Behavior Is it ok to have the tv on at night?

[ajrhodes]

My future guinea pigs will be in my bedroom, i sleep with the tv on and some times i turn it really low for me to sleep but most of the time its loud enough to hear in the hallway. Ive gotten used to sleeping with it on.
Im wanting to know if that will bother my future guinea pigs if i do fall sleep with it not turned down.(whitch i normaly do). I know they growl if its to loud but will it bother there sleep?

 

[2198lindsey]

I sleep with my TV on every night. Guinea pigs don't sleep all through the night. They do a lot like you see them do during the day: Sleep, eat, drink, sleep. Run, play, strut, sleep. Eat, sleep, play. Run, sleep eat.

Personally I haven't noticed that it bothers them at all, and seeing as it's on during the day when they sleep and I have quite a noisey 8 person household, I don't think it's a problem.

 

[emsillly]

no its fine i do the same thing - my piggies have slept in my room before and they are fine
i even find them watching tv!

 

[ajrhodes]

Oh ok. Thanks. Hopfully i get two playfull, tv and duran duran loving guinea pigs!!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Make sure they have some time when there is no TV noise. Perhaps during the day when you're gone.

 

[Aleks]

Make sure they have some time when there is no TV noise. Perhaps during the day when you're gone.

Is there a specific reason why? I have the tv on pretty much all day and at night and it never seems to bother George.. Can all of the noise stress them out or something?

 

[bpatters]

Truth be told, it's not ok for you to sleep with the lights or tv on. Google the effects of light on sleeping and you'll find that it can create all sorts of havoc with your body and mind.

 

[KatiesCavies]

Just make sure it's on Animal Planet Kidding! Honestly, I am with the PP who said you should turn it off at night. It isn't the best for you. Also, I don't know if both of you are young/not married, but if so, one day you may be with a partner who prefers dark & silence. NOT that you have to do whatever your partner wants to do, but it will be one more argument to have! To wean yourself from it, you could try a night light (or leave the door open and let hall light come in) and also play white noise. Get a white noise machine or find a white noise app/track if you have an ipod or leave the bathroom fan on (which is what I do).

 

[MissJean]

Truth be told, it's not ok for you to sleep with the lights or tv on. Google the effects of light on sleeping and you'll find that it can create all sorts of havoc with your body and mind.

I have mental issues and I either have to sleep with another person, or the lights have to be on with noise playing.

Some people cannot handle total silence and darkness when sleeping. I've been on medication and therapy for my problems to no avail.

 

[KatiesCavies]

Well then I'm sure your piggies will be fine and I wouldn't sweat it

 

[Carissa6729]

Just make sure it's on Animal Planet Kidding! Honestly, I am with the PP who said you should turn it off at night. It isn't the best for you. Also, I don't know if both of you are young/not married, but if so, one day you may be with a partner who prefers dark & silence. NOT that you have to do whatever your partner wants to do, but it will be one more argument to have! To wean yourself from it, you could try a night light (or leave the door open and let hall light come in) and also play white noise. Get a white noise machine or find a white noise app/track if you have an ipod or leave the bathroom fan on (which is what I do).

This is me. I can't stand having noise like a tv, radio or people talking when I'm trying to sleep. It drives me insane. I have to have dark and some sort of white noise, usually a fan going.

I've actually broke up with people who couldn't sleep in quiet that had to have tv/radio on and couldn't sleep another way, it just wasn't going to work out and I can't adjust and either could they. My brain focuses and tries to make out what is going on with the noise and to identify it and then I can't fall asleep. My SO now has to fall asleep to TV or he will be up all night but he falls asleep within minutes of watching something so I turn it off when he's asleep, my oldest is the same way. I think it has something to do with their ADHD, my youngest is like me and if he has something on he won't fall asleep.

Back to my guinea pigs though, my boys have the tv on above their cage in the living room not excessively loud and they are fine with it. It's not on 24/7 of course, but they don't seem bothered either way.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Guinea pigs have very sensitive hearing, as do some other pet animals. Noise from radios/tvs sounds different to them than to us. I keep a radio on in my rescue during the day, but at night I am sure the pigs appreciate the noise (and lights) turned off.

Even if you can't sleep without tv or radio on, try to allow your pigs some time during the day without it.

 

[KatiesCavies]

Or what about at the very least, a fleece blanket over their cage at night?

 

[KatiesCavies]

I would think a breathable fabric would be fine for just the night. People cover up birds at night, don't they?

 

[madelineelaine]

I sleep with total darkness and silence, but during the day I play my music while I go on the computer. It doesn't bother them. I think my pigs are starting to learn the lyrics

 

[YourSoJelly]

I go to bed with music and it's not really that quiet i might add. The pigs act normal. The music doesnt seem to affect them.

 

[Agrimony]

I honestly don't think it will bother them. I don't have music/tv on in the living room all the time but it is on a decent amount of time since my room mate and I work opposite schedules, so we are up and about in the living room and making noise at different times during the day/night. Truth be told they seem more comfortable when it is on assuming it's not very loud. I attribute the reason for this being that then the sudden noises from the hallway/upstairs apartment seem to startle them less when there is the other more constant noise around to muffle it. While I certainly wouldn't blare the tv or radio at them 24/7 having it as a low volume really should not bother them. If you notice it affecting them I'd then just quiet it down but I doubt you will have a problem with it.

And while it's irrelevent to my guinea pigs, since they aren't in my bedroom, I too sleep with a tv on, at low volume. I've read the reports about it, I can sleep without it, but it is just what I am used to and I am far more comfortable sleeping that way. To each their own.

 

[Chritazy]

Does your TV have a sleep timer? You could try doing that. We set ours for 2hrs when we go to bed.

 

[Paula]

I don't think I'd worry about it, unless perhaps if the TV is right next to the cage and blaring. Pigs get used to their surroundings and no matter how sensitive their hearing is, I don't think a TV or light on low overnight is going to hurt them. As has been mentioned, guinea pigs don't sleep all night like dogs do, they actually only sleep around 4 out of any 24 hour period, so I think it's a moot point.

 

[PrincessAngel]

I usually fall asleep with my TV on, but at night I always have the volume fairly low as I can't stand it loud. I also have 3 timers set, 1 turns my TV on at 6am, 1 turns my tv off if not used in 2hrs and the other turns my TV off at 12:30am. But basically if I am home the TV is on, it's a weird OCD thing that has to do with sound frequencies but I never have the TV very loud and when I play music I don't play it very loud either. My girls have never seemed bothered by the TV noise. And I normally don't have very many lights on (as I type all 3 light sources are on in my room!). I sleep usually in pitch black and only turn lights on as needed. I have 2 lamps and 1 ceiling light and prefer 1 or 2 of the lamps on.