ashleemelda
Junior Guinea Pig
I got my girls, Moira and Rose, back in May, so 7 months ago now. Within the past month, they have started exhibiting dominance behaviors that I have never seen up until this point. For example, they both rumblestrut around each other pretty much constantly throughout the day, Rose sprays urine on Moira if she gets too close while she is eating hay, and just this morning, I noticed Moira mounting Rose for the first time, and when I put them in their travel carrier while spot-cleaning their cage, there was some light chasing and getting into each other's faces as Rose tried to prevent Moira from mounting her anymore. Rose was also whining for quite some time, which based on what I've read, can be interpreted as her being in protest. When this first began, I thought that Rose was trying to establish herself as the dominant one, but based on who is being sprayed and who is doing the mounting, it seems that Moira has taken that title.
Within the past month, I have moved them into a larger cage, and they are coming down from a 10-day dose of Bactrim since December 11. I also changed to a higher quality hay (Oxbow Western Timothy Hay/Orchard Glass Blend) at my vets' instruction, and started following the sample diet guide by Wiebke. Of those vegetables, only green bean and celery were the ones they were not getting daily prior to the switch.
Since I have never seen these behaviors before, I was wondering if you all could tell me if they are indeed normal (i.e. to the point of not needing to consider separation) and if there's anything I can do for them aside from just waiting it out and letting them do their thing? Is it normal to see these behaviors appear so suddenly after they're been successful cagemates for so long already, and is them having done this for nearly a month also normal?
I am not sure of their ages, as sadly they were an early birthday gift from a pet store from my father and sister (without my knowledge, obviously), but based on this and other things I have read on here prior, I believe I might be dealing with teenagers.
Within the past month, I have moved them into a larger cage, and they are coming down from a 10-day dose of Bactrim since December 11. I also changed to a higher quality hay (Oxbow Western Timothy Hay/Orchard Glass Blend) at my vets' instruction, and started following the sample diet guide by Wiebke. Of those vegetables, only green bean and celery were the ones they were not getting daily prior to the switch.
Since I have never seen these behaviors before, I was wondering if you all could tell me if they are indeed normal (i.e. to the point of not needing to consider separation) and if there's anything I can do for them aside from just waiting it out and letting them do their thing? Is it normal to see these behaviors appear so suddenly after they're been successful cagemates for so long already, and is them having done this for nearly a month also normal?
I am not sure of their ages, as sadly they were an early birthday gift from a pet store from my father and sister (without my knowledge, obviously), but based on this and other things I have read on here prior, I believe I might be dealing with teenagers.
