Why does my Guinea Pig do that?

There are a many reasons that Guinea Pigs make noises, including being hungry, angry, happy or contented.  How can you tell one noise from another? Here are a few tips which may help to identify the different sounds that your Pet may make. 

Guinea pigs are very vocal creatures and ‘wheezing’ is a classic ‘piggy’  high pitched squeaking sound. This noise represents the Guinea Pig craving attention, most probably because they think that food may be about to arrive, possibly because they have heard a sound that they associate with food, often the rustling of food packaging.

Teeth clacking is the noise that a guinea pig makes by grinding its teeth together. The Guinea Pig does this as a warning sound. He/she is trying to tell you that they feel threatened and are not happy. Teeth clacking is a pre-cursor to a possible attack. Guinea pigs make this noise to both other animals and humans. If you hear the clacking, it is probably best to back off, or you may need to separate pigs that share the same cage. Guinea Pigs rarely bite humans, but it is better to remove the stress from your Pet.

Guinea Pigs are very sociable and vocal animals. They will often make an array of different sounds to each other which convey different meanings. For example, one animal may make a high pitched squeak towards another. This is a sign that he/she is upset and not happy. They can also make purring noises to each other. Low level purring suggests that they are happy and comfortable in each other’s company. However a louder purring and staccato body movements may indicate a problem between them.