Hi, I was hoping you could help with understanding my guineapigs' behaviour better. I have 2 6month old females who are bonded and recently got another older female to join the group. I followed the bonding advice and I think they bonded fine as they're happy eating together and sleeping next to each other. However, there are still some occasional chases and unwanted bum sniffing (where one piggies tries to sniff the other piggies bum and the other piggy jumps to push them away) going on. Weirdly my two bonded pigs were doing this to each other too, not just to the new female. None of them seem to be hurting each other, there's no bites visible, no teeth chattering that I've noticed and no blocking of hay, food or water. I assume they're just trying to sort out their new social hierarchy? I think one of my females is in season right now too as she's doing a lot of bum waffling, purring and trying to mount the others occasionally. Just wanted to check that this was normal behaviour and nothing to worry about?
Successful bonding?
- Thread starter Jenpen
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- behavior bonding a sow
Hi!
What most people are not aware of that bonding is not just done in a few hours; it takes around two weeks on average to fully establish a hierarchy and settle down as a group. Two of your sows are also currently in the thick of their own teenage hormones (yes. sows can have them to!)
The good news is that the behaviours are still very much within the mild to normal range. Bum sniffing means increased/changed pheromone output in relation to the estrus cycle and hormones.
Here is more information on the post-intro dominance phase, dominance behaviours and seasons:
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
When Sows Experience A Strong Season (videos)