Strange Noise

[Slave to the Rose]

My little Rose has developed a strange sound. Sometimes when sitting still in her cage or on my lap she will make a sound that sounds like she is grinding her teeth together. I checked through all the 'pig sounds and their meanings' but didn't find a thing like it.

At the vet they said her teeth were the best they had seen in a long time...Any ideas?

 

[cavywhisperer]

Well, my piggies do that, too. I do not really know what it means, but it seems to me, it is a way to say: "Hmmmm, I could do with some parsley now." or "Ok, this feels allright here, let me have a little plus and dream about some nice pieces of cucumber." or "yuk, it doesn't smell very pleasant here! Human, please, put me back in my cage. I want to smell some nice hay and have a nibble." or "Allright. No danger in sight. I will relax now."

I always think, the piggies have quite a "sophisticated" language. Purring does not mean the same all the time, as well as they have different ways of grinding their teath, different ways of wheeking and cooing etc. I never found a site where they really differenciate ALL the sounds a piggy makes.

Also, I think you have to be aware of the combination of sounds and behaviour in order to understand them.
Mine also grind their teeth when I myself eat some cucumber while working. They'll come to the edge of their cage, look at me expectingly and grind their teeth. If I do not react and share my cucumber, they will start to wheek vehemently.

 

[Guill713]

My girls make the same noise almost constantly. Usually when they are running around the cage in circles together, or popcorning out of control. Right now, at 7:33am, I put a few big handfulls of new hay and they went nuts. One of them popcorns with such force she knocks things over, hay bins, water bottles, she's even opened her door once.

When I listen closely to the noise, I can tell that each one is slightly different than the other. At first I thought it was a sneeze, but is have more of a siscor cutting through paper sound.

Woops, need to put more hay now, they're about finished it already... :eye-poppi

 

[Terekins]

I've noticed this too. My Oda does this a lot, and when you look at his mouth while he's doing it, it looks like he's chewing gum.

 

[webjetter]

My 2 piggies do a rapid teeth grinding during lap time, usually after about 20 minutes or so. The rambunctious one (P.J.) does it with a wild look in her eye every night during lap time and Chestnut does it almost every time. I'm thinking it means "Put me back in my cage now cuz I need to chew something." But I could be wrong since the Piggonese language is so complicated. :melodrama