Dominant Piggy!

[Crackers4]

So....another question about boars and dominance behaviours?! I am worried about my two, Bumblebee and Coco. They are both 5 months old ( so at that bratty teenager phase!) Bumble is the boss and dominates Coco a lot. Bumble humps Coco all the time and Coco squeals all the time! Bumble stalks the cage rumbling and Coco dutifully follows behind lol. There has been one nip by Coco, who I guess had had enough, but no other nasty incidents. Coco always seems to look depressed, if a Guinea Pig can look depressed! I have tried separating them, we have a C&C cage so just popped a grid in between but then they are both chewing the grid and trying to pull it away to get back to each other! But as soon as I put them back together, Bumble starts the rumbling and humping and Coco squeals and runs away!

IS THIS NORMAL?! Is Coco just being submissive and I have the storyline of 50 Shades of Grey going on in my house or should I persevere with trying to separate them!

Any thoughts very gratefully received! x

 

[Lady Kelly]

Oh no! How long have they been together? I'm not too sure as I don't have experience of bonding males but I do believe that if they aren't fighting its a good sign. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon to give some more practical advice

 

[Crackers4]

They have been together since December. They were part of a larger herd and then Bumblebee was separated as he was becoming aggressive to the other males. Coco was nice and placid so the staff in the shop P@H adoption section decided to put them together. They were fine until about a month after we got them lol x

 

[Wiebke]

Please do not separate; if Coco is wanting to be back with his mate and is following Bumble, it means that they are well bonded and fine with their typical boar behaviour. By interfering too much, you are likely to unbalance the relationship rather than steadying it. Your boys are now at the stage when they are at their randiest as the hormones are raging through their body. Humping is part of boar life. The screaming is submission, it is not pain. The teenage hormones last from around 4-14 months until your two boys become hormonally much more settled adults although you may still see them humping...

If Coco was REALLY unhappy, he'd stay out of Bumblebee's reach as much as possible. Weigh your boys weekly to see that they are putting on weight OK and are not losing it (the latter could be a sign of acute bullying). He IS a very submissive boy, and the bond has got a good chance of making it to adulthood together. You only need to separate if their have been bloody fights. so far, all the behaviour has been well in the mild to maximal medium range, which needs to be tolerated. Nipping is also mild dominance - it is NOT painful, it is just a well judged and carefully controlled gesture of power, as the dominant piggy is letting the underpig feel its teeth without breaking the skin.

Please read these threads here carefully:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/