Guinea pig likes and dislikes
LIKES
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Lettuce
- Listening to podcasts (seems to chill them out)
- Apple
- Hay (most versatile)
- Cardboard anything
DISLIKES
- Sudden noises
- Sudden movements
- Iron Maiden
NOW INDIFFERENT TO
- My face
- My singing
- The vacuum cleaner
- (as long as these are not sudden – see above)
I love these guinea pigs because they are cute, friendly. They nibble and lick my fingers, which is super sweet. They make little squeaks when they move. They are noisy eaters but it’s not annoying. They are neither nocturnal nor diurnal, preferring to nap, which is just like me. As I’ve observed when working from home, they are creatures of habit, love a routine (me too), even down to small things like they way they drink. They are often anxious, which is also me. They won’t sleep in anything that doesn’t have more that one escape route. If they can put an extra one in, they will. If not, and they can’t lift it up, they will not sleep in it. They can be pretty lazy (me). They exhibit clever behaviours but can also be a bit not clever (… yes). Example: they learn how to manipulate a ball so that treats fall out as they roll it, but at other times, if I put some veggies in their cage they often struggle to reach them if they simply need to … you know, move a bit (I suppose this could just be laziness)
Is singing to guinea pigs a form of animal cruelty? Asking for a friend.
Depends who is singing?
Ouch.
Guinea pigs sleep on and off throughout the day. They don’t usually close their eyes when they sleep as they are prey animals, evolved to sleep with eyes open, with only part of the brain sleeping at any one time. Therefore it can appear as if they are in some kind of trance, and sometimes a bit dead!! They become very, very still, unlike their usual selves, and a little more difficult to disturb; sometimes on their side, mostly stretched out with head tilted to the side. Sometimes their eyes do narrow slightly when asleep, which is nice and I take this as a sign that they are feeling safe. At othertimes they look like the above image – more alarming. I could tell Havok was alseep because I got close enough to take this without disturbing him. I could tell he was alive because I asked him and he startled. When they lay their heads to snooze they look so vulnerable and my heart aches a bit.
