Popcorning *whilst* rumblestrutting ?

KHBz

KHBz

Junior Guinea Pig
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So what is going on in that little piggy brain when Bianca, our rumblestrutter, popcorns mid-rumblestrut? She launches into her exaggerated bottom-sway rumbling, continues that rumbling whilst doing a couple of little 'seizures' in the air, and resumes the bottom-sway the moment her feet touch the ground again, her rumbling completely uninterrupted by those air-hiccups. Perhaps the attempted overthrow of her sister is going well ...?
 
KHBz said:
So what is going on in that little piggy brain when Bianca, our rumblestrutter, popcorns mid-rumblestrut? She launches into her exaggerated bottom-sway rumbling, continues that rumbling whilst doing a couple of little 'seizures' in the air, and resumes the bottom-sway the moment her feet touch the ground again, her rumbling completely uninterrupted by those air-hiccups. Perhaps the attempted overthrow of her sister is going well ...?
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It is very common in younger boars and just an expression of joy of life and being a guinea pig...

You can find one of the videos in our popcorning guide showing the same behaviour in a boar.
'Popcorning' and 'zooming' - joy and exuberance (videos)
 
Wiebke said:
It is very common in younger boars and just an expression of joy of life and being a guinea pig...

You can find one of the videos in our popcorning guide showing the same behaviour in a boar.
'Popcorning' and 'zooming' - joy and exuberance (videos)
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Thank you -- brilliant videos! Bianca is (I hope) a sow, though … although the possibility that she might not be has always niggled. (I asked the vet to double-check when we went last week -- "hard to tell" was the answer.) They have been with us five months now. Is it known for sows to behave like this too?
 
Mine do... They're very young and sometimes, one of them will be chasing the other (their first season was loud. Very loud.) and at some point, the chase will turn to zooming and/or popcorning. :)
 
My Rainbow Piggy Gizmo used to zoomie around and then all of a sudden jump about a foot in the air and clap his back and front feet together and somehow land on all four feet! His best mate Lenny tried to imitate but it was a miserable failure.
 
Micah is always popcorning and rumblestrutting at the same time.
I have seen Phoebe do the same and she is definitely a sow.
Happy piggies
 
KHBz said:
Thank you -- brilliant videos! Bianca is (I hope) a sow, though … although the possibility that she might not be has always niggled. (I asked the vet to double-check when we went last week -- "hard to tell" was the answer.) They have been with us five months now. Is it known for sows to behave like this too?
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Some sows are quite rumbly - my most rumbly was a spayed one, by the way!

If you are in any doubt (although after this time you should have likely seen babies), please have a look at our sexing guide.
Illustrated Sexing Guide

We are encouraging our members to learn how to look at the less obvious but much clearer areas that only a hands-on check can provide and that we always do with any piggy we are sexing ourselves.
Being able to sex piggies reliably yourself and never ever again having to rely on the judgment of others is not the worst life skills to acquire... Once you know how, it is actually not exactly difficult to get it right except with some newborns.
Keep in mind that most vets don't exactly see a lot of piggies for sexing!
 
Posyrose said:
I'm concerned by the vet's response! Even in young piggies a vet should be able to identify their gender. Maybe you should see if there is a more piggie savvy vet near you. See the vet locator above.
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Yes, I do agree, though I can see that the vet was not wanting to stress her out even more. (We had gone for a health check and nail clip and Bianca was even more terrified than Ophelia. Since Ophelia's hay poke and having had to catch her 4 times a day for 8 days to administer eye drops -- thereby terrifying both of them -- we stepped right back and have been letting them to come to us in their own time. This does, however, mean they are not used to being handled although they will climb all over us and Ophelia is now happy to be stroked.
Total digression: her hay-poke, entailing a painkiller injection, followed by an oral painkiller and 2 eye-drop meds, cost over £125 -- how have others only been charged £30-£50, the sum I have seen quoted on here a few times?)
Back to vets -- our local one has said they will refer us on to the exotics specialist about 45 minutes away if it is something they can't address (um, like sexing?) I'm going to have another look at your list, though, because I do remember seeing one you recommend not quite so far away. Thank you.
 
Merab's Slave said:
Micah is always popcorning and rumblestrutting at the same time.
I have seen Phoebe do the same and she is definitely a sow.
Happy piggies
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Oh good! I'm glad to hear that!
 
Wiebke said:
Some sows are quite rumbly - my most rumbly was a spayed one, by the way!

If you are in any doubt (although after this time you should have likely seen babies), please have a look at our sexing guide.
Illustrated Sexing Guide

We are encouraging our members to learn how to look at the less obvious but much clearer areas that only a hands-on check can provide and that we always do with any piggy we are sexing ourselves.
Being able to sex piggies reliably yourself and never ever again having to rely on the judgment of others is not the worst life skills to acquire... Once you know how, it is actually not exactly difficult to get it right except with some newborns.
Keep in mind that most vets don't exactly see a lot of piggies for sexing!
Click to expand...
I'm sorry -- I really hesitated before betraying the fact that I hadn't reliably sexed her myself (I did have an ineffectual look early on). I will read your guide in detail and have a go (Bianca permitting). I've just been reassured by the fact of no babies, as you point out. (By the time I'd found this forum and read about how many people end up with more guinea pigs than they had bargained for, I reckoned that a pregnancy would have been well under way. Not that that's an excuse for not checking properly.)
 
KHBz said:
Yes, I do agree, though I can see that the vet was not wanting to stress her out even more. (We had gone for a health check and nail clip and Bianca was even more terrified than Ophelia. Since Ophelia's hay poke and having had to catch her 4 times a day for 8 days to administer eye drops -- thereby terrifying both of them -- we stepped right back and have been letting them to come to us in their own time. This does, however, mean they are not used to being handled although they will climb all over us and Ophelia is now happy to be stroked.
Total digression: her hay-poke, entailing a painkiller injection, followed by an oral painkiller and 2 eye-drop meds, cost over £125 -- how have others only been charged £30-£50, the sum I have seen quoted on here a few times?)
Back to vets -- our local one has said they will refer us on to the exotics specialist about 45 minutes away if it is something they can't address (um, like sexing?) I'm going to have another look at your list, though, because I do remember seeing one you recommend not quite so far away. Thank you.
Click to expand...
I really think that if a vet cannot confidently sex a guinea pig, they should not be treating them!
 
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