Guinea Pig Behaviour Project!

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chloe heslington

chloe heslington

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HI, for one of my lessons at college I will be doing a project on the behaviours of guinea pigs specifically being 'The effect of enrichment on a variety of guinea pigs', i will then be looking at how age, weight, gender and neutering may affect their behaviours as i will be using 9 guinea pigs for my project, 7 of them being at college and 2 being my own 2- which means they are all of different ages, weights. I think i will then be comparing my neutered boar to a non neutered boar at college of the same age to see if and where they differ.


However i need to get some information so if anyone can help me with some answers from their own experience it will be very much appreciated!

Does weight affect behaviour?

Does age affect behaviour?

Does Gender affects behaviour?

Does Neutering affect behaviour?

Thank you!
 
:D Does weight affect behaviour? I don't think so. Fat pigs can be just as active as thin pigs.

Does age affect behaviour? It can do. Young pigs are generally more inclined to be active than older pigs.

Does gender affect behaviour? Again, I don't think so. I've had active males and females.

Does neutering affect behaviour? No. My males have been just as active post-neuter as pre-neuter.

Hope this helps. :tu:
 
Cool project! I wish I had gone into something working with animals! :) I'll do my best to answer from my experience with my five pigs over the years.

Does weight affect behavior: I haven't really seen it do so. I've had some very big, but bouncy and active, pigs!

Does age affect behavior: I would say yes. My pigs have been more active as babies/youngsters and more sedate as mature adults/elderly pigs. I've also seen my adolescent pigs be at peak for dominance and other behaviors that seem hormone-driven and to be be better at letting things go and getting along as they are older.

Does gender affect behavior: I have no experience here, having only kept sows.

Does neutering affect behavior: I have no experience here either, having only owned intact sows over the years.
 
I have seven guinea pigs, so I've based this on them:

Does weight affect behaviour?
Not as far as I know.

Does age affect behaviour?
Yes. One of my boars strongly disliked being cuddled until he was about 3 - he would pull at clothes, wheek and try and run away. Now he loves cuddles and being handled in general, he is a proper 'lap pig' (he is four and half now). I can only assume he has mellowed with age.
My older boy rumblestruts less than my young boys, however, he still tries to mount his wifelet as often as my young boys mount theirs!

Does Gender affects behaviour?
Hard to say if it is personality or gender, but my boys seem more relaxed than my girls - all my girls give narky nips when they're annoyed with their cagemates, where as my boys don't. I have a pair of sows who also get a bit moody with each other when they're in season, where as my boys seem to have the same temperament the whole time.

Does Neutering affect behaviour?
I have two neutered boars and one spayed sow and I haven't noticed any obvious changes in behaviour. Even my sow is still as feisty and moody as always, despite the vet promising she would calm down haha.
 
My new adopted boars like to explore a whole lot more than my sister's step kid's two sows. But, I think quality of handling probably affects this more than gender. I know the children's handling of their piggies was a bit rough :-( and perhaps if the sows had received better handling they would be more keen to explore rather than return to their cage for safety. My boys love to explore is all I can say for sure! Boxes and tunnels are the best as far as they are concerned and the more the better! They are unneutered boars.
 
Does weight affect behaviour?
Well I have a hefty heffer and she's just as active as all the others. Apart from activity levels I can't see anything that stands out.

Does age affect behaviour?
Yes. They get calmer as they age and more likely to enjoy a bit of lap-time. Also they popcorn a little less as they age. They also go through 'teenage' years where they test their place in the pecking order. I have found in mine that this is the age they are most likely to 'chirp'.

