Rumblestrutting New owner/young brother males - rumblestrutting/teeth chattering

[Mtardif96]

Hi everybody,

I just purchased 2 young male guinea pigs from petsmart (i wish i knew that guinea adoption in pairs was a thing before I bought 2 young guys!) They lived in the same cage at petsmart, so when I brought them home i put them in a neutral area and into a midwest style cage in the same day. I have a large exercise pen that I have been putting them in daily for the past week. They seem to be doing fine, however, one of them teeth chatters very frequently, and if he's out in the pen it will turn into a weird slow walk where he gets really low and then he'll start doing what looks like a weird popcorning/flailing. The other one NEVER teeth chatters or rumblestruts, and he usually runs away but i'm worried that this will turn into more agressive behavior as they go through their teen years where the submissive one will challenge. Are these normal guinea pig behaviors? I feel like a worried mom

 

[bpatters]

They're very normal, and things are only going to get worse as they go through puberty. If you bought a cage from Petsmart, it's not large enough for two boars, and you'll have to make some different arrangements before too long. Two males need at least 10-12 square feet, and more is better.

Here's some recommended reading for new pig owners:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners

 

[Mtardif96]

I have a 46.9x 22.8 inch cage, which I realize is a little on the small side for the 2 of them. I do plan on expanding by connecting a c&c Midwest cage to it with a ramp from this website.

 

[bpatters]

The cage you have isn't large enough for one pig, much less two. It'll do while they're really small, but by the time they're three months or so old, I'd have them in a much bigger age.

And connecting Midwest cages with a ramp through the door isn't ideal for boars. You'd do better to set up something where you can remove the whole side of the Midwest. Ramps are just invitations for one pig to start a scrap with another.

 

[Mtardif96]

Do you think the 30X54 C&C would be good for the 2 of them then? That’s about as much horizontal space as I’d be able to do.

 

[bpatters]

What 30x54 C&C? Cubes are 14 inches square, and that doesn't divide evenly into either 30 or 54, so I'm not sure what cage you're referring to.

 

[Mtardif96]

It’s a 2X3.5 cage, or 30x54 inches. It’s on this website, and I bought it. Thanks.

 

[bpatters]

That means it's 2 x 3.5 grids, not feet. But that's good, because it's larger than you thought.