Whining Guinea Pig

[Beccalee0]

Hi,

It’s my first time posting here so I hope I’ve done this right.

I recently adopted 2 sows and they were getting along great. However, I have had to move them into a different room and one of my sows has started rumble strutting a lot and nipping the other pig. The other pig also is whining quite a bit when the rumbling happens. She seems to be scared of the pig that rumble struts. I’m not sure if this is just because they are in a new room and establishing dominance with one another or not as they were bonded well before I moved them. They tend to get annoyed with each other when they go in the same box or house (all of which have more than one entrance to them) and I’m worried about leaving them alone in case they fight.

They have a 4x4 C&C cage which is mostly always open for them to run round a larger space.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Rumbling and nipping is dominance. The whining sound sounds to be submission - literally saying I’m no threat and accept you’re the boss. This isn’t concerning behaviour.

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

 

[Siikibam]

It's likely just dominance behaviour or the other sow may be in season. The whining is a way to show submission -"I know you're top pig and I accept that". Nipping is part of it for sows - it's just a warning and not hard enough to break skin. Sows don't tend to fight but rather pull out hair. Don't be too eager to separate them else that could cause problems.

 

[Beccalee0]

Thank you for the replies! I guess I was just worried about them falling out as they never seemed to have problems before I moved them. Is the dominance behaviour arising because of the new environment do you think?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Possibly due to the move, or because one is coming into season.
Seeing dominance is very normal though and while it remains low level, you don’t need to worry