Gender? Well yes I think it does. You can certainly tell that my one boar is a boar! He has a swanky-swagger in his walk, he seems to tell the whole world with his body language that, not only is his home his, he is also a very handsome boar indeed! He's forever trying to impress his sow and even us at times. I have also found that out of all the piggies I've had (6 sows and 1 boar) that my boar loves having his run attached to his cage more than the others. He also makes regular rounds of his territory and does his little swagger at nothing, just to say it belongs to him, and will get very excited and popcorn at nothing that I can think of, then go to see his sow just to make sure she still exists! :) I have not seen any of my sows behave this way, even though I do have a definite dominant head-pig, she shows it (dominance) in a different way to him and doesn't go about surveying and checking her territory. Is he a typical boar? I don't know, but this is my experience only :) I have a sow who popcorns, often for no apparent reason, but my boar does his rounds and his boar-swagger before popcorning and then going to see his sow, so it's quite specific in him.

Neutering? I have a neutered boar, but didn't know him before he was neutered so I cannot answer.
 
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I did something similar to this when I was at college! I'll help best I can.

Does weight affect behaviour?
Maybe. Depends on what you are defining behaviour as. If it's simply feeding/drinking then maybe? A chubby piggy will probably eat more? My Rory is a little chubby and he eats anything and everything without stopping to think what it is. Where as my skinniest pig likes to have a nosy and a sniff at what I'm offering first. If the pig is obese then they might not be able to run around as well as skinnier pigs. Though Rory is still quite active, he enjoys a nap and a few biscuits more than a good run about.

Does age affect behaviour?
I would say yes. My oldest boy of 4 is very different to my youngest of about 5 months. My oldest is quite steady in his wanderings in his cage. He likes to take it slow and steady and have a sniff about. He likes to lay in his hay and sleep a lot, and he doesn't enjoy as many cuddles as he used to. He's a little bit grumpy now. Throughout the years I've noticed him becoming calmer. My youngest pigs are very quick and dart about from place to place. They seem more interested in running and exercise than stopping to sniff or root around. They love being picked up and want to run about on my lap.

Does Gender affect behaviour?
All the pigs I've mentioned above are boars, I've had 4 sows but it was when I was younger and I can't really remember them now. I would say yes though. Boars like to rumble and chatter and patrol what's theirs more so than I've seen with sows. Though I've read that a dominant sow can patrol and chatter to keep others inline. In terms of play, I don't think gender matters. I've known all of my guineas to enjoy a good run, explore or new toys.

Does Neutering affect behaviour?
None of my boys have been neutered, so again I'm not sure. A neutered boar might be less "aggressive" and non dominant, so he wouldn't need to guard whats his like a dominant non neutered boar.
 
Does ____ affect behaviour?

Weight

No, just as many people that are 'overweight' themselves are active meanwhile you can see some slim couch potatoes. I think other things factor into this more.

Age

I've never had an adult guinea pig popcorn, which is a behaviour I myself see more frequently in younger pigs. As with anything, younger pigs are more agile and hyper. When guinea pigs get older I do notice that they begin to laze around more even though they used to be bouncing off the walls practically. Yes, age does affect the behaviour of pigs. As with anything, like I said before.

Gender

Hard to say. I would say my males warmed up to me quicker than any of my females did. This is something that has a large grey area. I do believe there are some similiarities between pigs of the same gender but your entire guinea pig's personality shouldn't be determined based on the gender it has.

Neutering

I have no experience with my own pigs. I've been a protective owner that has been scared to put my pigs 'under the needle'. Working as a shelter volunteer though I can say that the pre and post neuter pigs didn't have too many differences. It just depends if you want a sow and boar pairing (which has been extremely successful) or if you just want yours not intact.
 
weight, not really, I have 15 and they all different weights, the heavier ones are as active as others.
Age, I have a boar who is 5 1/2, he is slowing down in what he does, but apart from that his behaviour is the same. But young piggies tend to popcorn more, and run laps like crazy!
gender, the girls can rumble strut as much as the boys sometimes, especially when in heat!
Neutering, this doesn't affect behaviour at all.
Have fun with the project! :)
 
Re. Age affecting their behaviour, my current pair are ageing now and beginning to show signs. They sleep a lot more, they do still have active moments (including the occasional bounce) but it's usually at feeding time only.
 
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