Rumbling noises

[Perfect_Piggies]

Hi everyone,
I am a new piggie owner to a pair of 5month old baby boars, Rolo and Oreo.
I rehomed them 3 days ago from a couple whose daughter has an allergy to them.
I have had piggies before as a child when growing up, but that was many years ago.

The whole day today, all they have done is make rumbling/vibrating noises followed by "popcorning".
I have read the popcorning can mean that they are happy and content etc. But when they rumble they sway back and forth then chase each other in circles, followed by a flip and hop in the air. I am confused by this behaviour are they happy, annoyed, not getting on or just asserting dominance?
Any advice from you guys would be much appreciated.
Here are pictures of my two little piggies. Rolo is the first pic and Oreo the second.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

Rumbling is a dominance, sizing up to each other behaviour. It is normal. You leave them to get on with it as it is an essential part of building and maintaining a bond. Only ever step in if there is a full on fight of bullying.
When you love piggies to a new environment, they go into a two week period of reestablishing their relationship - this happens regardless whether the have always been together.
They are also teenagers so are at a point of highest hormone output and a time when they are all about dominance.

With boars, particularly teens, the key is space a territory. Two boars need a 180x60cm enclosure and two of everything in the cage (at least two hides, two hay piles, two water bottles); no single exit hides.
Make sure to only ever clean out half the cage at a time: a full cage clean removes all scent in one go and can disrupt their bond. If you do half a clean at a time, then scent remains and they have an easier time of it.

It’s best not to use any food bowls and instead scatter feed their one cup of veg each and one tablespoon of pellets each around the cage. Scattering ensures the dominant cannot food hog and is also provides excellent mental stimulation as they have to search for their food

I’ve added some guides below to help further

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment

 

[Perfect_Piggies]

Welcome to the forum

Rumbling is a dominance, sizing up to each other behaviour. It is normal. You leave them to get on with it as it is an essential part of building and maintaining a bond. Only ever step in if there is a full on fight of bullying.
When you love piggies to a new environment, they go into a two week period of reestablishing their relationship - this happens regardless whether the have always been together.
They are also teenagers so are at a point of highest hormone output and a time when they are all about dominance.

With boars, particularly teens, the key is space a territory. Two boars need a 180x60cm enclosure and two of everything in the cage (at least two hides, two hay piles, two water bottles); no single exit hides.
Make sure to only ever clean out half the cage at a time: a full cage clean removes all scent in one go and can disrupt their bond. If you do half a clean at a time, then scent remains and they have an easier time of it.

It’s best not to use any food bowls and instead scatter feed their one cup of veg each and one tablespoon of pellets each around the cage. Scattering ensures the dominant cannot food hog and is also provides excellent mental stimulation as they have to search for their food

I’ve added some guides below to help further

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment

Thank you for your reply, they are currently in a 4ft indoor cage atm, but am looking at getting one of the c&c cages for extra space.
They have two of everything already as I read its takes away the dominance part of fighting over the food/water etc.
I dont have a food bowl, I did scatter their food to prevent boredom and encourage foraging.
I had been cleaning the whole cage, but thank you for the tip of only doing half of it!.
One piggie is shy but loves being handled, the other is very out there and exquisitive but doesn't want to ve handled, which is fine. The trust has to be built between us. He does however love a good chin and head scratch. I will take a look at the links you posted.
Thank you

 

[Piggies&buns]

They sound like lovely piggies!

Definitely do get a bigger cage as soon as you can as unfortunately a 4ft cage is below minimum size required for boars. Lack of space can really affect a boar pair relationship. Boars will need a 5x2 c&c cage (which measures 180x70cm).
When you do change their cage, that will cause them to need to reestablish their bond again, with the same two week period as it is an entirely new territory.
Make sure you use the bedding in their old cage and put it into their new cage (don’t use fresh bedding) - again, same reasoning in that it will transfer the scent to the new space and make the transition a bit easier on them