Purring & swaying?

K

Kiki93

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Messages
5
Reaction score
3
Points
70
Hi everyone!

So, I am a relatively new owner of two girl piggies 😍 I've had them for just over four weeks now and everything seems to be great! They're approx 12 weeks old, called Thelma & Penny!

Penny is more of the sensible one I'd say, not as vocal, occasionally zoomies and pops, but most of the time she just eats, drinks and sleeps!

Thelma on the other hand, is crazy! VERY vocal! Loves zoomies and pops so much sometimes that she ends up doing a roly poly!

Over the last two days I've been hearing a deep purring noise, took me a while to catch who it was but I caught Thelma yesterday! As well as making the deep purring like noise, she also spread her legs apart and did a sway like movement, quite trance like! As soon as she did it Penny ran off and then Thelma did a huge pop!

My first thoughts were that she's unhappy with something? But with her still being crazy I'm finding that hard to be true.

She's still making the noise this morning so we are on day three. Any help or suggestions would be great as I just want my piggies to be happy!

Thank you and sorry for the LONG post!
 
That sounds like rumble-strutting which is a normal friendly dominance behaviour. Boys do this a lot, but girls do it too, especially if they are in season. If her friend ran away when she did it she probably did a happy jump because she's successfully demonstrated she's boss for the day. Or sometimes my girls like to do it to show they are the boss of a particular food dish or hidey house!
 
Kiki93 said:
Hi everyone!

So, I am a relatively new owner of two girl piggies 😍 I've had them for just over four weeks now and everything seems to be great! They're approx 12 weeks old, called Thelma & Penny!

Penny is more of the sensible one I'd say, not as vocal, occasionally zoomies and pops, but most of the time she just eats, drinks and sleeps!

Thelma on the other hand, is crazy! VERY vocal! Loves zoomies and pops so much sometimes that she ends up doing a roly poly!

Over the last two days I've been hearing a deep purring noise, took me a while to catch who it was but I caught Thelma yesterday! As well as making the deep purring like noise, she also spread her legs apart and did a sway like movement, quite trance like! As soon as she did it Penny ran off and then Thelma did a huge pop!

My first thoughts were that she's unhappy with something? But with her still being crazy I'm finding that hard to be true.

She's still making the noise this morning so we are on day three. Any help or suggestions would be great as I just want my piggies to be happy!

Thank you and sorry for the LONG post!
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome!

Firstly, please double-check the gender in your piggies to make sure that you have two girls. Mis-sexing is unfortunately not at all uncommon; hence why we strongly recommend to it upon arrival. The genitalia especially in babies can look quite similar and there is a wider variance in appearance than textbook pictures suggest.
Please also check the two areas we recommend (the inside of the slit and the presence/absence of a penis shaft under the skin), which are much more unequivocal. If both areas come back with the same answer for you, then you can be absolutely sure. Our illustrated sexing guide will show you exactly where to look and how it should look. ;)
What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)

Rumbles-trutting is a mild dominance behaviour. If the leader is not yet quite secure in her new role, then it can last longer than the season that has likely triggered it. Sows do it too, but the behaviour is more commonly associated with boars, hence my request for checking the gender. We have caught out the odd mis-sexed boar that way over the years.
You may find these two guides here helpful to understand their behaviour:
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

The popcorning (jumping) and zooming (running) or any combination thereof including intentionally bumping into their companions at the end is very much what happy youngsters do when they are full of energy. You can see a little of that in the baby boar bonding video.

All these guides and more are part of our New Owners Guides collection to help them to as problem-free and smooth a start. We are specifically addressing all the areas we get the most questions and concerns about like settling in and making friends with (including a spot of useful piggy whispering), understanding behaviour as well as housing (including dangerous toys), diet, care and health monitoring advice to help you learn what is normal and what not, when you need to see a vet and what to do in an emergency.
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome!

Firstly, please double-check the gender in your piggies to make sure that you have two girls. Mis-sexing is unfortunately not at all uncommon; hence why we strongly recommend to it upon arrival. The genitalia especially in babies can look quite similar and there is a wider variance in appearance than textbook pictures suggest.
Please also check the two areas we recommend (the inside of the slit and the presence/absence of a penis shaft under the skin), which are much more unequivocal. If both areas come back with the same answer for you, then you can be absolutely sure. Our illustrated sexing guide will show you exactly where to look and how it should look. ;)
What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)

Rumbles-trutting is a mild dominance behaviour. If the leader is not yet quite secure in her new role, then it can last longer than the season that has likely triggered it. Sows do it too, but the behaviour is more commonly associated with boars, hence my request for checking the gender. We have caught out the odd mis-sexed boar that way over the years.
You may find these two guides here helpful to understand their behaviour:
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

The popcorning (jumping) and zooming (running) or any combination thereof including intentionally bumping into their companions at the end is very much what happy youngsters do when they are full of energy. You can see a little of that in the baby boar bonding video.

All these guides and more are part of our New Owners Guides collection to help them to as problem-free and smooth a start. We are specifically addressing all the areas we get the most questions and concerns about like settling in and making friends with (including a spot of useful piggy whispering), understanding behaviour as well as housing (including dangerous toys), diet, care and health monitoring advice to help you learn what is normal and what not, when you need to see a vet and what to do in an emergency.
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
Click to expand...
Thank you, they are both girls and have the textbook Y shape. When I checked Thelma, the one who has been doing the rubblestruting like behaviour, she look as though she had a bit of blood there, could this be a sign that she is in season? I'm not sure if it's normal for them to bleed slightly?

Thank you.
 
Kiki93 said:
Thank you, they are both girls and have the textbook Y shape. When I checked Thelma, the one who has been doing the rubblestruting like behaviour, she look as though she had a bit of blood there, could this be a sign that she is in season? I'm not sure if it's normal for them to bleed slightly?

Thank you.
Click to expand...
No... they don't bleed when in season. If the bleeding continues., it'd be worth getting her a check up at the vet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top