Help! Piggie sexual abuse :(

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Goggle's Mum

Goggle's Mum

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Hi all,

Goggle's new friend Porcella has now been with us for almost four months, but today they gave me real cause for concern.

Goggle has always been in the habit of making war dance noises near Porcella, but in the main seems to love her company, always shares her food and has never really looked as if she genuinely wants to start a fight. Porcella, on the other hand, can be a real little madam, and frequently bullies Goggle. She will snatch food away from Goggle only to hide it on one side of the cage and then come back to snatch some more. She will even snatch food from Goggle that she didn't previously want, and will hog the food bowls and peck Goggle away if she comes just to get one tiny piece of food from them.

When we first got Porcella, Goggle was absolutely ecstatic and was constantly running up to her. Right near the beginning she also mounted Porcella, but got off after a second or so when she seemed to realise that she didn't have the equipment for that(!) I've also seen her go to mount Porcella a couple of times, only to stop herself. I got the vet to double check her sex, and she is definitely a girl, so I came to the conclusion that Goggle was a lesbian guinea, but that she respected the fact that Porcella wasn't that way inclined!

This morning, however, Goggle was observed, after having been provoked yet again by Porcella, chasing Porcella round the cage and biting her rump, before mounting her for a few seconds and really going at it. Goggle was then visibly upset, and I can't imagine that Porcella was particularly happy about being raped by her female friend.

The question is, what should I do about this behaviour? Porcella is actually a very small pig, and Goggle could easily dominate her physically if she wanted to. Should I send Porcella back to the sanctuary and get a neutered board for Goggle? Can female guinea pigs be spayed to reduce their sexual appetites? Or is there a way to discourage this behaviour? I really don't want to lose Porcella, but our first loyalty is to Goggle, who we've had much longer and rescued directly from a house where she was not well looked after.

All advice is much appreciated!

Thanks x
 
i have all girls and mine do this from time to time i think its just there way of showing them whos the boss
someone with more experience may have some more advice though :)
 
My girls have always 'mounted' each other. I think its more distressing for the poor piggy slave watching than it is for the other piggie. The piggie who isnt in season usually sees off the 'randy' one with a quick nip. As far as I know this is just normal behaviour.
 
All I can do is to echo the above posts really..
It's a dominance thing and isn't really anything to worry about :)
 
Thanks, guys. I hoped it might be normal for sows to show dominance in this way. I still think Goggle is the only one that's interested in that kind of thing, though! Honestly, she has a lovely nature around humans, but she acts much more like a boar than a sow most of the time when she's in her cage.

I still worry that perhaps the girls aren't getting on...
 
I have 6 living together and one of them I have seen be like this a few times. The ones she does it to kind of make a noise and get her off.

I have not yet seen the other 5 do it at all to any of the others only this one girl.

I think it's okay and you are okay to keep them both...
 
Thanks! Perhaps it really is something that most alpha females do...
 
Hi - your only problem is that your girls are in season!

Girls come into season roughly every two weeks, and if they have it strongly, they will exhibit male behaviour, like rumbling, chasing and humping. It never lasts more than a day. The other girl is usually quite understanding about it and will only stop sitting still for her when she is seriously fed up.
It is more prominent in younger piggies and newly bonded girls (as there are usually some dominance issues wrapped up in it as well) and settles down in older and well bonded girls, although there is always the chance that it may flare up again all of a sudden.

"Wardancing" or rumblestrutting, as we call it on here, is plain dominance behaviour. As is nipping and head butting. She who rumbles last is top lady. Hierarchy is very important for guinea pigs. When girls come into season, it can trigger another round of dominance rumbling - often by the underpig who wants to question the order of things.

Anyway, no need to separate them or desex them (which is a major operation for girl that should only be undertaken for serious medical reasons). You have to get used to the fact that what you call sexual behaviour is part of guinea pig social life and doesn't mean anything like what you would think of in human terms.
 
Thanks, Wiebke, that was a seriously useful answer.

I've only ever seen Porcella do what you call rumblestrutting once, and it was hardly anything. I think she knows that she is the beta pig, but is just a madam about sharing things! It now makes sense that Goggle was so upset afterwards. She really does have such a lovely and warm nature, and it probably upset her that she had the impulse to do that to her poor tiny piggy friend! It's good to know that she'll probably be back to normal tomorrow...
 
My girl who does it is usually the one I feel sorry for too as she can't help it and is normally on best terms with the other girls.

Expect it again in a few weeks but hopefully it will calm down in time.
 
I have two unsnipped bours and Africa is the only one to mount, he mounts Leo, but it's a dominance thing altho i shout at him for doing it so it's eased a bit. It starts with that vibrating noise then he tries, sometimes Leo attacks him, other times he just can't be arsed too... lol but yes it's generally just dominance. Like they say you should brush a dog with his front legs up on a chair or table.
 
Thanks for your help, guys. Goggle needed lots of kisses and hugs yesterday evening, but she's back to normal today...
 
I've spotted my sow mounting my neutered boar a few times. First I thought that I had wrongly sexed them (they were both rescues). But upon confirmation from the vet, who neutered the boar, I was a bit confused...

Now that I think about it, it does happen only once in a while (like every 2 weeks!) So thanks to everyone for sharing your views on this. Good to know that my female is not the only odd one.
 
I'm no guinea pig expert but female dogs do this to show who's boss as well, so I'm guessing its the same thing?
 
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