Guinea pigs are known as most social animals that love the company of other guinea pigs. If you have only one guinea pig, then you might see your pet get lonely most of the time. It is tough to predict if a guinea pig is lonely or not. However, there is no doubt that it is disconcerting when you see your pet is unhappy and feeling alone.
To know do guinea pigs really get lonely or it is just people misconception, continue reading this post. You will get to know about your guinea pig behavior.
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Do Guinea Pigs Get Lonely?
As we told earlier, guinea pigs are very social animals. Domestic guinea pigs love to live with another guinea pig. Thus, it is always great to have two guinea pigs so that your pet both can have a great time together. Yes, it is hard to tell if a guinea pig is feeling lonely. However, instead of trying to guess whether your guinea pig is lonely or not, you should assume that yes, he/she is.
So, guinea pigs can feel abandoned if they are kept alone. However, if your pet doesn’t feel happy with other guinea pigs, then it doesn’t mean that you should keep him/her alone. And it is recommended that you should never keep opposite sex guinea pig together to prevent reproduction.
What are Signs that show your guinea pigs is lonely?
Even, if you consider yourself as best guinea pig owner, you should not keep your pet alone. Otherwise, your pet will definitely feel alone without another guinea pig, no matter how much you love him/her. Here, we are going to discuss some signs that will aid you to know that your guinea pig is feeling lonely and you need to do something to make him/her happy.
Avoid Food
An unhappy guinea pig will avoid food, or maybe he/she becomes pickier about diet. Whatever you give him/her for eating; he/she may avoid it and sit silently at one corner. It is the most significant change in behavior in guinea pigs when they feel alone. Even if your guinea pig who is feeling lonely has another guinea pig company, then it might be possible that he/she is suffering from some illness. In this case, you can take your pet to vet for diagnosing the disease and its treatment.
Minimize Interaction
A depressed guinea pig will not interact with their owners as they usually do. If you see your guinea pig has minimized interaction with you, then it clearly shows that he is feeling alone. A glad guinea pig will be waiting for his/her owner to come for play. He/she will happily interact with his/her owner. Thus, if you stop giving your pet enough time, then he/she might feel abandoned. Like any other pet such as hamsters, guinea pigs also need your love, attention, and care. But, yes, you don’t have to give them constant attention as they get easily happy if you give them a little attention.
Unusual Behavior
An unhappy guinea pig might do some rude behaviors to seek his/her owner attention. So, if you see your pet showing rude behavior, such as throwing his/her head up in the air, teeth hissing, and hair fluffing. You may see your guinea pig aggressive if she/he is feeling alone. Thus, in this situation, all you can do is trying to make your guinea pig happy so that he stops doing rude behavior.
How to Make your Guinea Pig feel Better?
Guinea pigs are one of those pets that are easy to maintain as they don’t need constant attention. However, they need you for companionship, food and cozy shelter. When you bring a guinea pig into your home, providing him/her all necessities becomes your responsibility. So, here, we are going to mention some helpful tips that you can use to make your pet feel better.
Provide a balanced diet having a lot of options
You must provide a healthy, balanced and tasty food to your pet so that he/she stays healthy. When your pet stays healthy, he/she feel then obviously will feel better. However, it is also essential that you should stick to your pet diet as variations can cause digestive problems to your little one. Moreover, you can also ask your vet for your guinea pig diet if you don’t know what kind of food will be best for your guinea pig health.
Spend quality time with your guinea pig
As we also told earlier, guinea pigs are one of the social creatures, and that’s why they need your love, care, and attention. So, you have to make time from your busy schedule for your pet. When you spend quality time with your guinea pig every day, he/she will never feel abandoned.
Ensure your guinea pig cage is clean and cozy
A cage is a place where your pet spends most of his/her time as he/she eats, play and sleep in the cage. That’s why you should clean your pet cage every day, and also you want to make sure that the atmosphere in the cage is comfortable for your pet. Also, place your pet cage in a quiet location.
Bring your guinea pig outside
Yes, guinea pigs also love to experience the world sights and thus, you should bring your pet outside. However, you have to sure that the weather should not be too cold or too warm and it should be moderate so that your pet can feel conformable.
Add one more guinea pig
Have you ever wondered what makes your pet really happy? Then, let me tell you they love to be with other guinea pigs. No matter how much you care and love your guinea pig, he/she will be happier when you provide a company to your pet as another guinea pig.
Conclusion
Hence, in the end, we can say that definitely yes, guinea pigs can get lonely. You need to figure out what makes your pet feel alone as it is the only best way to make him/her feel happy and comfortable.
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