They have a few peculiar and cute sleeping habits that can confuse a beginner to their care, and the short answer is yes, they do sleep. Mammals such as guinea pigs need to sleep, just like humans need it too.
It is vital for the brain to rest, also for the body to heal any injury and, of course, to keep a good mood. As you can see, guinea pigs are not rodent-like robots so having a good nap is very important for a healthy guinea pig.
It can be a big problem if they don’t sleep enough since it can mean a symptom of some illness, stress or bad alimentation.
Keep reading if you are interested in getting to know more about these little and lovely pets sleeping habits and curiosities, the following fun facts will surprise you.
It may solve some doubts and dilemmas about having a guinea pig!
Do guinea pigs sleep with their eyes open?
It is normal if you are worried about a guinea pig and wonder when it ever sleeps, since you may always see it with its eyes wide open 24/7.
It is because they can sleep with their eyes open and usually, they prefer to do it that way. Sounds really crazy but: why do they do that?
You need to consider guinea pigs have a natural role in the wild as a prey animal, so they usually need to be alert and aware of their surroundings in order to keep themselves safe. These little creatures can feel vulnerable most of the time.
If your guinea pig ever closes its eyes in your presence, take that as a compliment, since that means that it feels really safe and comfy with you.
Look here Loussi with their babies try to sleep 😉
How do guinea pigs sleep?
You now know that they sleep with their eyes open most of the time, but then the big question now is: How do you realize a guinea pig is sleeping?
When been alone (Which is highly not advised since they are really sociable beings and need other guinea pigs to interact with) Even though it sleeps with its eyes open, it will stand completely still and keep quiet for a while.
If you want a guinea pig to feel safer and comfortable when sleeping, you can create a rest area in its cage. For this, you can arrange a box covered with hay. They prefer to sleep in dark places. Check this one on Amazon it’s my favorite and also too cheap.
Sometimes they can sleep with their head resting on something or lay down a little but it is not that usual. If you take a close look at a guinea pig you will surely notice when it sleeps, it is not hard.
If you keep a group of guinea pigs in the same cage, there are high chances of them sleeping together forming a group of quiet guinea pigs. They like to do that in order to keep warm, safe and enjoy social interactions.
When forming these sleeping groups, one of them will keep awake, guarding the others. They will take turns for guarding:-D. It is indeed a really cute behavior and it is an easy way to know if they are sleeping.
With some attention, you surely will discover when a guinea pig is sleeping and if it has any particular preference, after all, they have personalities and it may change from one to another.
How long do guinea pigs sleep?
Guinea pigs prefer to take short naps thought the whole day instead of long periods of sleep.
The duration of each nap can change but usually, they can take up to 10 minutes on each nap.
If you add all the naps times a guinea pig takes, you will obtain that its complete sleeping time per day is approximately 4 to 5 hours.
It surely is surprising how active they can be with only that small amount of sleep per day. After all, they are small creatures with quick metabolism and different necessities.
Do guinea pigs sleep at night or day?
You surely know that animals can be diurnal (active during the day) or nocturnal (active during the night). Guinea pigs, however, are from a special group of animals that are active at dusk and really early in the morning. They aren’t strictly day or night active animals.
These furry animals are genuine sleep-opportunist and will have a quick nap whenever they can or feel sleepy. That means they usually don’t have a proper sleeping schedule and it may confuse many first-time owners of guinea pigs. If you offer a calm and nice environment for your guinea pig it will sleep for brief periods anytime.
Their activity at night, however, can be a problem if you sleep in the same room as the guinea pigs, but don’t worry; there are different tricks you can try in order to keep these cuties quieter at night. Keep reading if to know these tricks.
Are guinea pigs quiet at night?
If you sleep in the same room as a guinea pig, like me. The first night will surely be surprisingly lively. That is because guinea pigs can emit a lot of curious sounds through the night and that can certainly be a problem if they don’t let you sleep I will share with you some sounds on my youtube channel.
Among all the interesting noises they make, there are low growls, rumbles, purring and teeth chattering. If they are in a group, these sounds are more common.
If that represents a problem for you, there are different tricks you can try to keep them a lot quieter.
- You can give them soft and soundless chewing toys.
- The tactic that I use always is to keep them with fresh water and vegetables.
- Always keep a couple of opposite sex together.
- Bath them regularly with shampoo.
Finally, I hope this article helped you with understanding these beautiful and lovely pets.
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Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.
