Dominance

[jamie fairney]

hi I have a few questions on dominance
How do you know why one is the dominant one
How long does dominance behaviour last
Will it always go on
I have 2 female abbysinians
Also is chasing each other playing or dominance

 

[Cuddles With Cavies]

Dominance is the behaviour displayed by animals in a group in order to confirm the hierarchy in the group.

In guinea pigs, the most dominant pig will chase and mount the others. They may also rumble and sway at them as well as raise their nose higher than any other pig in the group. This might also be accompanied with teeth chattering and puffing their fur up. You tend to see that other members in the group move away or back down from the most dominant pig.

Whilst dominant behaviour is seen most in teenage pigs or pigs that have just met, it should settle within a few weeks. That being said a certain degree of dominat behaviour will always be present. It also depends on the pigs as well. If you end up with a grouping where more than one pig wants to be dominant, you may see more dominant behaviours as they try to challenge each other. Generally, as long as no blood is drawn and everyone in the group is healthy, there is no need to seperate the group.

You can help ease tensions between guinea pigs by making sure that there is enough of everything for each pig (food bowels / water bottles / hide-a-ways) and making sure that hide-a-ways have two entrancing so no one can get trapped or cornered in one.

 

[Wiebke]

hi I have a few questions on dominance
How do you know why one is the dominant one
How long does dominance behaviour last
Will it always go on
I have 2 female abbysinians
Also is chasing each other playing or dominance

The initial dominance phase can last from a few days to a few weeks; it depends on how secure the top piggy feels in its position. The top piggy is the one that has does most of the chasing, nipping, kicking out underpiggies from a hidey etc. It is not always quite easy to discern for us humans, as sometimes the signs can be subtle. However, as long as the piggies know how they stand to each other, you need not worry. During the dominance phase, guinea pigs establish who is the leader and what shape their relationship is going to take. Usually the underpiggy has got a slot towards the end where it can determine how far it is letting itself be pushed.

Guinea pigs do NOT establish how good friends and how close they will be eventually bonded during this phase. That comes later and is a much more gradual process.

Each group needs a leader; guinea pig society is strictly hierarchical and it is at the core of piggy life. You can't have more than one guinea pig and not get a hierarchy; it's how they interact with each other.

I have already given you all the answers and the relevant information links in my other posts in your other thread, which explain it all in detail when you read through them. Could you please keep all the question about the same issue to one thread.