Dominant Behaviour

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jessblacow

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Messages
78
Reaction score
37
Points
185
Location
Morecambe
I got 4 female guinea pigs on Thursday. They are a year old and came from a pet shop at was being closed down. As far as I know, all 4 used to live together in a tiny 80cm cage but were seperated into pairs when a reptile shop in my local area took them. The weren't allowed to sell them so needed homes for them. That's where I come in.

I did put all 4 together in a brand new big cage but wasn't sure about how females establish dominance so I wasn't confident enough to leave them over night. After a little more research I soon found out that the behaviour they were exhibiting was normal, so the second night, I put them together. One in particular, Cookie definitely seems to be the dominant one and spent the best part of an hour chasing Oreo and trying to hump her. There was no teeth chattering, or blood shed and the advice I read said to just leave them to get on with it.

The were fine this morning and when I went in earlier today all 4 seemed content and all 4 ate vegetables and food etc. This evening however, Cookie has been chasing Brandysnap around. Brandy snap is definitely the underpiggie and moves out of Cookie's way. But Cookie continually chases. 2 seconds later they're eating hay together.

Cookie was also emitting low rumbling noise and prowling the cage. The other piggies got a bit noisier when she started rumbling. What does this mean?

BTW Cookie and Oreo seem absolutely fine now. Toffypop is pretty neutral but she was Cookie's cage partner. Brandysnap is the most skittish and the most wary of Cookie.
 
A 5ft cage. Its not c and c but it is really big. Besides they were in 80cm cages so this is huge compared to their last one!
 
It definitely seems like the early stages of the piggies establishing their hierarchy. We personally don't have much experience with regard to sow behaviour as we have a neutered boar to keep his sows in line (or so he seems to think!). We have tagged @Wiebke for you who is much more experienced in matters of sow hierarchy. We have included this link for you to have a look at -

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sow-behaviour.38561/
 
Thank you @lisaali. I have read that post and it has made me feel a little more at ease. I think perhaps Cookie is rumblestrutting (think that's what it's called). I also keep forgetting they have lived together in the past and have only been seperated for about 3 weeks, during which time they have been in the same room with each other.
 
jessblacow said:
Thank you @lisaali. I have read that post and it has made me feel a little more at ease. I think perhaps Cookie is rumblestrutting (think that's what it's called). I also keep forgetting they have lived together in the past and have only been seperated for about 3 weeks, during which time they have been in the same room with each other.
Click to expand...

Now that they are together it does sound like a re-establishment of hierarchy.. It can look pretty brutal to us slaves. Hopefully things will settle down soon..

Oh... Pigtures would be nice... we love pigtures to :drool: over..
 
Rumblestrutting, chasing, mounting etc. are typical dominance behaviours from both genders. You also see them for a day or to when a sow is coming into season. The other girls are telling her to not bother them, please. ;)

All very par for the course and nothing to worry! The dominance phase can last from a few days to a few weeks.

If you are worried about the mounting, you can always double check the gender on this sexing page here: http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm
 
Do they have plenty of places to hide and two of everything helps .
 
I have got a carboard tunnel, a wooden bridge/hidey, a plastic house and 2 bottles and food bowls
 
sounds good.I have a dominant sow in each group and they put the others in their place quite forcibly
 
Well I've just posted another thread but I'm so excited I'm going to repeat myself. They were popcorning tonight, especially Cookie the dominant one. I've even had them all out to right and they squeaked softly when I stroked them. Cookie even ate some treats from my hand! I put some pictures on that thread too. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top