Guinea Pigs Behaviours and Body Language: A brief introduction

 I have found that this is one of the more interesting topics when it comes to keeping your Guinea Pigs happy, Taming your Guinea Pigs, and generally understanding them. As always I do warn you that I am not a vet, I just do lost of research from many different sources, to make sure I get it right, and from my own understanding & knowledge. 

• Begging for food
  This usually happens when they're hungry, if you forgot to fill-up their food bowl, or if they're thinking that you might feed them. One instance of this is when my Guinea Pigs have Squeaked quite loudly whenever I open or close the fridge, mess around with a paper bag (because the Pellets I buy them comes in a paper bag), etc.
• Popcorning
  When a Guinea Pig is exited, they can hop up in the air, run around and quickly turn in another direction and jumping some more. This usually happens more in Guinea Pigs which are younger. One of my older Guinea Pigs (who's sadly not with us anymore) popcorned at the age of 7, which I'm quite surprised about, to this day.
• Running away and hiding when you try to pick them up
  This is a natural defence instinct, which of course needs you to be patient. When a Guinea Pig does this, they are not rejecting you, they're just not used to being picked up for one or more of the following: 
  
• Being picked up from above,
• It is first time that they're being picked up, and there are a lot more reasons than that short list!
• Running Laps
  This is normal for every Guinea Pig. As Guinea Pigs can't use excersice wheels, I make sure they have a open space for them to do this. Similar to how athletes run around a track, Guinea Pigs do this to burn off some steam.
• Sniffing
  They're just curious about something, or they're making sure that you are who your smell says you are! Or, they could be trying to find some more food, or wondering what's going on out there.
• Scent Markings
  This is how Guinea Pigs mark their territory and/or property. They'll rub their chins, cheeks and backside on those items/areas. They can sometimes do this on the sides of their cage which they usually are.
• Freezing
  When they're scared, or think they are in danger, they simply just freeze. This usually happens when an unusual sound (e.g. plate falling to the ground and breaking) or when it's startled, or uncertain about its surroundings. 
• Tossing/Pushing you away with their head/moving it up into the air
  This could be when they are annoyed with being petted on their head or in a different area (or even with tunnels and flipping them over - well it could be just my Guinea Pigs, who knows). Its a way of saying "Stop that human!". I would personally recommend to do what they say when they do that.
• Licking your hand (or only one specific person's hand)
  And here we go.... Some people think of it as a sight of affection by the Guinea Pig, but not always. Yes, this could be a sign that they are comfortable near you, but you could just have a bit of salt (from sweat) or if you were cutting up some veggies for them, you could have some of the juices from those Vegetables still on your hands.
  
• Fidgeting when being held
  In my personal experience, if I do nothing about this: I end up getting weed on (not nice). This can be interpreted as they guinea pig saying "I NEED THE LOO!".
• Teeth chattering
  If you hear this, you've most likely either scared your Guinea Pig, or done something that makes it angry. This behaviour is usually said to be a pattern of anger or being upset. 
  If it is directed at you, move away to respect its wishes so that it feels better.
• Nibbling
  When I got my recent two piggies (Nugget and Teddy), I had noticed a huge chunk missing from my hoodie. Within 2 minuets of noticing that, I got weed on. Usually this is a way for them to say "I need the loo, but not right this second", or its to say "take me back to my house". This can also be observed from younger Guinea Pigs who are testing their limits, and seeing if your clothing is food, or even your finger/s!
• Biting (owch)
  It can be quite rare, but not so unusual. There can be many different reasons that they could bite you, so it's quite hard to guess which one:
• It could be the result of an accident, e.g. if you were hand-feeding your pig which therefore your Guinea Pig may bit you thinking it was the food.
• If your Guinea Pig is upset, angry, defensive or even annoyed at you or someone else.
• A result of a skin problem such as mites, so holding, stroking or touching them could cause severe discomfort, therefore they'd try to do anything to stop that pain (in that case, see a vet as soon as you possibly can).
• Not closing its eyes
  This is normal in the sense that it is a natural defence instinct, so they can see a predator coming even when they are asleep. They only ever close it if they feel very, very relaxed and safe.
• Stretching
  A guinea pig normally will stretch out while yawning at the same exact time. It is quite a cute experience to watch and observe

11 Tips to keep your Guinea Pigs happy and Healthy

Guinea pigs are very sensitive to many different things such as the temperature, sounds, and more. I have decided to compile a few tips on 11 Tips to keep your Guinea Pigs happy and Healthy

