The typical behavior in every guinea pig is staring, which has several different meanings. But most of the owners of guinea pigs don’t understand their body language. They often ask why does my guinea pig stare at me? So, here is what it means.
Your guinea pig may be trying to communicate about their need for attention or food. Guinea pigs also sleep with their eyes open, so chances are your guinea pig might be taking a nap. They also have an outstanding power of hearing, so maybe guinea pigs are listening out for the danger.
You need to understand your guinea pig’s body language if you want to identify why your guinea pig is staring.
What guinea pigs are staring at and why needs to be understood by their body language. This guide will examine the habits of guinea pigs and what they indicate.
Why does my guinea pig keep staring at me?
A guinea pig is gazing at you may feel a little uncomfortable. There are many explanations for guinea pig staring. These are as follows:
- Food: If your guinea pig is hungry and wants a delight, then the gazing is the first sign of requesting in many guinea pigs.
- Curiosity: Guinea pig tries to recognize what the owner is doing. A guinea pig will get angry or annoyed if the owner is not paying attention to them. So, they stare at you to get your attention.
- Senses: Your guinea pig can smell or hear something from a distance, and they will start looking at you to see whether you are reacting or not.
- Happy: A guinea pig is entirely satisfied. A happy guinea pig will stare at you when they are relaxing.
- Predators: Guinea pig is watching your back. They know that they are prey animals, and they look out for one another. Guinea pigs gaze to confirm that the predators cannot sneak up on them or you.
- Grooming: Guinea pigs will stare at one another until and unless the one starts grooming the other.
- Threats: The guinea pigs start gazing at strangers because they are not confident whether they are a threat or not. As they notice their every moment and prepare to lock themselves if needed.
It is essential to observe your guinea pig’s body language if they are staring at you.
Also, this will tell you about your guinea pig a lot, what they are feeling.
In return, this will help you to understand what guinea pigs discover so exciting.
Understanding your guinea pig’s body language
Just look out for their small body language clues when your guinea pig is busy in their staring competition. Without saying a single word, a guinea pig can express a lot of their feelings.
The position of guinea pig’s ears is the essential visible clue that goes along with guinea pig staring. These areas are expressive as the tail of cat and dog.
- Your guinea pig wants your attention if they stand at their hind leg and gazes at you. Also, this posture is linked to requesting for food.
- Your guinea pig is feeling relaxed if they are lying down and staring at you.
- Something has their attention if your guinea pig is gazing at you with nose shivering and straight ears. Also, they will wait to see your response too.
- If your guinea pig starts hissing while gazing at you, this means that they feel sad about something the owner is doing.
Each Guinea pig is different and will act exclusively. The owner should have to learn what their guinea pig thinks and need to pay attention to it.
Guinea pig staring out of love
It may be possible that your guinea pig is not feeling loved while staring at you. If two guinea pigs have an excellent bond and want to share a space, they can spend hours staring into each other’s eyes.
Your guinea pig loves you if they are in a relaxed position and gazing at you. Even your guinea pig also doesn’t understand that they are doing so.
Whenever you sit together with your guinea pig and watch television, they will not even notice that you are looking at them or not; they will experience complete satisfaction.
Sometimes there can be a narrow line between domination and love between two guinea pigs. Those guinea pigs who don’t have a connection with each other are just likely to gaze at each other.
Therefore, just like a chicken game, the two guinea pigs will keep staring at each other. Eventually, they will fight, or else one of the guinea pigs will groom another. Maybe your guinea pig is trying a similar trick with you.
How do guinea pigs show affection to humans?
You will understand if your guinea pig is showing authority or affection by other behavior. It means that they love you if they groom you. Maybe this involves a very gentle nip, but licking is actual proof of affection.
The way your guinea pig acts around you is also an essential hint of how your guinea pig sees you. A happy guinea pig will love to run around their owner’s feet. Maybe this is annoying, but your guinea pig means it completely.
Nudging with their head is a combination of affection and superiority. That means that your guinea pig is demanding that you touch their head and want you to do this right now. Also, from this, they are indicating that they love it when you pet them.
You can rest easy if your guinea pig captures these behaviors while gazing at you. Your guinea pig loves to nip you, and you have a connection with your pet.
Guinea pig staring because they want food
Your guinea pig may be staring at you because they want to eat some food. The first stage of requesting is always a guinea pig staring.
Deliver them their favorite food if you are glad to treat your guinea pig. The food items could be fresh vegetables, such as carrots, a pile of hay.
You would get your answer if your guinea pig jumps right into it and start munching immediately.
