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Chirping - what does it mean?

John4216

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I have been unable to find a solid answer on what it means when my pigs chirp. When I say chirp I mean it sounds like a bird is in the room with them. I have only heard them do this twice and both have been at night.

So I am hoping someone on here might know what it means when they do this. As far as I can tell there is nothing out of the ordinary going on in their environment when it happens.
 

staphjermz

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Hi there, i have heard my guinea pigs chirp at night time maybe only two or three times. I am not too sure why they chirp. My guinea pig chirped while there was no danger around. I have read from books that people are not sure why they chirp. Neither do i O_O
 

Sugar

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Hello,

Sugar chirps quite a bit, its a lovley sound but I have no idea what it means. Is it just standard chatter maybe?
 

clotho

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Guinea Lynx :: Behavior If you scroll down a bit on this page, you will see a section on chirping with sound clips you can play.

I don't think Sugar is chirping - try listening to the clips and you'll see it is very different. One of my piggies is a chirper - not sure which one since I have 8 and it happens in the dead of night. No one really knows for sure why they do it.

John you are lucky you have a pig who chirps. There are lots of people who own many guinea pigs and never get to hear it.
 

John4216

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Thank you Clotho. I have 7 pigs and since this only happens, so far, around 2:00-4:00am I am not sure which one is doing it. And every time I walk in to see, the chirp stops. Then about 5-10 minutes after I leave it starts back again. It does not seem to be something that is negative or caused by alarm or distress so I will just enjoy it and continue to check them when they do it just in case.
 

clotho

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The three times mine has done it (I have to assume it's the same pig each time - it's too much to think there could be two chirpers in my house) it's been around 2-4 am as well and it's quite eerie to be woken up by it. The first time it took me a good 5 min to realize just what it was!!! Then I was excited, but as soon as I got out of bed to go investigate, it stopped. The last two times happened two nights in a row, around the same time as well. I wish I knew who it was!!! It's a piggie mystery that may never be solved, but I assume that everything in the animal kingdom happens for a purpose.

Does anyone know if solitary piggies ever chirp or if it's only when they are in a group that it happens?
 

Ly&Pigs

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I have two chirpers, Chatty and CoCo. But they don't just chirp in the middle of the night. They've done it in the middle of the afternoon and in the evenings. They're calling the mothership.
 

_Luck_

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Elmo's been my only chirper waking me up at 1 a.m. One night, but he hasn't done it since.
It was just a normal night, no obvious danger, no movement from me (until I stormed out of the room to sleep on the sofa, it was so loud).
Izzy and Squee just stood watching in their pigloos, no joining in. He was standing in the middle of the cage, standing straight up like when he's flirting with the girlpigs.
I always figured it's one of those things passed down from when cavies were a wild, bloodthirsty race (or something like that) and it was a communication kind of thing, like saying, "EVERYONE GOOD? ...HELLO? ...ANYONE THERE?"
Contacting the mothership works too though...haha!
 

Melissa82

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I just put Vitalis away after cuddling him and now he is chirping! lol
 

webjetter

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Do your chirpers make any other unusual noises on occasion?
 

Ly&Pigs

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Actual chirping is unlike any other noise ever heard from a cavy. I think it's like the purring. Most people hear piggie conversational noises and think they are hearing chirping when they aren't.

With real chirping the pig often seems like it's in a trance, the chirping is high pitched and sounds just like a bird. Other pigs will sit frozen in their spots while the one pig is chirping.
 

Luvmyboarz

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My boar Sunny is a chirper. He last did it in April @ 4:20 am. I wish he would do it more often,altho' its little eerie to hear a mammal sounding like a bird! I was able to observe him the first time he did it: his sides were going in and out like a bellows,but faster, and he had this kind of glazed look in his eye. When he stopped, his expression looked like, "Where am I?" His cagemate Midnite just lay in their house,ignoring him.
 

aqh88

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If you hear a chirp you won't know it's a guinea pig until you've ruled out all other possibly sources. It doesn't sound like a noise that could come from a pig.

Why do you guinea pigs chirp? Nobody knows. Sometimes they chirp when it seems like they should be scared, sometimes they chirp when it seems like they should be in pain, sometimes they chirp when it looks like they should be happy or content, sometimes they chrip when they could be lonely..... Pregnant guinea pigs have been known to occasionally chirp right before or during birth. None of it ever adds up. For every guinea pig that chirped when it was happy there's 1 that chirped when it wasn't. Nobody has ever found a common trigger that causes them to chirp especially since it's such a rare sound. Only a few pigs chirp and usually not very frequently so that makes it extra hard to study.
 

webjetter

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Do chirpers also hoot?
 

ellenvega

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You'll definetly know the difference between chirping and other guinea pig sounds when you hear it! Only one of my girls has ever chirped.

A guinea pig that's regularly making hooting sounds should be examined by a vet. It has to do with their breathing I think, and has been linked to heart issues.
 

marinecavy

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I have a single cavy and he chirps often. However he is rarely active at night. I usually hear his chirps as soon as I walk out of the room and out of sight. Maybe it is some sort of lonely call.
 

clotho

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marinecavy have you gone and listened to the sound clips of guinea pigs chirping? I think you will find it's a MUCH different sound than the normal chatter you are describing.
 

HiMyNameIsAmy

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I'm pretty much an expert on chirping haha.

I've heard chirping 5 times, and i haven't even had my guinea pigs a year. The first 3 times it was a normal night, (well, it was evening, but whatever) and i was sitting downstairs with my parents when all of the sudden i heard chirping. I was thrilled. We heard it 3 times that night. After the 3rd time, my dad decided that there must be some sort of dangerous crisis upstairs, and demanded that i bring Pepper (the one we suspected of chirping) downstairs. She was fine, btw. Just a bit confused, since she had never been in the living room before.

The second (well, fourth) time was the day that Shadow (my other piggie) died. It was 3:00am, and Pepper just started chirping. It wasn't a good chirp though. The whole thing just didn't feel right. Grim, i suppose you could say. Shadow died the next day, but when i woke up i found her lying on her side in a corner, barely alive. I think Pepper was saying goodbye. Pepper absolutely adored her.

The third time was just a normal day, it was 1:00am when i heard her. I tried to see, but she stopped whenever she saw me move. There was no reason for her to feel any different than she would on any other day.

I also think Simi, the piggie i got after Shadow died, has tried Chirping but can't do it. She always does it when there are birds chirping outside. It sounds like a broken chirp, like her voice isn't suited for it. It doesn't sound good eitherl. Like, it doesnt sound healthy. But she's been to the vet, and she's in perfect health.
 
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