Guinea humping when cage cleaned

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olgadapolga

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Hi there, we have two male guineas age 1yr and 8m who are bonded and get on well in a large c & c cage with fleece. Recently the level of humping of the younger one to the older one has increased a lot, particularly around the time when we brush out the cage in the evening. Do you think the smells from the cage being swept become stronger at cleaning time and this affects the behaviour? Am thinking of separating them at cleaning time to protect the older one and give him some space. I was also worried yesterday his eye was scratched during humping but from checking today looks fine. Also at what point would you seperate them permemantly if needed as I don't want one to get injured. So far today it has been fine as decided not to sweep the cage to see what happened and there has been no humping.
 
The reason the eyes were a concern is he seems to hop on from the side and hump the other guinea pig's side shoulder area so his front feet are behind the ear. So is always the risk of a front paw getting near his eye.
 
Humping is normal dominance behaviour. There is no need to separate, unless there is a full on fight or one is bullied. That’s not the case here though. Your younger boy has/is experiencing a hormone surge.

If you’re worried about the eye then get piggy checked out. But don’t separate. Give them time to work through it.

Cleaning them out can trigger it. In the past, my top boar used to chase and mount his friend after a cage clean out. Perhaps you could keep some soiled bedding or any (used) fleece hides in the cage when you clean them out.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
 
olgadapolga said:
The reason the eyes were a concern is he seems to hop on from the side and hump the other guinea pig's side shoulder area so his front feet are behind the ear. So is always the risk of a front paw getting near his eye.
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Hi

Welcome to the world of hormonal teenage boars!

In order to avoid a re-establishment of the existing group hierarchy in new (i.e. scent marking-free territory) give your boys some play time with the new fleece for scent marking purposes before you put it into the newly cleaned cage. This will signal that the cage is still their territory and will hopefully cut down on any dominance mounting (i.e. typical boar humping from all angles). this is actually still mild dominance behaviour, as is rumble-strutting.
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

More tips and dos/donts for boars in chapter 3 in our boar guide: A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

Here is more information on all aspects of teenage (including what you can do help stabilising a pair) in this guide here: Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
 
Thanks for the messages, that's really helpful. I've been wondering about switching back to wood shavings in the c & c cage as it's the daily poo and hay sweeps and change of pee pads that seems to trigger it. Any thoughts?
 
They will still do it on another type of bedding. It’s about territory, as wiebke has said, not the bedding itself. My two are bedded on disposable beddings - hay, megazorb and they do It Also (not all the time, My dominant is worse for it during spring, and I can do a full clean without it causing them any problems the majority of the time).
You can minimise it by only cleaning out half the cage at a time so there is some scent marked bedding still in the cage so they will still see it as their space.
 
Thanks piggies & buns, good plan. I may sweep half the cage in the morning and the other half in the evening then. Yes seems to have increased with Spring.
 
Also just realised as we have four guineas in total, two in each seperate c & c cage, I sweep out with the same dustpan and brush. Could I be bringing scent into their cage via the brush from the other cage? If so maybe I need seperate dustpan and brush for each cage?
 
olgadapolga said:
Also just realised as we have four guineas in total, two in each seperate c & c cage, I sweep out with the same dustpan and brush. Could I be bringing scent into their cage via the brush from the other cage? If so maybe I need seperate dustpan and brush for each cage?
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Yes, that will spread the scent from the other pigs into their territory. Sharing a brush for full cleans when you are removing everything won't matter but if you are just brushing stuff off the fleece it will smell to the resident pigs as if the others have been in their cage.
 
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