Mute guinea pig?

[evilnumberlady]

I just rescued a couple of guinea pigs who were being treated poorly by their previous owner. I named the older one Eli (~4 years) and the younger one Samuel (~3 years) They are both so sweet, and they get along really well (You will understand how much that means to me if you read about my issues with Saul and David)

I've had them for about two weeks now and I've never heard Samuel "say" anything, not even once. I've heard him make some mumbling noises when he's eating (which I've noticed with the other guinea pigs as well) and he has teeth chattered a few times. Eli runs around rumbling, wheeking and carrying on constantly, so I don't think it necessarily had anything to do with how they were treated before. Samuel is very timid, so I thought maybe it's just because he doesn't feel comfortable here yet. I've also toyed with the idea that he might be deaf and/or mute.

Does anyone have thoughts on the matter?

[lilpiggy12]

Have you asked the vet yet?
He might just be shy.
I have 4 guinea pigs now and my first one
was very shy.I didnt know until after I took
her to the vet because I thought she was deaf or (mute).
They said she wasnt deaf so I decided she was shy!

[PiggieMom]

He could just be a very shy piggie. You could try making a loud noise in a room he's in and see if he reacts to it. Other than that I can't think of a way to test if he's deaf.

[lauren]

My Timmy doesn't say anything, never has. When Cosmo came along, we learned just how vocal a piggie can be. But now Cosmo doesn't talk (or scream) either. They're happy little guys. I figure they just don't have anything to say.

[wheeker]

My piggie is a lot quieter now that I have a two of them. Well if one starts wheeking then the other one will joing in and be like OHH whats going on!! Try and see if they react to a plastic bag crumpling. No piggie can resist that.

[Whit23ney]

My Pepper is like that. I know he's not deaf or mute cause when the other pigs start wheeking he perks up to see what's going on. Also, the times I've actually heard him wheek was when he got his ivermectin shots. Apparently they hurt him.
Other than that, he never ever makes any noise. He's also the most timid of all of the piggies. He was abused by Duncan when they lived in the same level together, so maybe he's just timid now. (Duncan was very mean to him, always biting him, chasing him, and rumblestrutting....we had to seperate them when it got so bad that Pepper started losing weight because Duncan wouldn't let him eat or drink, even though we had two of everything in their 2X5!!!) Pepper regained his weight once on his own level. He had ended up losing 6 ounces!
Anywho, I have to figure some pigs are just more vocal than others. Maybe Pepper just doesn't have anything to say....he's a loner.

[fourbwabbys]

Hmm, I posted something before but I guess it didn't come up. I have a deaf pig, Eddie, and oh my god does he ever squeak. His squeak is ear piercing, so that's out of the question for your pig. My guess is that he's either just coming around and needs a little more time to get used to everything, or he's just not much of a talker. Tarzan and Trixie will do a little whimper squeak during food time, while everyone else screams at the top of their lungs. It might just depend on the pig.

[evilnumberlady]

Well, after giving him awhile longer, I'm almost completely sure that Samuel is deaf. My boyfriend and I will make loud noises during lap time, and he doesn't react at all. While in the cage, he doesn't react the same way as Eli unless he's out of his house (and therefore watching Eli)

In addition, he seems totally unphased by the vacuum while the other guinea pigs run from it in terror.

And he's always sniffing. Every time I put my hand in front of him he puts his nose right up to it and sniff-sniff-sniff He does the same with anything new in the cage. He sometimes even does it for no apparent reason at all. I've noticed the other guineas sniffing things too, most notably food. But not nearly as much as Samuel does.

It doesn't seem to be affecting his quality of life, though. I'll be sure to ask next time he's at the vet.