Hi, I’ve got two guinea pigs father and son. Father is 10 months and son is 7/8 weeks. The youngest one has started doing that growling thing where his bum wiggles and he’s been doing it a lot over anything and never gets to the stage of fighting or anything. However, when he’s without his dad even for a couple of seconds he starts squealing, high-pitched, I know this is probably because they've been separated. Is this dominance behaviour going to stop at any point?
Dominance behaviour
- Thread starter Alysj21
- Start date
It’s perfectly normal but No it won’t stop but things do settle. At 7/8 weeks your youngster isnt even yet at his teens (4-14 months of age), and once he gets to his teens and has hormone spikes, this type of dominance behaviour will increase. With your older being at 10 months, he will, if he hasn’t already, have another large hormone spike. As long as one is dominant and the other is happy to back down from any dominance behaviour and be submissive, then all will be well. If they both want to be dominant and one isn’t happy to back down, that is when issues can occur.
My boys are almost two years old and they love nothing more than a good rumblestrut (the growling, wiggling movement), and then a bit of chasing. So, while it will settle down over time, they won’t stop doing it altogether.
Don’t separate them if you don’t need to - weight checks etc then obviously they will need to be done separately but don’t separate them as a matter of course. Your youngster is very young and needs to feel secure and be with his friend!
Hi and welcome
Rumblestrutting is very normal mild dominance behaviour and in some pairs part of daily social interaction. It is the way boars measure up against each other. Your little boy is in his formative weeks and currently learning the intricacies of social behaviour, including being a boar and the appropriate boarly behaviour from the example of his dad.
Here is an example of my boar pair, 2 years old (neutered) Dylan and then 2-3 months old Llelo during roaming time where Llelo is clearly learning and practising his new social skills:
Please take the time to read our comprehensive boar guide. You will hopefully find it helpful as both of your boys grow to adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars