Vacuuming and Guinea Pigs

[soccermama]

Okay, so I might just win the award for the silliest question ever, but my daughter and I are wondering...

Today we've GOT to vacuum downstairs. I've put it off a couple of days so Theo could get used to his surroundings (we just got him on Saturday) but now, the downstairs needs vacuumed, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Will vacuuming throw Theo into a tizzy? My daughter (10.5 years old) isn't quite confident enough to "be in charge" of Theo on her own, while say I vacuum downstairs and she's upstairs.

Any suggestions? Hopefully someone will see this soon as I'd like to get the floor done before hubby comes home from work!

Thanks in advance!

[pout_princess]

My guinea pig is usually a bit freaked out when the vacume is on but usually only when it first comes on. Once it's on for a while she gets used to the noise.

You cant put off vacuming forever. There has to be a first time you vacume. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Maybe just check on your piggy when it first comes on. Cheak she's not to freaked out and maybe give her some veggies to distract her.

Hope everything goes well.

[MissGinger]

Ginger is Weird,She Popcorn's when i vacum
But she also Weeek's to Music So i think shes just weird.

Give it a try, turn it on if he freak's out turn it off.

[soccermama]

Thank you for the reassurance. I knew GP owners weren't ALL *not* vacuuming their homes. My daughter was worried about him though, so I told her I'd post here. She thanks you, too.

So I've since vacuumed (Theo scampered away into his tube) and all is well. He's happily transfixed on the hay again (as usual.)

Thanks again!

[Raisintosser]

I use a dust buster on the fleece in my piggies' cage. They know when its time and run up to the loft and watch me vacuum the lower level. When they come down the ramp after it's all done they popcorn or do laps around the hut. My one pig Gizmo sometimes needs a little push to go up the ramp because she'll come over to the vacuum trying to smell it, even when it's on!

[steve_and_pigs]

That's funny. I have a piggie that will come up to the running vacuum too. She will also hop around like a maniac, and do zoomies. I think she is nuts or something I like to think she is happy because she knows the cage is being cleaned.

[Pandora4co]

My piggies love the vacume! When I go to vacume their fleece, as soon as I turn it on they start wheeking and popcorning. Most of the time I'm petrified I'm going to suck them up with it, because they run right up to the nozel and try to stick their face it it!

[PigWooBus]

I get mixed reactions from mine. Once, when Piglet was a baby (he used to live with my sister at college until I "adopted" him from her) he was home on a break and he had been out playing on the floor and we would put a bath mat out under his cage... and it was getting dirty, so my mom went to vacuum it and he was still out playing on the floor... and he walked right up to the vacuum to sniff it! We turned it off because we were scared he would get hurt. He has never seemed to mind. I vacuum in the room their cages are in now a lot, because hay always seems to be all over the floor, and he couldn't care less. If he's flopped on the pillow, he usually doesn't even pick his head up to check out what's going on. Woodstock, on the other hand... has me very confused. He will go running around like crazy and popcorn all over but at the same time he seems a little scared. And sometimes I smell them (either Woodstock or Buster) will kind of let off a stink... like really they are peeved that I am vacuuming and are warning me to stay away.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

Remember- the guinea pig is a part of YOUR world, not the other way around! He needs to get used to the usual sounds of the house.

I used to have a pig who came from my parents house where there were three boys and the pig lived in the living room. She was the most laid-back pig- NOTHING phased her because she had lived through wrestling matches, fist fights, superbowls on TV, etc. So I think it's nice for pigs to be desensitized to typical noise like vaccuming.

The only thing I truly try not to do near the pigs is sneeze because appearantly it's a signal that a tsunami is about to hit judging by the way they tear off into their pigloos

[piggerz]

My boys don't seem to mind the vacuum too much. When it first goes on, they will perk up a bit, and listen to it, but then they go about their business. When it gets close to their cage, they seem to stick their noses up in the air as if trying to figure out where the noise is coming from. I agree that they are part of our world and they need to get used to some noise. My tv is on quite a bit, so they don't mind that or music. It's when things are quiet, and I'm at the computer, and move suddenly that they freak out.

[OSUCavies]

My younger pig Maisy popcorns like CRAZY when I vacuum.

The rest of them run up to it and stick their nose near the nozzle.


They seem pretty unafraid of the vac.


Therefore, I usually don't take them out when I vacuum unless one of them appears to be scared or stressed.

[gpigluver14]

My piggy's afraid of the vacuum. I usually give her floor time while I vacuum her cage but sometimes I leave her in. She just runs in her hidy as soon as I turn it on usually. But when my vacuum starts to die (it's cordless) she sometimes popcorns around her cage; I guess because she doesn't mind it when it's quieter?

[Moon00]

My piggy doesn't mind the vacuum at all. When he was younger he used to be rather scared of it and would take off into his pigloo whenever he heard it. After awhile he started getting use to it though, so now he acts as if nothing is going on at all. He'll just look up for a few seconds then go back to whatever he was doing before.