Popcorning. How Deliberate Is It?

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Tigermoth

Tigermoth

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I was watching them this morning and when Timmy popcorned in the middle of a mouthful of hay, I wondered how deliberate it actually is. He reminded me of one of those spring toys that you would get in party bags, you'd push them down and then randomly they would "POP" straight up in the air later on.

Is it something they mean to do? Or is it more like a sneeze or something, comes out of the blue, can't be helped and unconsciously done?
 
I've always wondered this too. Ive always thought that they can't control it. As I've seen some random popcorning moments that make the piggies look like they're flying out of hay trays :))

They always looks quite surprised afterwards too. Haha :)
 
Tigermoth said:
I was watching them this morning and when Timmy popcorned in the middle of a mouthful of hay, I wondered how deliberate it actually is. He reminded me of one of those spring toys that you would get in party bags, you'd push them down and then randomly they would "POP" straight up in the air later on.

Is it something they mean to do? Or is it more like a sneeze or something, comes out of the blue, can't be helped and unconsciously done?
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I think that it often just overtakes them. Simply joi de vivre (joy of life), expressed in its purest form! They can even popcorn in the middle of rumblestrutting when they are happy... Like we skip or dance when we are happy!
 
Pippin did one the other day.. she cleared the floor by quite a few inches !
 
:)) I think it is involuntary too, I miss it from when they were younger and they would leap so high. Ours still do it at run time but rarely in the cage unless I am popping fresh hay in and they are especially excited by prospect and Sasppy does laps of the cage like a fuzzy little race horse :)

popcorning is one of the most wonderful things about piggies
 
There is a 3 year age gap between my Emma and Ellen. Ellen is coming up to a year old and still very much a baby in terms of popcorning and doing zoomies up and down the hallway. It's so funny and cute when four year old Emma tries to keep up with her :D
 
I loved it when my Carwyn, who'd spent the first three years of his life in a 1 ft square breeder box, discovered popcorning and zoomies (he literally didn't know how to run) after he got 5 weeks old baby Heini as his wife. It was so funny to watch the two having a popcorning session together in the cage.
 
:D Guinea pigs do different popcorns according to their age and weight. Two of my youngest and smallest girls , Crow Feather and Swan, do the highest, twistiest popcorns. Bonnie, my oldest and nearly heaviest, just does a tiny jump and barely gets her toes off the floor! :))
 
I think a lot of it is just involuntary expression of excitement. They get all excited and just can't help themselves! One of my pigs would popcorn if we talked to her in an excited voice, which was cute and kind of her little trick that we could show off.
 
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