Behavior Screaming Guinea Pig- PLEASE HELP!!!!

[HailTheH21]

How do I make my 3 month old guinea pig stop screaming?
So. I have 5 guinea pigs in total. 4 of them are full sized, and I received all of them from different people. I've only had piggy screaming problems with one of my past guinea pigs, who passed away in November, but his noises were definetley not as extreme as my new guy's. He is about 3 months old, and I bought him myself from Petco. I put him with the piggy who lost his brother (the noisy one) and they seem to be fine. (I got the baby 2 days after Christmas) about a week ago, the baby pig has started a thing where he screams. And non. Stop. I can't feed him so much food, because that's way too much! I give him and the others a little food when he starts screaming, but it doesn't keep him busy for long. When I take the other piggy out of the cage, he gets upset and screams. When I am sleeping in the middle of the night and I move in my sleep, I wake up to him screaming, and 2 of the others joining him. So I feed him. But he continues to wake me up at least once more. Please please PLEASE help me, I am losing sleep, and so are my other family members (that's how loud he is) I really need help. How do I make him quiet down?

 

[Fay]

Welcome to the forums What are you feeding them and how much of everything? How large are their cages? Does he scream when you touch him?

 

[HailTheH21]

I'm unsure if the last reply posted I'm still getting a hang of this website via cell phone. When he wakes me in the middle of the night I feed them all a medium size handful of hay. If it's about 5:00 a.m+ they receive their normal feed which is the dry food (1/4 cup per pig) the noisy pigs cage is a small/medium sized cage. When I first pick him up, he continues screaming louder but soon starts to quiet down but continues making little pecking squeaks.

 

[bpatters]

Well, your first problem is that they all need hay ALL the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Giving them a medium-sized handful of hay just won't cut it. In addition to the fact that they're not getting adequate nutrition if they don't have hay, you're running the risk of expensive dental bills. Hay is what keeps a guinea pig's molars ground down and its digestive tract moving normally.

Second, you should never limit food for a guinea pig. They're wired to need food moving through their guts at all times, or they'll develop painful, sometimes fatal, stomach ulcers, and/or bloat, which is a medical emergency that often results in death of the pig. They always need food. You can't just feed them a little bit at a time a couple of times a day. In addition to unlimited hay, they need 1/8 cup of pellets per pig per day, plus a cup or so of vegetables per pig. Red or green leaf lettuce and bell peppers should make up the largest portion of the vegetables you feed them.

Third, what exactly are you feeding them? What kind of hay? What kind of pellets? What vegetables and how many of each?

Fourth, what time of day do you feed them? Some people with pigs that are noisy at night feed them their main meal just as they are going to bed.

Why are you separating them? Pigs have to establish a dominance order when they are put with another pig, and they do it every time you put them together. So every time you separate them and put them back together, they have to start all over again. Just get a big enough cage for both of them, and leave them alone.

Last, either move the pigs out of your room, or buy yourself some silicone ear plugs. Both of those things will help you get some more sleep.

 

[HailTheH21]

First: When I put the amount of hay that I give them when they wake me up in the middle of the night, it is gone in minutes. I do also continue to feed them hay during the day. Their supply will get larger

Second: My baby is NOT separated from the pig I introduced to him. He is with him 24/7. Another cage I have consists of 2 females. And the last cage I have consists of one male. I do NOT put them together because every time I do , the boys picks on the girls (that's just common sense). The pig that I have is alone for a reason. I received him from someone, and he grew up alone. He does not play well with others.

Third: I limit the amount of food I feed them, because one of my guinea pigs is very obese, and THE VET told me I needed to feed them certain amounts of food. That specific guinea pig is on a diet now.

Fourth: I feed them the dry food with the chunks of goodies in it as the 1/4 a day each. For fruits and vegetables they get plenty from carrots to lettuce to oranges to celery you name it. They get fruits and vegetables EVERY SINGLE DAY at LEAST 3 times a day.

Last: I can not move them out of my room, for I have 3 amazing cats who would love to eat him and my room is the only place for them to stay. Mt mother is purchasing me ear buds.