If your guinea pig gazes more continually, that means they are requesting you by placing their paws on your leg.
Though some of the guinea pigs nip and bite too. This is the way of expressing their feeling to you.
Guinea pig staring because they want to be petted
Guinea pigs take hierarchy very seriously. They will expect this to be accepted if your guinea pig assumed themselves as head of the house.
Though, it is not just other guinea pigs that want to know their spot. We understand that subordinate guinea pigs show respect by grooming their dominant ones. A superior guinea pig will expect the exact from you.
Your Guinea pig may gaze at you for an extended period, waiting for you to know the hint. Your guinea pig will start using manual actions.
As this usually begins with touching their nose. Beyond this, the nipping technique could be followed.
Training your guinea pig might be vital if they start showing their teeth. There is hardly any actual harm to allowing a guinea pig to imagine that they are the leader. However, aggression should be kept under control.
Guinea pig sleeping with their eyes open(not staring)
It is possible that your guinea pig is sleeping and not gazing at you. That is more likely to happen. That is more likely if you find your guinea pig staring you during the day time.
During day time, most of the guinea pigs sleep for around eight hours every day. But they don’t sleep in for straight eight hours as we do. Instead, they sleep in small laps of 10-20 minutes.
Guinea pig sleeps with their open eyes, as their third eyelid that is transparent is used to keep their eyes moisturized.
In this way, the brain of your guinea pig can still collect messages. The guinea pig will get awake at a moment if they find any sign of danger.
Appropriately, maybe it looks like your guinea pig is gazing at you. They will doze facing you, in case if you do something that lifts the alarm.
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How to tell if your guinea pig is sleeping
When a guinea pig is sleeping, they enter a state known as self-contradictory sleep. This state of sleeping is similar to rapid eye movement sleep in human beings.
A dozing guinea pig will frequently shiver. That is because guinea pigs also dream just like human beings in rapid eye movement sleep. That is a relief, as some of the guinea pigs look dead while sleeping.
Many of the guinea pigs like to sleep in their private area, in their hideouts. And some of the guinea pigs love to snooze next to their beloved human.
Also, this means that your pet trusts you. While taking their nap, the guinea pig asks their owner to watch their back.
Hideouts are essential for our guinea pigs as they love sleeping in their personal space.
Guinea pig staring at potential threat
Sometimes it might feel like your guinea pig is staring at something that your eyes cannot see.
It is not like if your guinea pig is staring at somewhere, then there could be a spirit. It is much more likely that you can’t hear or smell something that your guinea pig can.
Guinea pigs have an outstanding hearing, as is suiting for animals with such unique ears. The hearing range of the average human being is between 64-23,000 Hz. whereas, guinea pigs pick up noises between 360-42,000 Hz.
That implies that guinea pigs depend on their hearing most for survival. Your guinea pig would continuously be hearing out for possible threats.
Your guinea pig can hear the sounds from outdoors, or even within the sides of your home.
If it looks like that your guinea pig is gazing at you, they may well be. It could be possible that they are wondering if you hear what they hear.
Your guinea pig will stare at you for your response to these sounds, or they could be scared and looking for comfort.
Shivering noses is another essential behavior of guinea pigs that you should know about. Also, guinea pigs have a strong sense of smell. Your guinea pig will correctly use this along with their hearing ability.
In a guinea pig, a new aroma will obtain equal sensations of excitement and warning. Your guinea pig will be cautious by nature but wonder about the source of the smell. And then again, they will gaze at you to judge your reaction.
Naturally, this new aroma might come from you, it may be a change in the soap or fragrance. Your guinea pig will stare at you until they are sure that you are the source of this new aroma.
Guinea pig staring because they have detected your sickness
Several people honestly believe that pets can recognize human illness. That is because of an animal’s increased sense of smell. They easily observe the changes in the phenomenons and respond accordingly.
It may be possible that your guinea pig is gazing at you for medical purposes, but it is unlikely to happen. However, your guinea pig may be feeling the change in your behavior.
They can even detect a change in your mood. Your guinea pig will recognize this quickly.
Your guinea pig will sit beside you and start staring at you, arguing what’s wrong.
If you are the lucky one, your guinea pig will also try to cheer you up. Although this behavior is very unlikely in guinea pigs. It can be more commonly seen in dogs.
Naturally, a guinea pig may also gaze from the sidelines. A guinea pig will also become alert if you are disturbed. Your guinea pig tries to find out what is the cause of anxiety in you.
Sources: Olfaction, Care of Guinea Pigs, Guinea pig housing, Petsaver guinea pig guide, Guinea pig care.