Guinea Pig Grooming Cuteness

There's nothing cuter than guinea pigs grooming themselves. Well, except for yawning guinea pigs. Maybe sleeping guinea pigs. And we can't forget about baby guinea pigs. But those are topics for another time.

7 Tips for Bonding With Your Guinea Pig

 

Bringing home a guinea pig for the first time is always exciting. That fluff! Those floppy ears! And he makes such cute noises!

The excitement dies down a bit after the piggy parent observes that the newest addition to their family has spent most of the day in hiding. From there, the questions begin. "How do I bond with my guinea pig? How do I get her to trust me? It's been three weeks, why is he still scared of me?"

Ask Alice: Is It Too Late To Get A Second Guinea Pig?

Answering your guinea pig care questions.

"I was given my Lola back in October and I absolutely love her. I was told she is about 4 years old. 

Can I bring in another baby/young guinea pig to keep her company?"

-Tennille

Hi Tennille,

It's never too late to introduce a single pig to a new friend. In fact, many older pigs respond more positively to a younger companion - with their smaller size, an established pig is less likely to view the newcomer as competition or as a potential threat to their social standing. Of course, that's not to say that pigs of similar age or size won't get along. Like people, bonding depends more on the individual pigs and their personalities. You never know who may hit it off.

Ask Alice: One Guinea Pig or Two?

Answering your guinea pig care questions.

"I would like your opinion on owning just one guinea pig. I have lots of time to spend with the little fella, but I don't know if I could afford to have two."

-Nikki

Hi Nikki,

For us humans, the saying goes that two's company but three's a crowd. When it comes to guinea pigs the adage changes - two's company but three's a herd. The short answer is: guinea pigs truly benefit from having a cage mate so I'd certainly encourage you to adopt two cavies instead of one if you can manage it!

Guinea Pig Speak: Ready to Go

As you get to know your pig's personality, you'll learn that each cavy has their own method of communicating. One time it pays to be attentive is during cuddle time - all the better to avoid a wet lap. My girls use a few common signals to get their point across when they're ready to go home.

For the Love of Pellets

Likely as a side effect of having their timothy pellets rationed, the girls all love getting breakfast pellets. Having an unlimited hay bar is great and all, but hey... as the pigs believe, the more food the merrier.

Piggy Chin Pettage

Piggy chins. Chubby and covered with velvety fur, it is difficult to resist petting them. Naturally though, not every guinea pig is a fan of this whimsy and each has a different method of expressing their opinions.

Revy's Sensitive Nose

As a pig with a voracious appetite, Revy loves eating different foods - but doesn't always appreciate how they smell. 

Upon being presented with certain snacks she will rear back and make comical faces to convey her disgust for the accompanying aroma. The list of foods with scents that offend Revy include basil, cilantro, banana, and of course, orange. Though her sensitive nose certainly doesn't stop her from devouring them.

Truffle the Tiny Terror

In the piggy social hierarchy rules, mealtimes are often a no holds barred free-for-all. But pigloo residency? That's another story.

Guinea Pig Sounds: Purring

Similar to cats, some guinea pigs purr when they are pleased or content. You may hear this vocalization from your cavy when they are being petted or during cuddle time. Some pigs will also purr after being given one of their favorite foods.

Nose to nose

Revy and Poof in a game of Abby vs. Abby

Since Poof, Truffle, Peaches, and Belka don't get along with Revy and Abby-Roo the two cavy groups take separate turns for floor time.

The elder four have the privilege of running around first while the other two remain in their cage. After a suitable length of time Revy and Abby-Roo swap with them for the second shift. Because the floor time area is next to both cages, pigs from opposing parties occasionally come nose to nose while gallivanting about.

Peaches on alert

Long accustomed to the typical sounds of a piggy household, Peaches isn't fazed by much. On the rare occasions that Peaches does get startled she assumes what we call the "Peachy-dog" pose - a look that brings to mind the image of a watchdog on alert.

Alpha piggy Poof

What happens to piggies who invade Poof's personal space

Having established herself as the alpha pig long ago, Poof doesn't appreciate challenges to her furry authority. Piggies who try to invade Poof's chosen cozy or pigloo are greeted with a lightning quick flash of fearsome cavy teeth.

Bossy pig

Opinionated Revy sometimes deems it necessary to remind roommate Abby-Roo who is boss in their home.

Cavy boss Poof

Poof is the undisputed top dog - err, top cavy - in the cage she shares with Belka, Truffle and Peaches. The other cavies are content with this social hierarchy arrangement and have long since learned not to challenge her when it comes to favorite pigloos or sleeping spots. Mealtimes are the exception. It's every pig for herself when food is involved!

Caught in the act

Peaches caught in the act of eating her poop, with one front paw firmly planted on the fleece to maintain her balance and the other raised for easier access. Coprophagy is an essential part of the guinea pigs digestive process as it allows them to maximize the nutrients they can derive from their diet.

Noisy cuddle pigs

Belka and Poof tend to talk a lot when they're being petted during cuddle time. On their own, each pig settles in with a quiet muttering but when held together their voices combine to form a squeaky duet. You can hear their vocalizations in the video above.

Scenes from a guinea pig introduction

Here are pictures from when Truffle met Abby-Roo for the first time. In their case the introduction began with Truffle cautiously approaching the newcomer. You can see Truffle is on alert by her stance and the way the fur on her body is raised.

For the record, both are sows (female guinea pigs). Truffle will be two years old next month and Abby-Roo is a youngster, around 6-9 months old.

Revy Meets Abby-Roo: A Guinea Pig Socialization Story

When we adopted Revy we had plans to socialize her with our other guinea pigs. None of our other cavies had started out living together either and getting them used to each other had been an admittedly difficult process. Peaches hated Truffle, Truffle despised Peaches, and Poof was hostile to everybody, especially the easygoing Belka. Yet we had managed to bond all four sows into living together peacefully, save for the odd quarrel. How challenging could one more piggy be? As it turned out, more difficult than expected.

A guinea pig's morning exercises

Some humans make it a point to exercise in the morning. Well, Belka is a cavy who also enjoys an early workout. She takes advantage of the space available in our C&C fleece cage to sprint laps, wind around obstructions, leap over objects and hurdle upstairs. Her favorite obstacles include pigloos, tunnels, huts, tents, food bowls and anything else she can find lying around the cage.