Some behavior questions!

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bluetrooth

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Heya

So I have two little guinea pigs that from the looks of it can't be much older than a month or two (not sure how old they were when I bought them, but they're quite small still,) and was wondering about some of their habits.

Often times when they're in their wooden house together they'll make this deep purring sound (almost pigeon-like) that I hear guinea pigs make when they're happy or satisfied, but they also do it shortly after a loud noise or something startling happened, so I was wondering if that still meant the same thing.
They're both male, young, and don't seem to be making any romantic advances so I doubt it's a mating call or a romancing effort, but they do it a lot. :D

Secondly, sometimes when we're interacting with them and they're running around, one will mount the other in a seemingly non-sexual way. I've read that this is to assert dominance, but it looks innocent to me. The other never retaliates, and it rather looks like he's trying to run over him rather than make a statement of any kind. That's nothing to worry about, right?


Thanks!
 
That grrrr sound you hear after a loud noise or something startling them is an annoyed sound it can sound like a purring but often piggies will do it when they hear something they don't like. With ours it's the phone or keys jangling...

As for the mounting it's probably dominance... Welcome to the forum by the way.
 
Hi welcome to the forum to you and your little boys :)
I do hope you'll pop some pigtures on of them soon, whee have a stories/photos' section.
I'll pop a link on for you re their noises :)
Enjoy looking around, please feel welcome to ask questions and join in the chatter at anytime :)

Glynis, Velvet and Onyx x


http://jackiesguineapiggies.com/guineapigsounds.html
 
Thanks! I'll try and post some pictures of them soon! :)

I'm a little worried about the purring if it's a dominance thing, right now they usually crawl in the same little house together, but often times one of them will be making this loud purring sound for minutes on end; it's like a deep rumbling sound. It's definitely not teeth chattering, it's the same noise they make when they're enjoying something, just deeper and it can last quite a while.

Anything to worry about?
 
I would not worry unless its accompanied by other signs of dominance. My boys are over a year old, and in the year that ive had them they make this noise daily, but have never even had what i would call a scuffle. :)

If you are worried, your best bet is to make sure the cage you have meets the 120x60 cm minimum requirements for two boars, give them 2 of everything (two hideys, each with two exits so nobody can get blocked in) two bowls, two bottles, etc. This is good practise with boars anyway, as it means they never have anything to argue over! :)

Hope that helps. :)
 
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