Guinea pigs are affectionate and emotive creatures who are very sensitive to their environment.

Their ability to sense what is going on in their environment has helped them become who they are today.

As predator animals they know their surroundings, the sounds and the smells and what they see.

As social creatures, they sense what is going on with each other and if you have had piggies for any length of time, you will know that they have a good way of communicating with each other.

Piggies have an ability to feel happy and sad, angry and agitated, although they hide their feelings very well.

But what about the other things that we can do to express our feelings, such as crying?

Can guinea pigs cry at all?

Yes they can cry, but not in the way that a human would. Instead their cry sounds totally different.

A guinea pig’s cry is very intense squeaks like below.

In fact, it’s more like a shriek as it is very sharp and high pitched. They often let out this shriek if they are in pain such as if they have been held roughly, been pinched, or been bitten by a cage mate for example.

They also shriek when trying to warn a fellow piggy of an impending danger or if they are warning them to back off if they are fighting. It’s a sound that is made out of fear and panic more than aggression.

Shrieking can also mean an alarm call. Young guinea pigs calling to their mother or a piggy calling to a cage mate. This can happen if a guinea pigs cage mate is out of the cage or they have been seperated for whatever reason.

Guinea pigs are quite non-confrontational and so they would rather be left alone than be engaged in a fight.

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