Is this acceptable bonding behaviour?

T

tonyenribbel

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Introduction:Hi everyone!

We recently lost one of our guinea pigs (a sow), leaving Tony, our 5-year-old sow, alone. Tony has been on her own for about three weeks, and we've been looking for new companions to keep her company.

New Companions: We've adopted two guinea pigs from our local shelter 1,5 weeks ago:
  • Klaas, a 4-year-old boar
  • Saar, a 3-year-old sow
Current Situation:The initial introduction went okay, with no serious fights. However, Tony, who seems older than her age and has a lump, appears to be at the bottom of the hierarchy. She regularly experiences dominant behavior from both Klaas and Saar. We've noticed persistent dominance behaviors, including frequent mounting and constant rumbling, particularly from Klaas, which sometimes continues for around 30 minutes at a time. Occasionally, Klaas even seems restless, alternating between mounting Tony and energetic zooming and popcorning.

Concerns:We're now two weeks in, and the dominance behavior remains intense. Though Tony doesn't seem visibly distressed and continues exploring and resting alongside the others, we find it uncomfortable to watch her endure constant dominance behaviors.

Questions to the Community:

  • Is this ongoing dominance behavior typical for a trio consisting of one boar and two sows?
  • Should we expect some degree of chasing, squealing, and mounting to be a normal part of daily herd life, or will this settle down further?
Here's a video to illustrate the situation. You'll see Tony returning from a kitchen exploration and immediately encountering dominance behaviors first from Saar, then Klaas, who subsequently popcorns energetically.

Video.

We'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

Thanks!
 
tonyenribbel said:
Introduction:Hi everyone!

We recently lost one of our guinea pigs (a sow), leaving Tony, our 5-year-old sow, alone. Tony has been on her own for about three weeks, and we've been looking for new companions to keep her company.

New Companions: We've adopted two guinea pigs from our local shelter 1,5 weeks ago:
  • Klaas, a 4-year-old boar
  • Saar, a 3-year-old sow
Current Situation:The initial introduction went okay, with no serious fights. However, Tony, who seems older than her age and has a lump, appears to be at the bottom of the hierarchy. She regularly experiences dominant behavior from both Klaas and Saar. We've noticed persistent dominance behaviors, including frequent mounting and constant rumbling, particularly from Klaas, which sometimes continues for around 30 minutes at a time. Occasionally, Klaas even seems restless, alternating between mounting Tony and energetic zooming and popcorning.

Concerns:We're now two weeks in, and the dominance behavior remains intense. Though Tony doesn't seem visibly distressed and continues exploring and resting alongside the others, we find it uncomfortable to watch her endure constant dominance behaviors.

Questions to the Community:

  • Is this ongoing dominance behavior typical for a trio consisting of one boar and two sows?
  • Should we expect some degree of chasing, squealing, and mounting to be a normal part of daily herd life, or will this settle down further?
Here's a video to illustrate the situation. You'll see Tony returning from a kitchen exploration and immediately encountering dominance behaviors first from Saar, then Klaas, who subsequently popcorns energetically.

Video.

We'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

Yes, this is very much par for the post-intro group hierarchy/territory establishment dominance phase, which lasts on averages about 2 weeks. The mounting and dominance usually travels from rung by rung from the top downwards with the heaviest dominance usually coming from the piggy ranked just above to confirm the hierarchy.
It is usually very vocal. Please brace yourself for the first seasons as the shared excess of emotions is going towards strengthening and cementing the bond.

This is all on the mild side and the body language from all three is pretty relaxed. Klaas is definitely a happy boy. Tony doesn't look stressed to me. Count yourself lucky! This bonding is working out just fine. :tu:

Here are some helpful guide links:
- Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
- Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment
- Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including mounting and ovarian cysts)
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

Yes, this is very much par for the post-intro group hierarchy/territory establishment dominance phase, which lasts on averages about 2 weeks. The mounting and dominance usually travels from rung by rung from the top downwards with the heaviest dominance usually coming from the piggy ranked just above to confirm the hierarchy.
It is usually very vocal. Please brace yourself for the first seasons as the shared excess of emotions is going towards strengthening and cementing the bond.

This is all on the mild side and the body language from all three is pretty relaxed. Klaas is definitely a happy boy. Tony doesn't look stressed to me. Count yourself lucky! This bonding is working out just fine. :tu:

Here are some helpful guide links:
- Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
- Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment
- Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including mounting and ovarian cysts)
Click to expand...

Alrighty, thanks for the affirmation :) We'll keep soldiering on and try to think Tony is not suffering too much in this whole ordeal we've brought to her habitat.
 
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