Behavior Boar Acting Strangely - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**GuineaNewbie** · #1 10-25-09, 05:13 pm

So it been a couple of months since I adopted my Cavies. I love them in every way and they get along well but, every now and again I see my boar, Ozzy, acting weirdly. He will hunch over and puff up the fur on his neck and kind of walk around the cage slowly and purring. He is not doing it toward Sharon, my sow or anything like that he just kinda walks around. Its become somewhat more frequent now and I have no idea what he's doing. Does anyone know?

**akstrohm** · #2 10-25-09, 05:32 pm

It is called rumblestrutting and it is a dominance behavior. Is your boar neutered? Or separated from Sharon?

**GuineaNewbie** · #3 10-25-09, 06:07 pm

They are both fixed, is that a problem? He is not separated from her but they don't fight.

**akstrohm** · #4 10-25-09, 06:18 pm

No, that's great. I just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get her pregnant, or you'd have an accidental litter on your hands!

It sounds like very normal behavior. How big is your cage?

**GuineaNewbie** · #5 10-25-09, 06:19 pm

I'm actually starting to get worried.

Sharon and Ozzy get along well, so is he rumblestrutting towards me? It dose'nt really look like hes doing it towards Sharon. The pigs havent really 'warmed up to me' yet. They run away when I try to pick them up. Is he rumblestrutting because he's scared? I'm very confused.

**GuineaNewbie** · #6 10-25-09, 06:23 pm

Ok good, I'm glad he isn't doing anything unusual. We have a 2 by 5 cage, I think its a little bigger than we need because all they do is sit in their huts.

**akstrohm** · #7 10-25-09, 06:38 pm

Oh I'm sure they love the big cage--they might just be more active when you're not around. It sounds like they should be just fine together.

**blackarrow** · #8 10-25-09, 07:23 pm

Agree with akstrohm, as usual, it's not a problem. Just think of it as a "Piggie Macho Theater Performance," LOL. At least one of my boars rumblestruts something every day!

BTW "Ozzy and Sharon" cracks me up!

**music91** · #9 10-25-09, 08:14 pm

Yup its normal, He's trying to establish dominance or keep the dominance. He puffs up and is saying 'rawr im the boss, look how big i am with my hair puffed up' and then after they usually scent mark saying that this is their territory. They usually walk around and don't do it RITE in the other piggies face, but they are showing off their 'ripped bod' i guess

**angiekay** · #10 10-25-09, 09:09 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by music91

Yup its normal, He's trying to establish dominance or keep the dominance. He puffs up and is saying 'rawr im the boss, look how big i am with my hair puffed up' and then after they usually scent mark saying that this is their territory. They usually walk around and don't do it RITE in the other piggies face, but they are showing off their 'ripped bod' i guess

Oh my gosh, that's a good way of describing it, made me laugh "ripped bod" sounds just like a man doesn't it???

**Dichotomy83** · #11 10-25-09, 11:03 pm

Totally normal behavior. Ozzy is trying to gain dominance over Sharon! Give them a bit of time to warm up to you. They will become more confident and less skittish as time passes.

**Res Judicata** · #12 10-25-09, 11:06 pm

I think he is tired of running around bewildered yelling "Sharon!" all the time.

"Thank you, music91, for this useful post," say these 2 members:
angiekay (10-25-09), Ibbet (10-25-09)

"Thank you, angiekay, for this useful post," say these 2 members:
Ibbet (10-25-09), music91 (10-25-09)