Friday, July 31, 2009

To any one who knows about guinea pigs..I think my guinea pig is spoiled. Is that possible?

Is it possible for an animal such as a guinea pig to be smart enuoght to whine/squeak for something? I sometimes gime my guinea treats and snacks like celery and carrots but I just recently started giving him dried apples and fresh cut grass (I found some for small pets at the petstore that you can grow)

For the past 3 weeks, everytime I come in my room later in the day or at night, and sit at my desk, he comes to the corner of his cage and starts to squeak untill I give him an apple or grass clippings...throughout the day he always has pellets to eat..but I really think hes just being greedy. Are guineas smart enough to do this behavior?
Answers:
yes... they are and you can go ahead and continue to spoil him... i have had my guinea pig for 5 years when my gram talks near my door my piggie start squeaking for carrots because my gram gives them to her when im not home. better example i used to live in an apartment my bedroom was on the other side of the apartment a good few yards from my kitchen i could have my door closed and if anyone would open the fridge she would start squealing so loud it was hillarious she wanted carrots and if i have plastic bags in my room she goes wild from the crinkling sound because it sounds like her food bag lol good luck !!!
yes they can be smart eneough. we used to have one that did the same thing to get a special treat.
if you think your guinea pig is spoiled you should probably throw it out...you know germs and all
Guineau pigs are very smart and letting you know he wants his treat, like a kid craving candy, only this is a healthly snack, you pet is NOT spoiled just smart, and knowes how to get your attention. The extra treats are fine for him, just don't over do it. Have fun with your friend, give him lot of attention! Best Wishes!
My guinea pig does the same thing. Everytime I go into the kitchen she squeaks until I give her lettuce or an orange.
She is very smart and I guess you can say spoiled also.
*lol* Sure they can. They can also prefer one person over another.
I wouldn't say spoiled, he just knows that you provide food. Have you ever heard of Pavlov's dog. Pavlov knew that dogs naturally salivated when meat was fed to them. To condition this salivation, Pavlov rang a bell each time he presented the food to the dogs. After the ringing bell was paired many times with the presentation of the meat, the dogs salivated when they heard the bell, but BEFORE they saw the food. In other words, the dogs had become conditioned because they expected that the meat reward would follow the sound of the bell.

You have conditioned the guinea pig, probably at one point or another his squeaking got him food, now he squeaks before he sees the food.

You=the bell
Squeak=salivation

Greed is a human emotion, animals do not get greedy.

If you want him to stop just change the conditioning. When he squeaks ignore the behaviour, when he is quiet give him the treats. He will then associate being quiet with getting the treat. I don't know why you would want to stop the behaviour, I have a degu that squeals when I come in and I think it is the cutest thing
Haha!! Yes!! They can be downright dirty if they want to be! lol. They get the impression that you want to treat them, it's also they love the bond that you have.

I would feed my babies treats at a particular time in the evening and when they didn't get it right away they knew when to call.

They are smart, lol they never cease to make me smile!! :D
Any animal can be spoiled and yes your guinea pig is defiantly spoiled. He knows that if he makes a lot of noise the gets a treat. In stead of giving him treats when he squeals tell him he is a bad boy and put a blanket over his cage until he stops and if that does ant work put him out out side and only bring him in when he stops and give him a treat when he doesn't squeal.

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