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Behavior So much wheeking

Rayen

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So it's gotten to the point where wheeking is no longer a super cute noise. I will sit in my room and occasionally he'll just come out of his house and start wheeking. Like crazy. You can hear him throughout the house from within a closed room. I've never really encouraged it, or rewarded him for it, he has set feeding times (pellets in the morning, then vegetables in the early afternoon, then a pile of grass later on and finally the last helping of pellets at night with occasional restock of hay as needed). We go upstairs to make dinner he'll scream (vegetables come out of that kitchen!) we leave the house, he screams (grass totally comes from outside), we try to feed the rabbits/rats, he screams (not ever single container/scoop/bag is for you piggy!). He's only been with us for about a month, but he has learned all sorts of noises already.

I don't want to totally discourage it, but at the same time, it would be nice to go a solid hour sitting in my own room without a screaming pig staring in my general direction. Occasionally I'll go to try and pet him if he gets overly annoying (he doesn't like being pet/held) but that only seems to make him more shy of receiving hand-held treats (which is what I do when trying to get him to try new vegetables). I'll try to wait for him to calm down before giving him anything too, but by the time I've gotten up to give it to him he's started up again because of rattling containers/scoops/bags or because I've left the room to grab something (or just because he's seen/heard movement).

Is there anything I can do to lessen his screeching?
 

CavyMama

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Wheeking isn't only about food. Wheeking is a sound that guinea pigs use only with humans to tell us they need something. He might be wheeking because something startled him. He might be wheeking out of boredom and needs some stimulation. He might be wheeking because he just wants to know where you are. Adopting a same sex buddy for him might help. Guinea pigs use other sounds (not wheeking) to communicate with other pigs. So a buddy will be distracting enough to him so that he isn't constantly wheeking. Also, buddies are a good boredom buster.

One thing to keep in mind, make sure you have a big enough cage for 2 males. Males need a bit more space than females.
 

Inle_Rabbit

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He might calm down a bit after a while. He is still learning all the sounds and when they associate to him. My guys use to wheek every time the fridge opens now they only do it if it is near veggy time.
 

Varcoda

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i noticed you mention the pellets are given in the morning and night, i hope its a top-up and not a limited serving as he should get free access to it all day :)

i agree with Cavymama that the piggy might be wheeking because he's bored or lonely. Single piggies (if you absolutely cannot have another) need much more attention than a pair
 

CavyMama

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i noticed you mention the pellets are given in the morning and night, i hope its a top-up and not a limited serving as he should get free access to it all day :)

Keeping in mind that adult pigs should be limited to 1/8 cup of pellets daily. It's not a lot but gpigs don't need a lot of pellets. He should have free access to the pellets but not in unlimited quantities. When he finishes the 1/8 cup, he is done for the day. No need to add more.
 

Inle_Rabbit

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Guinea pigs should get most of their diet from hay and should have free access to hay 24/7.
 

aspecht

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I'd also suggest getting him a friend. Also, try seperating his veggies into two servings a day. Mine wheek all day unless I give them veggies in the morning too.
 

ShadeyPig

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When I am feeding I will make a tsk tsk sound right before I enter the room with the food. My 4 pigs have learned thst this is the only pre feed sound. I can chop veggies and unless I tsk tsk they dont wheek.
 

Rayen

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Thanks for the help!

I am in the process of getting him a friend now, so it shouldn't be too much longer that he's living on his own.

He is around a year old (the shelter didn't have an exact age, but he is fully grown) so he gets around 1/8 of a cup of pellets sort of spread out throughout the day (it takes him several hours to eat through the first half and he tends to get poo in the dish, so just to keep everything clean I separate his pellets into two meals) and he does have access to hay at all times.

I'll try separating the veggies into two meals, I'm sure he would actually prefer it that way. I find that it takes him quite a bit to get through the leafy bits at times and some of it does end up going to waste.
 

IllryiaRTBW

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Weaking is also about general attention, so it's possible that he feels lonely but guinea pigs do learn to associate the rustle of a plastic bag with hay or veggies and will shout in excitement. The good news is you can train them to stop this associate by changing where you keep the food, for example I've got a container that I collect a couple of days worth of grass in because it stops the association between the sound of the door opening and grass, my hay is also in a big plastic bin so again I avoid that association...eventually they learn that there isn't a reward (food) every tie they hear the noise. The psychological technique is Classical Conditioning.
 
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