Behaviour In My Sows

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stacey1234

stacey1234

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Hello! :tu:

I have two sows, lola and lottie :love: they are around 6 months old. Lola is definitely the dominant. In my cage i have two bowls and two hidey homes , one for each piggy.
There has always been a little rumble from lola when Lottie enters her space but recently I've been hearing the rumble more, sometimes its just short and other times she'll rumble for a good 10 seconds or so. Poor lottie seems to be putting up a stance, she just sits there a long as she dares then she'll run away with a submission squeak.
This isn't constant behaviour but i am very aware of it.
Lola and lottie often share the same bed space with no issues, Lola is more timid where as Lottie is very confident she'll be the first out the cage for food when I'm putting it in and she'll take food right out my hand. There have been no physical injury's on any piggy and they both seem very happy to share food. When i take one out the cage the other will squeak very loudly until they are reunited. When its lap time sometimes they try to nudge each other, not head butt just a nudge. other times they'll try huge underneath each other.

I understand the piggys go through a teen stage and i wondered if this could be it? i just worry that they aren't happy.

:help:

Thank you for any advice!
 
My sows are exactly the same , they don't like lap time together , they bicker if I have them both on my lap. Charcoal rumbles when Betsie goes in the bed but she does let her in , but they do sit together sometimes , and sometimes I find them separate , I thought it was normal will listen to the replies with interest!
 
Hi,

I have 8 guinea pigs (4 boars and 4 sows) and to be honest I do not think there behaviour sometimes is any difference to my 2 teenage sons :lol!:

One minute they are fine and the best of friends and the next minute they are fighting non stop with moaning and grumbling etc.

I find both the boars and the sows are the same and I pretty much let them get on with it and sort it out themselves. If I feel it is getting out
of control then I will go and have words with them and they soon know that their Mama is not happy with them and will go there separate ways.

If one is being considerably naughty or seems unhappy about something they get taken out and settled down on my lap for a while. This usually breaks the cycle of whatever they were fighting about and when I put them back in generally all is forgiven or forgotten (I'm not really sure which lol).
 
When a sow comes into season they can become more dominant , rumble more and even sometimes hump the other one- this is all normal.
 
Sounds like Season time to me, could be teenage hormones too.... It will settle down, they are just sorting out hierarchy. We have 4 girls and seasons are always noisy :)) but it settles after a day or two.
 
stacey1234 said:
Hello! :tu:

I have two sows, lola and lottie :love: they are around 6 months old. Lola is definitely the dominant. In my cage i have two bowls and two hidey homes , one for each piggy.
There has always been a little rumble from lola when Lottie enters her space but recently I've been hearing the rumble more, sometimes its just short and other times she'll rumble for a good 10 seconds or so. Poor lottie seems to be putting up a stance, she just sits there a long as she dares then she'll run away with a submission squeak.
This isn't constant behaviour but i am very aware of it.
Lola and lottie often share the same bed space with no issues, Lola is more timid where as Lottie is very confident she'll be the first out the cage for food when I'm putting it in and she'll take food right out my hand. There have been no physical injury's on any piggy and they both seem very happy to share food. When i take one out the cage the other will squeak very loudly until they are reunited. When its lap time sometimes they try to nudge each other, not head butt just a nudge. other times they'll try huge underneath each other.

I understand the piggys go through a teen stage and i wondered if this could be it? i just worry that they aren't happy.

:help:

Thank you for any advice!
Click to expand...

Sows also go through a teenage stage, which can be characterised by some rather strong seasons with lots of rumbling, some mounting and other dominance behaviour. Unlike with boars, this usually does not end with fights or fall-outs.

A season can also trigger a new attempt at questioning the existing hierarchy and relationship. The dominince behaviour you are witnessing is still very much in the mild and acceptable range and nothing to worry about.
Sow behaviour
 
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