Popcorning - always a sign of happiness?

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missy

missy

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Hi all,

I've seen plenty of popcorning and know that it's a sign of joy but was wondering if anyone else had seen their piggy popcorn for other reasons.

My Yossi popcorns when he's really happy and it's very clear to see, but I've also recently seen him do what looks exactly like popcorning when he seems angry or frustrated. He's currently living next door to another boar who he'd initially bonded with but subsequently fought and fell out with. Sometimes when the two neighbours are up at the cage bars next to eachother, biting the bars, 'growling' and chattering their teeth at each other, Yossi then paces up and down and does a popcorning action.

I could understand him popcorning if he was happily chatting with his neighbour in a friendly manner and was happy to have his company, but in the scenario I've described I'm sure that he's not doing it out of happiness!

Is this normal?!?!

Thanks x
 
I have seen my piggies having little popcorns when they are frustrated. It is obviously a way of letting off steam!
 
Thanks Wiebke, glad it's not just mine!

From my experience I'm guessing perhaps popcorning is a result of heightened emotions, generally speaking, and can happen either way. As it's most usually prompted by extreme happiness, we naturally associate it with that, as opposed to the extreme annoyance that I've seen on occasions...... although thankfully we witness many more displays of happiness here, than unhappiness, I might add! :)
 
Moxie popcorns whenever he's excited, more than happy, I think. If you put something new in the run, no matter what then he'll popcorn loads! And when he sees a cat or something he'll popcorn. He is happy I guess, but more excited, because he does it too when he gets a surprise, like if you come up when he's not looking and say something.


I also think popcorning is contagious and one can start another one popcorning. My girls used to never popcorn or squeak happily, because they were too nervous, but when they see the boys popcorning or squeaking then they do too. :)

And if a guinea pig popcorns then they make the rabbits binky, and vice versa!
 
I have just got two boars and they have been settling in. They have been very tetchy with each other, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw them popcorn. Everything I have read says that they do it when they are happy, and mine have been far from happy since they came home! I couldn't understand it .... but now I know that they do it when they are annoyed too, and suddenly it all fits again! :-)
 
Daw, I find that if one of my boys goes up to another one and sniffs his back/bum then he will popcorn, so maybe it's something like that?
 
I've seen Llewelyn once - literally - hopping mad when he got a proper telling off from his first girl Dizzy. She then marched him - there is no other way to describe that - back to the cage with nose firmly stuck in his back to give him a bit more of her mind.

It reminded me so much of a headmistress dealing with an errant stundent that I fell of the sofa from laughing!
 
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