Do guinea pigs sleep with their eyes open

Do you want to know do guinea pigs sleep with their eyes open? Fine! I am here to talk about the Guinea pigs sleeping habits in detail. Let’s move to know about them.

Guinea pig sleeping patterns

Guinea pigs have modest sleep patterns. They can take a nap easily whenever they find a chance – whether it’s day or night.

Most of their naps will be in the evening, relatively because of how these species have adapted to living with humans. Usually, these small pets sleep without open their eyes and can take more than 9 hours of sleep in 24-hours.

However, it’s really exciting to see guinea pigs sleeping with their eyes open. And, it unlocks the way to a lot of questions. For instance, if these spices sleep with eyes open, how do we know when they will awake? I have researched to explain some of the most interesting explanations of Guiana pig attitudes and their sleeping habits.

When Guinea Pigs Sleep?

If you’ve never found your guinea pig pets sleep, you may be wondering when they will find rest. Are they sleeping during the day or night?

Large numbers of rodents, such as hamsters and rats, are nocturnal; it means they just sleep during the day. On the other hand, some mice and squirrels are crepuscular -they awake in the morning and evening. Usually, rodents and other predators sleep when nearby carnivores are out hunting.

When it comes to pig’s sleep patterns, they are eccentric because they don’t properly sleep during the day or night. They can get naps easily when possible. Therefore, animals are like cats; they nap a little during the day and in the evening.

This kind of sleeping behavior in general among carnivores that are at the top of the food chain. Because carnivores don’t need to worry about attackers, they can get sleep during the whole day.

However, Guinea pigs are distant from the top of the chain. Even South American wild guinea pigs have several predators, including wolves, hawks, owls, and snakes.

Why Guinea pigs get to sleep with their eyes open?

Since you rarely get your guinea pig sleeping with its eyes closed, you may consider that they do not sleep well.  But you will surprise to know that your guinea pig perhaps sleeps more than you do. Before raising guinea pigs at homes, they lived in the undomesticated on one of the lower ranks of the food chain. They hunted other wild animals.

Although they are quick to greet you, guinea pigs are unlikely to be preyed upon in nature. With time, natural selection has guaranteed the survival of Guinea pigs by producing a new breed that can sleep with open eyes.

Even today, although the species are keeping as pets, they still sleep with open eyes. So if you have ever seen your guinea pig with its eyes open or partially open around its cage, they may be taking a nap or resting. When your bond with the pet becomes strong, you will quickly know the difference between your guinea pig behaviors and sleep patterns.

During their waking hours, Guinea pigs are pretty active with fully open eyes. They take small sips day and night and stay awake, energetic, and eat for the rest of the time. But they can be synchronized with your daily routine; it means they slow down when you go to sleep.

However, it is not always possible with guinea pigs. Sometimes they feel more comfortable walking and playing at night because there is less activity.

In this unusual case, you find your pet with closed eyes; it shows that it feels completely safe and comfortable. Instead of being alone in a cage, they sleep with their eyes closed when surrounded by their city mates. Guinea pigs in the cage have a close relationship, and they often hug and sleep together. It makes them feel safe, especially if they are asleep.

Can Guinea Pigs close their Eyes? If yes! What does it mean?

After adopting the guinea pig as a pet, the first thing you might notice that they never close their eyes, and you also start to worry that it is a bit wrong with your pet. Since guinea pigs are hunting animals that are accustomed to danger and attacks from other predators. So they keep their eyes open to be vigilant. If there is a threat of any kind, this behavior enables them to flee to safety quickly. Although your guinea pig is a pet and lives a peaceful life in comfortable encloses, this behavior has become their nature.

As I already discussed, they can be asleep with their eyes open. When they feel entirely safe, guineas pigs sleep with their eyes closed. But this behavior you will hardly notice in your pet because guinea pigs hide to feel secure. If you find your guinea pig pet lying with wide-open eyes and it doesn’t look alert or distracted from you and its companions, don’t bother your pet because it is sleeping. The pigs love their sleep as much as we humans do.

If you realize why guinea pigs are so scared, you’ll have a great time empathizing with pigs and doing the necessary practices to keep them calm, relaxed, and comfortable.

It may be possible your guinea pet never fully calms down and close its eyes. Still, if you successfully make your guinea pig feel protected around, you will get a much more satisfying and affectionate association with your pet.

Can Guinea Pigs Blink?

Because guinea pigs keep their eyes open all time, you may be unaware that your pet also has eyelids. They have eyelids and can blink like humans, but they blink for a variety of reasons. Humans blink immediately, while these animals don’t have this habit, and it is a matter of their controlled behavior.

Because the guinea pig’s eyes are on its head, small pieces of debris can quickly enter its eyes. So they just blink to clean their eyes, dusty eyelids, bedding, and grass that may have accrued in their eyes. Moreover, as guinea pig carcasses are very close to the ground, that’s what happens most of the time. You will notice that your guinea pig blinks more than when it is closing its sleeping eyes. In this way, they keep their eyes healthy.

How long do Guinea Pig Sleep?

Guyana pigs have the same metabolism as other rodents. So, you may be wondering how much sleep is enough for them to function normally. According to an estimate, mice and rats sleep 13 hours a day, while giant rodents such as guinea pigs sleep more than 9.5 hours a day.

It may be a disclosure to know that a guinea pig sleeps more than you if you have never found your beloved pet sleep more than you do.

Guinea pigs do not often sleep for a long duration of time. They only get a long sleep when they are in the REM phase of sleep. However, as other animals or rodents only need one hour of REM sleep, so you can expect that your guinea pig will take more than 2 hours to take rest.

Where do Guinea Pigs like to sleep?

Although guinea pigs do not essentially sleep at night, they prefer to sleep in the dark. If we talk about the wild, they find a shelter to sleep and safe from hungry predators. While when they are domesticated, they also want the same comfortable place to sleep.

This is not needed in their living place, but they still want to get into the haystack or tie themselves in a tunnel or nest box. These tiny safe spaces will allow your guinea pig to take a long nap.

Can Guinea Pig diets reason for Sleepiness?

If your pet is a sleeping guinea pig, in that case, you may be surprised if there is another reason for laziness, particularly if you do not see any other noticeable symptoms such as coughing or heavy breathing.

Well, you need to take a closer look at your pet diet. In particular, laziness or lethargy is usually associated with vitamin C deficiency, which can cause pain in some joints and muscles and lead to instability and discomfort.

Although many commercial guinea pigs have a good amount of vitamin C in their diet, storing food in humid, bright, and warm places can considerably lessen nutrient content. In addition, the age of the food can affect the vitamins.

So it is really essential to feed them with good quality of food and store it properly. Veterinarians can make out a simple blood test to check your guinea pig for vitamin C deficiency. High-quality food treats and supplements can all be recommended to treat the problem.

Conclusion

Now you will defiantly understand why guinea pigs sleep with their eyes open. They open their eyes while sleeping because of discomfort and fear. This is their natural behavior. But if you make a strong bond with your pet and make it feel calm and protected, and then it may be possible they sleep with closed eyes.