Guinea Pig Addicted to Food..

liah

Now I know this doesn't sound surprising at all, and pretty much is completely natural, but it's getting to the point where it's driving me up the wall.

We got her two weeks ago (note: I know pigs should be kept in pairs, we were originally going to get two but they only had one available, waiting til this weekend to get another one as the newest litter is old enough to leave mammy), and within roughly two days she'd learned that to get our attention to feed her, all she had to do was squeal. It has now got a bit out of hand. I'm at home 24/7 (woo, out of work, fantastic..) so whenever she hears me move around at all, she starts screaming for food.

She has a constant supply of her pig food mix, grass, and hay, but all she really cares about is her romaine lettuce and cucumber. It's at the point where she's squealing at me every 20 minutes, including when I'm trying to sleep. She's not underfed or hungry, she has the full run of the kitchen for 18 hours a day (pig proofed, of course) with open access to get back into her cage so it's not like she's bored or not getting enough exercise, I give her plenty of attention as I know she really needs another pig around, I leave things like paper bags and cardboard tubes on the ground for her to play with. It all comes down to food.

How on earth do I get her to shut up for awhile without overfeeding her? Will she be more quiet once we get her a partner since she'll be more distracted?

I've had pigs before so I understand their sounds and usually love them, but I've never encountered any this insistant..

Jack B. Badd

liah wrote: »

within roughly two days she'd learned that to get our attention to feed her, all she had to do was squeal.

So, she's learned (very quickly) that by being loud she can get you to acquiesce to her demands? And having learned this she has, since then, used it repeatedly to her advantage?
Just say no and be consistent about it! In the words of Dr Phil, you're enabling her addiction. If you teach her that no matter how much she squeals she won't get fed more that the required daily amount she should soon learn to be quiet. Of course, I have no specific knowledge of guinea pigs but this is the way it works with cats and dogs (and humans) so I'm guessing it's the same way with pigs...

liah

Been trying that over the last week without any change in behaviour at all which is why it alarmed me enough to try to get help with it.. We only give her treats once a day, she knows this, but she continues on anyway even though we're adamant.

Bit of a headwreck tbh.

Sigma Force

To be honest it doesn’t sound like a food addiction type thing going on. Guinea pigs will generally eat non stop anyways so if offered stuff they usually won’t refuse it unless they are planning on having a nap.

The squeeking is more to do with attention I would say and once the guinea gets company this should calm down. If she’s a young/baby piggy she’s probably very lonely at the minute so I would expect that’s why she’s squeeking a lot.
It sounds like she’s a very social piggy too and when she hears movement the squeeking could be more just calling out as if she’s hoping another piggy is around or there’s a human around for some attention.

Another thing is just check her over and make sure there’s not any other reasons for the squeeking, sometimes with urinary tract infections they will squeek when they pee (and they pee often anyway) so just make sure anything like that is ruled out.

Romaine lettuce is safe as you know but I wouldn’t feed it every day, same with cucumber they love it but perhaps vary the veggies a little bit trying a new one each day. Be careful also with young piggies esp. if she's just been weaned that you don't over do it on the grass and veggies in case she ends up with a tummy ache/wind/bloating.
Also filling a cut up kitchen roll insert (to make it smaller) and stuffing it with veggies and hay etc. will make the piggy have to work harder for her food. Using a low hay rack can help as well so she has to work a little bit more for her food.

Hope this helps.