1. Leads/Leashes are never a good idea as it can hurt a cavy’s spine and it restricts movement.
2. Hamster Wheels should never be used, and your Guinea Pigs wont look very cute when their spine isn’ in one piece. Guinea pigs don’t have the flexibility of a Hamster, therefore a wheel is just a waste of money.
3. Only having one guinea pig wont be much fun for you or the Guinea pig. They’re social animals and usually live in herds or pairs. When there’s only one of them, they’ll be lonely, and possibly become depressed.
4. Direct sunlight won’t help them much either. Long-haired Guinea Pigs are far more susceptible to heat-stroke as they have longer hair, but that doesn’t mean that if your Guinea Pig has short hair you can leave them in Direct Sunlight either. Piggies need to be kept at around 18 Degrees C.
5. Improper diets can make your piggies bellies rumble as they need a range of foods and nutrients. Burgers won’t do much good to your Guinea Pigs.
6. A small therefore unsuitable cage won’t benefit then too, as they cannot exercise or explore. This is another way for them to become depressed.
7. Not enough water or hay is highly dangerous as all animals need water, yet hay is needed (among other safe foods) to wear down their ever-growing teeth. If they don’t wear it down fast enough, Malocclusion may therefore be the result.
8. Wire-mesh cage flooring such as bare C&C cages, or any other for that matter could harm your Guinea Pig’s feet!
9. Not enough Vitamin C within the food they eat and/or their generic diet. They should be getting enough Vitamin C in their food. 
10. Artificial Food additives aren’t too great either as it could possibly be toxic! Especially if it is in their water, so avoid carbonated water (sparkling) and other such additions. For example, never add salt or Vitamin C as they should already be getting enough from their diet.
11. Rarely cleaning your Guinea Pig’s cage will firstly produce ewy smells, bacteria will also take over, mould will thrive, etc. So, I personally wouldn’t want to live in that situation.

Cleaning your Guinea Pig's Cage

Guinea Pigs need a clean, yet safe environment to live in. No matter what you use as a bedding material, you should always clean them with 3-4 days from the last clean, that's around once a week. There are some smells and odours which humans cannot smell which may be on an old, or refurbished cage which you should try to remove. This is usually when Guinea Pigs are trying to mark their territory, a bit like dogs but less urine involved.

You should consider what cleaning supplies you're going to be using. Trash bags, handheld broom and dustpan and a disinfectant (Note: Some disinfectants are harmful to Guinea pigs as it could contain chemicals which may either be poisonous or generally harmful, such as coniferous tree sap, which is a natural disinfectant which can harm Guinea Pig's respiratory systems).

Your Guinea pig's cage should be cleaned at the minimum: once a week. If you're using s fleeces, make sure to have backup fleeces and wash them every 2-3 days as they'll get quite smelly. On the other hand, if you're using wood-based bedding, make sure to clean it often as it may get soggy. If you have high-quality absorbent bedding, then most of the urine and smells should be in the bedding, therefore you can take out a dust pan and dump it all in a trash bag. Remember to put your guinea pigs somewhere safe and make sure they're okay every now and again.

Personally, I would usually clean out the bedding every week, then clean the other bits and bobs such as the bottomless tunnels and hiding-places, Water Bottles and Food Bowls every 2 weeks. 

When cleaning water bottles and food bowls, I would recommend boiling some water and putting it into the bowl & bottle/s to kill any potential bacteria. Never use disinfectant for food-related items as it can therefore harm your guinea pig's health. Don't give them the boiled water from the bottle, and make sure that it's fresh when you're ready to give it back to them

Recommended Disinfectants/Cleaners:

• 50/50 Water and Vinegar (make sure to rinse away the smell afterwards)
  
• Any small pet-safe disinfectant spray.

Further Notes

Make sure that once fully cleaning their cage is dry before putting your Guinea Pigs back in. This is because when something is wet, it has a higher possibility to grow mold and therefore harm your Guinea Pig.

Is a Guinea Pig the right pet for you?

The domestic cavy is the only species of guinea pig which can be kept as a pet, living for an average 5-8 years. Guinea pigs are sociable animals, thus its important and ethical if you keep then in groups of 2 or more. Just because it may be easy to look after Guinea Pigs, doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared. On the very exiting day which you take your furballs home, you'll most likely feel better knowing you're ready to give them the best life you possibly can.

Quick note about caring for Guinea Pigs

Guinea Pigs don't usually like loud noises, thus meaning that most people keep them outside in a hutch. However some people keep them indoors in an area which everyone within the household tries to keep as quiet as possible. You should get a cage, enclosure or hutch as big as you can. Don't buy small plastic cages as they can be far too small, and your Piggies will quickly become Depressed. They need a large area with shelter to hide from scary things or to relax. Make sure they cannot escape from their hutch, enclosure or cage! (See our post on cage size guidelines).

Guinea Pigs need plenty of Vitamin C and and lots of fibre, so make sure you keep an eye out for this in their food. You also need to ensure that they have fresh and easily accessible water and hay, as well has pellet food or equivalent. Don't buy or feed treats or food to Guinea Pigs until you know that it is safe for them to eat. There's a huge list of Dos and Don'ts with Guinea Pigs, for example don't buy salt licks as their food should already contain the salt that they need to survive. Too much salt can be very unhealthy and could possibly result in death.