I'm completely new to guinea pigs and have had my boys for about a week now. They are babies and litter mates and they were sharing the same enclosure before I purchased them.
I've read the stickied thread on boar behaviour and know that some of what they're doing is normal, but certain things are worrying me because I'm not sure if they're just playing/having harmless squabbles or if they are giving me warning signs I need to act on.
Sam and Dean will regularly chase each other around their cage, making little squeaky noises. They do it more often now that I've put a little cardboard tunnel for them in their cage. They chase each other through the tunnel and in and out of their pigloo. They will also rumblestrut and sniff each other's bums. I've read that all this is normal behaviour, but what worries me is when they jump into the air at each other (it looks a lot like popcorning) and sometimes they will give each other little nips when they do this.
They don't seem to be lunging at each other viciously, but they do hop around each other and do this. Neither piggy seems afraid of the other one or stressed out by their presence, either, and neither piggy is getting injuries from this. Often, I'll see them at their "squabbling/playing" (I'm not sure what it is) one minute and be worried, then I'll leave the room for a minute and come back and see them snuggling together or calmly eating out of the same food bowl (though I do have two of everything for them).
Are these warning signs or am I just being a nervous mother hen and mistaking their normal behaviour for aggressiveness?
I've read the stickied thread on boar behaviour and know that some of what they're doing is normal, but certain things are worrying me because I'm not sure if they're just playing/having harmless squabbles or if they are giving me warning signs I need to act on.
Sam and Dean will regularly chase each other around their cage, making little squeaky noises. They do it more often now that I've put a little cardboard tunnel for them in their cage. They chase each other through the tunnel and in and out of their pigloo. They will also rumblestrut and sniff each other's bums. I've read that all this is normal behaviour, but what worries me is when they jump into the air at each other (it looks a lot like popcorning) and sometimes they will give each other little nips when they do this.
They don't seem to be lunging at each other viciously, but they do hop around each other and do this. Neither piggy seems afraid of the other one or stressed out by their presence, either, and neither piggy is getting injuries from this. Often, I'll see them at their "squabbling/playing" (I'm not sure what it is) one minute and be worried, then I'll leave the room for a minute and come back and see them snuggling together or calmly eating out of the same food bowl (though I do have two of everything for them).
Are these warning signs or am I just being a nervous mother hen and mistaking their normal behaviour for aggressiveness?
