Guinea pigs can't burp; rats can't vomit?

[moonfall]

I'm a little skeptical about the first one, since random "facts" people quote on World of Warcraft are often unreliable. And if it is true that guinea pigs cannot burp, why would giving them lemonade be dangerous (as the person also claimed). I currently have two guinea pigs, and I have had them in the past, and I seem to remember seeing one of them burp.

As for the second one, it was on a list of trivia in a magazine. I don't know much about rodents' digestive systems, but I can safely say I've never seen one vomit. Can they?

[Mosherette]

Rats can't vomit but they can (rarely) regurgitate. Regurgitation is a passive process while vomiting is active. Most sources on line say similar things; this one seems to have an actual source as to why:

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/qna6_99.htm

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information available regarding this subject, but I will quote the paragraph that addresses the reason why rats do not have the ability to vomit from Laboratory Animal Medicine, Editors James G. Fox, Bennett J. Cohen, and Franklin M. Loew. It is as follows.

Another reason to love rats, if you ask me

[moonfall]

Too bad my roommate doesn't have rats then. *is tired of hairballs and cat vomit*

[Floater]

Originally Posted by moonfall

And if it is true that guinea pigs cannot burp, why would giving them lemonade be dangerous (as the person also claimed).

I guess that would be dangerous if they can neither burp nor fart.

[Troberg]

Correct, rats can't vomit, which is why they are so careful when trying new food. Vomiting is the body's way of getting rid of bad food, so rats have to be careful, and if they get sick from the test nibble, they don't touch that food again.

[Pudding Crawl]

Guineas can't vomit either (also rabbits); it makes them and rats quite susceptible to poisoning. I imagine the regurgitation ability is the same for them too though (although as they don't need to wean young like rats do it is probably unnecessary for them.)
As for passing gas... I doubt it would be good for a pig to consume lemonade, but would it cause much more bother than what they can safely eat- both their usual diet (fibrous vegetable matter which probably results in a lot of gas) and what they opportunistically snack on (plastic, ribbons, anything you leave within range)?
Myabe they have a gas-reducing digestive system like kangaroos (similar diet)... I'm fairly sure I have been the victim of a guinea pig fart, but it doesn't seem an everyday occurrance. They make a range of head-end squelchy noises which could be burping.

(btw. Moonfall, how are your piggies?)

[moonfall]

I'm also pretty sure I've heard them burp and fart. I did try giving my last guinea pig lemonade once, but they prefer other fruit juices. The same one LOVED Sunny Delight.

My girls are doing great, although my rehomed pig, Maya, turned out to be pregnant and is due any day now. Expect baby piggy photos soon!

[Syllavus]

Originally Posted by moonfall

Too bad my roommate doesn't have rats then. *is tired of hairballs and cat vomit*

Sort of off-topic but since we've switched to Wellness brand cat food, and started giving our cats a mix of wet & dry food at each meal, our hairball-prone cat has almost no hairballs. We try to brush her fairly regularly as well, but I think the diet change has been the biggest contributer.

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by Floater

they can neither burp nor fart.

I wish the same could be said of husbands.

[Sue Bee]

Originally Posted by DawnStorm

I wish the same could be said of husbands.

Not quite a keyboard, but almost. Mostly because I wasn't consuming anything.


On a side note, horses can not vomit either.

[Pudding Crawl]

Originally Posted by moonfall

I'm also pretty sure I've heard them burp and fart. I did try giving my last guinea pig lemonade once, but they prefer other fruit juices. The same one LOVED Sunny Delight.

My girls are doing great, although my rehomed pig, Maya, turned out to be pregnant and is due any day now. Expect baby piggy photos soon!

Mine will drink tea if they find it... not that I let them, but they investigate cups. They're allowed fruit juice sometimes.
Excellent, baby pigs! even if they're unexpected babies.

[moonfall]

I'm pretty sure I heard one of the guinea pigs fart earlier today, unless gas buildup in the water bottle makes a similar noise.

[boogers]

I never heard my guinea pigs of yesteryear burp or fart and they ate anything that they could sink their teeth into, including rubber bands, hair, wax paper, and shoes. They did make a variety of other weird noises.

When I was in college a roommate had heard that mice couldn't burp and that therefore you could kill them by leaving out beer for them--supposedly they would drink it, then explode. We never tested this because I drank all the beer the roommate brought home. Another roommate believed you could kill roaches by leaving out cucumber slices for them. We did try this experiment. Result: If cucumbers are fatal to roaches, somebody forgot to tell the roaches that.

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by boogers

Another roommate believed you could kill roaches by leaving out cucumber slices for them. We did try this experiment. Result: If cucumbers are fatal to roaches, somebody forgot to tell the roaches that.

They probably made little sandwiches and talked about the regatta.

[Latiam]

As the formar owner of 10 cavies, guinea pigs can fart. They do it much less then one would imagine, given what they eat, but they do do it. I don't know about burps. I know they can yawn, but have no idea what a burp would look like.