Who is really Boss?

Storm1974

Storm1974

Junior Guinea Pig
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Leo and Rusty have a kind of strange bond I think, because although Leo sometimes rumbles at Rusty and then Rusty will move away (so we assume Leo is the dominant pig), other times Rusty will make this continuous complaining (but sounding more angry) noise to Leo and Leo will then just kind of freeze and then quickly move out of Rustys' way, it's quite strange. This usually happens when Rusty is in his wooden arch (which is right next to Leos') and Leo is wanting to go into Rustys' arch, or just if Leo is in the way of Rusty and he wants to get past, then he will do this noise constantly until Leo moves away/runs off. So, if Leo is doing all the rumbling (albeit very occasionally), then surely he is the boss pig, but if he's the boss pig, then why does he seem to go all submissive around Rusty when he makes that noise? It's kind of like Rusty's intimidating Leo to get him out of the way with the noise and him staying really still and staring at Leo, while he does it!

Also, we have seen Rusty occasionally trying to hump Leo's head, but they generally get on really well and have been together since they were babies (they're now around 20 months or so). Is it just that Rusty tries it on with Leo and Leo is just soft natured, so lets him?
 
Ah they sound lovely piggies - sorry but it sounds like normal piggy fun to me 😂
( of course I’m not an expert )
 
Sounds like a really stable bond where both boys respect each other's warnings of 'I draw my line here'.

If you cannot make out clearly who is boss, then it is because it really doesn't matter all that much to your boys, either. Submission squeaking can be used as a preventative protest as well - a very effective at that. It comes across like: 'You are the boss but I will be really, really miffed with you if you enforce this and make me move out'.

You can learn to spot various behaviours but once you discover just how much guinea pigs can modulate them using their voice, their body and situational context - not to mention pheromones which totally escape us - you start to get an inkling of just how complex and differentiated guinea pig social interaction actually is and that we are at the very best on the level of a tourists 'Cavy in 6 quick and easy lessons' language course. Each behaviour is more like a two page entry in the Oxford Dictionary with lots of different meanings and uses.

If you would like to post a video of certain behaviours or interactions, please upload it on a public setting on a platform that doesn't require a membership sign-in and then copy across. We are not part of social media and run this forum entirely on voluntary member donations. It is the one big trade-off we have for being in full control of our own space.
 
Rumbling doesn't necessarily equal dominance. Our last pigs, the subordinate pig rumbled a lot but he was not really challenging, it was just what he did. The other pig was twice his size and, though very lazy, would assert dominance occasionally in a very decisive way.

Our current two, boss pig used to rumble but does not do it any more (shame, he has a beautiful bass rumble!). Neither of them do. The subordinate pig makes a lot more noise in general and will often get on his soapbox and have a whinge.

If you didn't know the history and the personalities of our two, you would not be able to tell who's dominant, just because they are both happy with the setup and boss pig has a very soft management style. If you are very attentive you'll occasionally see boss pig turf the subordinate out of a favourite place just to pull rank, and it is always the boss who scopes out new territory and is usually at the head of the piggy train. But the signs are very subtle.
 
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