 

[Fay]

Pretty much everything bpatters said. They need unlimited hay and water at all times plus a portion of vegetables and a smaller amount of pellets. What kind/brand of pellets are you giving them? Here is a handy veggie chart you can print out to see what to feed them and how much (scroll down to the second post below the chart for more details):

https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List

Here are a couple of guides I'd recommend reading fully:

https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/medical_guide.html

About the removing pigs and putting them back together:

https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html

It also sounds like the cage is probably too small, is it a petstore cage? Most of them are and it will cause fighting and other issues if it is. Your pigs will be happier and healthier with an appropriate sized cage which you can build yourself with coroplast and grids or alternative materials. Check the MAIN tab at the top of the page for recommended dimensions, male pigs will need an additional grid added as they tend to do better with more space. Do remember you'll want to do a fully introduction session as explained in the livejournal post before putting them in a new cage. I also assume they're all male? having 5 males living together might be a bit tough to pull off I'd separate them into two cages one with 3 males and one with 2 males depending on which get along best.

I know this is a lot of information to take in but your pigs will be grateful for any improvements you make and you might end up getting a better nights rest Good luck and feel free to ask any questions!

 

[peachyteen]

what brand of pellets are you feeding? the only ones recommended are either Oxbow or KMS. "chunks of goodies" usually means a lot of sugar or seeds/nuts and neither of those are good for your piggies.

Also, it is recommended to give each pig 1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons per pig, not 1/4 cup. This could be why your pig is overweight. A lot of veggies or hay won't make a pig overweight but the pellets can contribute to it.

 

[HailTheH21]

I'm unsure where the idea that I separate the baby from his new partner came from? I don't. He's with him 24/7. The cage might be small for him, but the older pig did grow up with his brother in that cage, and they were both full size when I got them. I have 2 girl guinea pigs, that's why they're separated. I don't like it when my males pick on them because they are trying to mate. My other cage has one male, and the reason for that is because that is how I got the pig from someone at school. He grew up alone, and doesn't work well with my other boys. I have another cage that is empty and bigger and I'll try it out. I will start giving them more hay, and limiting the pellets. I'm afraid the others will end up like one of my girls who is very obese, and on a diet. I still don't understand how this is going to make him stop screaming at me, but I will give it a try.

 

[Fay]

Just posted the above post before I saw your response. Unless your males are neutered don't place them with the girls as they will become pregnant which is really hard on a sow. In regards to the loner pig, have you tried following the introduction routine tricks I posted above?

As for the overweight guinea pig he'll need a bigger cage to be able to run around in more and help him lose weight as well as a healthier diet. The pellets should be plain pellets, the chunks are bad for them and if there's seeds in them they can choke on them. Here's a page that explains how to tell which kind of pellets are good, the best/recommended ones are KMS hayloft and Oxbow which are the brands that most people feed their pigs on these forums:

https://www.guinealynx.info/pellets.html

Make sure they never run out of hay, they literally need it 24/7 and it won't make them overweight. 1/4 cup is too many pellets and the pellets are probably the cause for the weight problems (in addition to potentially lack of space) as pellets with chunks in them tend to be really poor, they're like junk food for guinea pigs which might be why your one pig is addicted to them - It's not good for them. It's good that you're giving them fruit and vegetables just make sure to limit the fruit and increase the variety of vegetables. It's best to restrict the amount of oranges and citric fruits if you can help it. As for lettuce, what kind? Just have a look at that vegetable chart it's soooo helpful it tells you exactly how much of what you can feed them and when. The second post beneath it mentions things you don't want to feed them. Hope this helps

 

[HailTheH21]

Thank you. I will change their pellet food and decrease the amount they are taking. I just stocked up their cages with hay so they should be good for a bit. I don't understand how to keep up with the hay especially when I'm in school because they eat it really really fast. And one of my girls is the obese one. I have put them together several times and they're too old to get pregnant. Thanks for your help.

 

[Fay]

Just to explain why this would help with the screaming, it could potentially be uncomfortable for a guinea pig to have no food going through it's gut (like bpatters explained with the potential medical problems attached to non-eating) but mainly I think what it is is that the pellets you're giving them are probably like junk food and you're feeding them too much of it. You know how some people get carried away with junk food and constantly want to get more? That's kind of what might be happening with your pigs. Putting them on a healthy diet might make them complain for a while but it would give them better nutrition and might make them feel fuller and eventually they'll adjust. Just like junk food is all sugars and fats and doesn't truly give your body the nutrition it craves and so it just wants more, this could be the same thing happening with your pigs. The lack of space might also mean they are bored, more space could help them run around and get the energy out of their system and the exercise could help them lose some weight as well. If you are planning to look into building them a C & C style cage, you'd be able to make a big hay rack using spare grids so you can put a lot more hay in there. Something like this:



Check the PHOTOS tab at the top of the page for further ideas. You can find coroplast and grids in various places, sometimes for much cheaper than a petstore cage, check https://www.guineapigzone.com/ for places that potentially sell grids and coroplast near you. For the girls you'll want a 2x4 grid cage, for your two boys a 2x5. You could consider neutering your loner male and placing him with your girls and make a stacked 2x5 cage. Neutering does carry it's risks but male pigs tend to get along better with female pigs so it might be worth a shot.

