Playing or fighting?

M

Marnes

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi,
I've just adopted my first pair of guinea pigs (males) who are around 20 weeks old. They were given back to the pet store by their previous owners because their child lost interest in them. We've had them a couple of days now and they are becoming much braver - coming out of their safe place and eating and running around the cage even when we are in the room. Over the last day I've been watching their interactions and I'm not sure if they are playing or fighting. Inexperience I guess! They jump and chase each other around, sniff each other's rears, sometimes attempt to mount each other. This morning they seemed to push in to each other's foreheads and the larger of the two looked liked he was puffing himself up a bit. Should I be concerned?
 
Don’t be worried. They have to work out the hierarchy and those are just some of the things they’ll do. You don’t have to worry unless one is being prevented from eating, sleeping and so on, or blood is drawn. It can be scary when you’ve never seen it before but it’s normal 😊
 
Siikibam said:
Don’t be worried. They have to work out the hierarchy and those are just some of the things they’ll do. You don’t have to worry unless one is being prevented from eating, sleeping and so on, or blood is drawn. It can be scary when you’ve never seen it before but it’s normal 😊
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I agree. They are just being dominant. How big is their cage?
 
Just normal dominance behaviour between boys. Guinea pigs have a strict hierarchy and they are just sorting out who is going to be top pig. In any new situation piggies have to work it out all over again!
 
Welcome to the forum.
As others have said it's just sorting out dominance.
Don't worry if there's an odd tiny nick on a nose - that's nothing to worry about - it's the serious blood drawing bites that are signs of trouble.
 
Gia said:
I agree. They are just being dominant. How big is their cage?
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It's not very big. It's a 120 - biggest the pet shop had. Then again, they wont have been used to any bigger in the shop. Hoping to introduce a run once they're more settled.
 
Betsy said:
Just normal dominance behaviour between boys. Guinea pigs have a strict hierarchy and they are just sorting out who is going to be top pig. In any new situation piggies have to work it out all over again!
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I wondered if that was the case - new home new rules
 
As the others have said it just sounds like dominance.
Definitely add more space if possible. Two males seem to need more room than two females. My two boys have 25sq ft of space and still seem to find a way to wind each other up!
 
Thanks for the reassurance and advice everyone. It's a whole new world to me!
 
I’m new to Guinea pigs too (1 year last week) and I still come across things I didn’t know. I’d introduce that run ASAP. They’ll love it 😁 enjoy!
 
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