but be aware that different pigs can have very different temperaments!

BEHAVIOUR	MEANING	EXPLANATION
noisy 'shudder'	dislike, warning	Guinea pigs will make this sound to indicate that they don't like something. Our piggies respond this way to sudden or high pitched sounds such as a bird call, bell or electronic timer.
burbling	contentment	This is a kind of bubbling/cooing sound that piggies often make when trotting about exploring things, or when being petted. It may serve to help piggies keep in touch with each other's location.
'wheeking'	excitement, impatience attention	Short and frequent 'oinking' sounds are often made when you are too slow getting the food ready! Our piggies also tend to run back and forth, or sit up and beg. Very loud, shrill wheeking is a call of distress that piggies use to attract attention from humans or other guinea pigs. When one of ours makes this noise in the garden, the other will run to him immediately.
chattering	anger, threat	When a guinea pig is cross it will chatter its teeth - or grind them together when seriously annoyed. This serves as a warning to other piggies (and perhaps humans) that the piggy is not in a good mood. Males seem to use this sound to threaten before fighting.
rumbling dance	dominance display	A prolonged rumbling, with funny waddling dance, is a display of dominance. Males will do this to assert their place in the heirarchy. If the other party doesn't back down, this can signal a fight.
throwing things	bad temper?	Believe it or not, we have a piggy who throws things when he gets impatient. If the food is taking too long to arrive, he will bite his chewing stick and toss it backwards over his head. Not standard behaviour!
jumping	happiness, excitement	vertical jumping, 'popcorning,' or pronking seems to be a sign of happiness. It looks very odd, as the guinea pig will jump straight up, and may also twist in the air, to land facing the opposite way. Our piggies seem to do this as a kind of play when happy.

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