Mounting Female pig mounting the other female pig?! Possibly male?

[Samii]

Hi,

Rather sensitive question and i'm sure its been posted about before this but i urgently need some info.

So one of the guinea pigs who we were told was female by both a vet and the person we got her from is, for lack of a better word 'humping' the other female pig. They have lived together quite happily for about two months and only tonight (to my knowledge) started displaying behavior like this.

i though maybe it was a dominance issue, but the other pig seems to be enjoying it and holding her little butt in the air as if she is 'presenting' to the other pig...

Very, very confused! Should i try and separate them? or if she does turn out to be a he is the damage already done?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

(Both pigs are about 4 months old give or take a week)

Thanks!

 

[vania]

I think all of this behavior is normal. Guinea Pigs don't really "enjoy" mating so the lifting of the booty is normal. I would double check them to make sure they are both females (you can see testicles on males if they are old enough), but this sounds normal to me. Here's a link with pictures for sexing pigs. http://www.guinealynx.info/sexing.html

 

[bpatters]

The first thing to do is to make sure they're both the same sex. See Sexing Guinea Pigs: How to Sex a Guinea Pig for more than you ever wanted to know about pig genitalia. Or just turn them both over and see if they look alike. If they're different, the damage is probably done and you should separate them. If not, everything's ok.

Second, what they're doing is perfectly normal. One or both of them are no doubt in heat, which is why you're seeing this, although they can mount when working out dominance issues. They come into heat about every 14-16 days for a couple of days, and you'll usually see increased mounting or presenting.

[MENTION=22306]vania[/MENTION], how do you know they don't enjoy it?

 

[vania]

Oh and by the way, if this new behavior persists (the mounting) and is constantly happening, you might want to see a vet because it may a sign of an ovarian cyst from hormonal changes. Watch for hair loss by the sides around the belly area. I'm sure they are fine, just be aware and keep an eye out.
[MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION], I have read or heard that no animal actually feels good from mating, only us and dolphins, haha. They just do it constantly because it's in their nature to reproduce to up the chances of their genes getting passed on.

 

[Samii]

Haha, thank you both for your advice. Ilya (the one doing the mounting) looks just like Ekeko 'down there' so i think they are both definetly girls. There's no way that they could hurt each other with behaviour like this is there? We put a barrier in the cage just to seperate them til Ilya calms herself down (mental squeaking and 'rumbling' noises coming out of her!)

My minds at ease a little bit more now though, thank you for your help. Will update if anything changes!

 

[Samii]

Oh i will keep an eye on her little tumm, but at the moment shes very fluffy =]

 

[schavarry]

@vania , how do you know they don't enjoy it?

@bpatters , I have read or heard that no animal actually feels good from mating, only us and dolphins, haha. They just do it constantly because it's in their nature to reproduce to up the chances of their genes getting passed on.

Honestly, I think some animals HAVE to enjoy it - I'm pretty sure my mom's dog didn't just hump his stuffed elephant for the hell of it if he didn't get SOME enjoyment out of it... They might not get the flood of endorphins we as humans get, but if it wasn't somewhat enjoyable I doubt a species wold survive. Just my two cents


[MENTION=22850]Samii[/MENTION] - you shouldn't need to separate your piggies unless blood is drawn, it just causes more issues for them to be together and then separated because they have to reassert their dominance once you put them back together.

 

[Samii]

Hmmm, that makes sense actually. Will keep them separated for a few more minutes, reintroduce them and distract them with a bowl of veggies!