 

[HailTheH21]

Thank you for your help, I will begin to make these changes, and look into building a play area.

 

[SardonicSmile]

Someone with more knowledge please correct me if I am wrong, but piggies are never too old to have babies in the sense like humans go through menopause and that's it for having babies right?

At a certain age it is very unhealthy and dangerous for piggies to get pregnant but they still can?

just need to clarify because the topic starter claimed her ladies are too old to get pregnant and sometimes puts her males in with the females.

 

[pinky]

The males might be vocal because they're trying to get to the females. If the cages are close, I'd separate them so they're not near one another. Definitely do not mix the males and females, even for a short amount of time.

 

[Soecara]

Someone with more knowledge please correct me if I am wrong, but piggies are never too old to have babies in the sense like humans go through menopause and that's it for having babies right?

At a certain age it is very unhealthy and dangerous for piggies to get pregnant but they still can?

just need to clarify because the topic starter claimed her ladies are too old to get pregnant and sometimes puts her males in with the females.

No guinea pigs are never too old to fall pregnant as far as we know.

The most common complication to arise with older sows occurs because after 7/8 months of age the ligaments in their pelvis stiffen if they have never birthed before. Which means if they fall pregnant for the first time after this age there is a high risk that their pelvic bones will not separate fully (due to the stiffened ligaments) which greatly increases the risk of them experiencing the complication labour dystocia. Older sows can still birth safely for the first time if the pups are small, but if there is a large pup in the litter the pup may get stuck in the pelvis, this is a very serious complication which often has fatal results for both the sow and all pups still within her. Even younger sows can suffer from this complication if the pup is too big but it does happen less often as the pelvic ligaments can stretch further. Larger pups are more common with smaller litters, but even in large litters there is a chance that there will be one super sized pup.

Most complications (prolapse, miscarriage, pregnancy toxemia, excessive bleeding, labour dystocia etc.) can also happen regardless of age but older sows do carry inherently higher risks of experiencing them, which continue to increase as the guinea pig ages further.

 

[HailTheH21]

I did read somewhere that there is an age where they can't get pregnant. My bad. And regardless of whether or not they can get pregnant, I don't put them with the males often, maybe once a month, and when I do I don't let the males mount the girls. I supervise them the entire time.

 

[magicpiggie]

Pregnancy can happen in seconds. You could sneeze and miss it. Not to mention that it is stressful for pigs to be repeatedly put together and separated. They are wired to establish dominance every time they meet so it is too stressful for them to be put together just to be seperated again.

This is a pro adoption, anti pet store, anti breeding site. The members here strongly oppose breeding, so if you want to talk about breeding, or if you decide to breed, be prepared to not be welcomed into warm arms.

 

[HailTheH21]

I'm not breeding? When did I ever say I was? I literally just said I put them together like once a month. I won't anymore because I didn't know they could get pregnant still. I READ INFORMATION THAT WAS NOT TRUE AND I'M SORRY.

 

[magicpiggie]

You said that you put the males and females together. That seemed like you were trying to breed them, as in your previous posts you said that you had put the males and females together, but the ladies were too old to get pregnant.

By saying that, I decifered that you had tried to breed them, but failed, since your girls were not in heat, which is the only time they can get pregnant.

However, if you were a breeder, there are certain rules and restrictions that would be applied to you. I just wanted you to be aware of that.

 

[HailTheH21]

No... I never meant that I put them together in the same CAGE, I mean on my bed with things surrounding the bed so they wouldn't fall off, with me sitting on the bed playing with them and making sure the guys aren't trying to do anything with the girls. If I'm on this site asking why is my guinea pig screaming and that I need help, do you think I'd have the first clue as to how to even breed them? I'm not entirely stupid, I just want all of them to get along and meet each other.