Sow Mounting

dabel101

dabel101

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello, i have three sow guinea pigs, two 9 month olds and a 5 month old. I have had the two 9 month old sows for almost seven months now. I had to re-bond them as i was given a pregnant sow, Doris, at first and she was separated when having her babies. The bonding went well overall, they are very good with eachother although they like their personal space.
Today i noticed mabel (the top of the pecking order) in her tunnel hidey when my other 9 month sow Doris wanted to also go in the tunnel. Mabel rumble strutted but she does this everytime someone wants to steal her hidey so i didnt think anything of it. Except today she followed Doris out and started to mount her, which i have never seen her do before. I stayed there for about 30 mins and she did it again, although she was fine with her otherwise it was only when she wanted to steal her hidey. I don’t know if she does this often i just never see her do it? The cage was also cleaned yesterday and i moved things around, could this be something?
Should i be worried at all?
 
It may be a strong season or she’s just asserting her dominance. If it continues (doesn’t behave as usual) then I would get her checked out.
 
Siikibam said:
It may be a strong season or she’s just asserting her dominance. If it continues (doesn’t behave as usual) then I would get her checked out.
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Thanks. She is super calm otherwise, hasn’t done it again since this morning :)
 
When I got Gertie, Gladys mounted her a few times on about day 4 of the bonding.

It all settled down after about a week x
 
*kate* said:
When I got Gertie, Gladys mounted her a few times on about day 4 of the bonding.

It all settled down after about a week x
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Thanks, havent seen her do it since that. But Mabel is pretty dominant in new places so i think me moving the cage confused her slightly into thinking she was in somewhere new, so i dont think that helped. Plus it was a new hidey🙈
 
Mounting between sows is normal dominance behavior, it's also a behavior that's hormone-associated at times when they are in heat. With the two pigs I have now I very seldom see this kind of behavior, but not long ago my non-dominant pig had a strong hormone season and was trying to mount her cagemate, who was not having it. LOL! It settled down after a couple of days.
 
Also when you clean the cage try to leave a couple of old items in there so it still smells like them.
I tend to do half cleans where I remove half the items for washing but make sure to always leave a few familiar smelling things in for an additional day or two.
 
Swissgreys said:
Also when you clean the cage try to leave a couple of old items in there so it still smells like them.
I tend to do half cleans where I remove half the items for washing but make sure to always leave a few familiar smelling things in for an additional day or two.
Click to expand...
Thats what i normally do, although things needed a wash so i think i made a mistake washing everything at the same time.
Thanks!
 
I have 2 girls about 3 years old and every now and then we have a bit humping. . I ask them why and the one who's on the receiving end looks at me . . As if to say "don't ask me"
:doh:
 
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