Whether or not your potential pet is awake during the day or night can be a deciding factor.
There are many advantages and disadvantages to both and it’s important to know how your guinea pig will sleep before getting one.
Or you maybe already are a guinea pig owner and would like to learn more about your beloved pet.
In general, animals can have one of three different sleep patterns:
- Diurnal (mostly awake during day, sleeping at night)
- Nocturnal (mostly awake at night, sleeping during day)
- Crepuscular (awake at dusk and dawn)
In case you’re away all day, you’ll probably welcome when they’re asleep anyway and you don’t have to worry about boredom or stress.
However, you’ll have to deal with their activity at night which might not fit into your schedule.
This is especially a problem if you don’t have an option to place the cage somewhere other than your bedroom and have to deal with the potential sounds and noises from your guinea pig moving around.
While many people believe that guinea pigs are nocturnal, they are actually crepuscular.
There have been several studies on this and also the behavior of other rodents. The same laboratory that did the study below did a similar study on female rabbits.
“Male and female guinea pigs maintained under controlled lighting and fed ad libitum exhibit a diurnal fluctuation in feed intake. This is characterised by periods of increased eating activity at the beginning and end of the light period and in the middle of the dark period. However, the feed consumption for the light and dark periods is similar. If the normal lighting cycle is retarded by 6 h, the guinea pigs adjust their diurnal rhythm of eating in the new cycle within 8 days.”
Ncbi – Diurnal variation in the feeding pattern of guinea pigs, 1975 study
Wanna know what other animals are crepuscular? Here’s a list:
- Hamsters
- Rabbits
- Ferrets
- Rats
- Housecats
- Stray Dogs
It’s interesting how the semi-domesticated cat is crepuscular while dogs are diurnal.
The fact that stray dogs do tend to display this behavior too signals that domesticated dogs adapt very strongly to human living.
However, the same can happen with your piggie. He or she may get used to your schedule and adapt accordingly.
This is not guaranteed though just as some dogs are active at 5 am while others welcome lazy mornings and sleep until you wake them up.
Keep in mind that your little friend might be especially active when you’re about to go bed or before you wake up.
In nature, there’s a reason why guinea pigs are active during twilight hours.
Do Guinea Pigs Sleep?
Like most other animals, guinea pigs do sleep. Just because their sleep cycle is different doesn’t mean that they don’t need any sleep at all.
You’re most likely to see your guinea pig sleeping in short intervals which sometimes don’t amount to more than 4 hours.
However, some individuals sleep as much as 8 hours a day. According to various studies, guinea pigs have only 1 hour of REM sleep.
Compare that to the 6 hours of REM sleep a ferret needs.
Most sleeping intervals won’t last for more than 30 minutes at a time.
Why do guinea pigs need so little sleep?
The answer is simple, it’s due to potential predators.
As you most likely guessed, guinea pigs are not at the top of the food chain and they definitely have predators in whose eyes your sweet little pet is just prey.
It wouldn’t be smart for the prey to be active when their predators are out and about to hunt and that’s why guinea pigs adapted their sleeping habit accordingly.
Should I Be Worried If My Guinea Pig Isn’t Sleeping Much?
As mentioned, their day doesn’t consist of much sleeping and you probably won’t see them in deep sleep much.
Their eyes often don’t close all the way as they need to be alert but don’t worry about that as it can be totally normal.
That doesn’t mean that they don’t need any sleep at all. You should keep an eye on their sleeping habit and if you notice something unusual consult your vet.
It’s also normal that young, small animals have short sleeping intervals while the older animals sleep longer.