Which piggy is dominant?

[Mikatelyn]

Hi!
I have 2 boars from the same litter, named Bandit and Bolt. They are 6 months old.
They get along well, and I thought Bolt was the dominant one, but in the last month or so I'm wondering if Bandit has now become the dominant one. Can they switch heirarchy?

Reasons why I think Bolt might be dominant:
-Bolt will sometimes take food from Bandit
-Bolt will tend to hunker down with food and not run away
-when Bolt comes in to take treats, he will sort of bodily push Bandit out of the way (although Bandit seems to have learned how to do that and started doing it back to Bolt)
-when they do their chin-up stand offs, Bolt seems to be facing Bandit more directly while Bandit's head is more tilted away
-Bolt tends to be in the lead for any piggy trains around their pen

Reasons why I think Bandit might be more dominant
-recently I noticed Bandit taking food from Bolt's mouth
-Bandit seems to start rumble strutting before Bolt does, and he seems to rumblestrut more than Bolt
-recently noticed Bandit forcing Bolt's chin up
-he sniffs Bolts bottom a lot more than the other way around
-Bandit tends to arrive first to get treats from the humans, so tends to eat first

I've never seen any humping or chasing.
If one is already in a hidey, the other one running up to the hidey just stops. Either he doesn't go in or they rumblestrut past each other in slow motion.

what do you guys think? Does it sound like Bandit or Bolt is top piggy?

 

[MygirlsK1016]

I have two sows and my “submissive” one, does challenge the “dominant” one quite a bit. I don’t think that challenging, taking food, or rumble-strutting are necessarily signs that the hierarchy switched but it is possible. If one guinea pig grows bigger/faster, is stronger because the other falls sick, etc. changes in dominance can definitely occur. As long as they still get along and aren’t fighting over dominance, then there is nothing to worry about. If you are curious to really tell which is dominant, maybe keep an eye on their interactions and see who tends to assert dominance more often rather than what actions they specifically do. I might say Bandit is dominant just because of the rumble strutting, stealing food, and challenging. But my submissive steals food from the other so it’s hard to say without chasing or mounting involved.

 

[Mikatelyn]

Ok thanks!
They get along quite well. The only signs of bickering are when they get treats they get competitive and it turns into an eating contest of which piggy can get the most amount of food first. Occasionally there is a brief sharp movement with their heads that will scare the other one into backing up briefly.
I just keep reading that I should always handle the dominant one first, but it's not really that clear to me anymore which one is dominant, so I hope I don't get it wrong and cause squabbling!

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

Around six months is the most typical age for the hierarchy of boar pairs to change. They are no longer babies but are entering adulthood and will naturally challenge one an other. Sometimes the top pig can change and sometimes can change back again as they workout the roles they are most comfortable in.

All piggies will try and take food from each other regardless of rank. Also any piggy can lead a piggy train. The boldest pig will be the first to take food from humans but being bold with people doesn't mean that pig is dominant with other pigs.

Bandit sounds the most likely to be dominant as he forces Bolt's head up but it may be they are still deciding who is top pig.

I wouldn't over worry about which you handle first.