Bonding Males still rumblestrutting after weeks together

[cassiekupo]

I'm just curious because I've never bonded guinea pigs before--I have my two young males together (5mo and 2.5mo) and they've been together for almost three weeks now. Despite this, they both still rumblestrut around the cage at least once a day. The older male does it quite frequently. I've made sure that there are two food bowls, two water bottles, and four hideys to try to keep them from becoming territorial, but particularly around the hideys they still strut. They are not otherwise aggressive.

I was just wondering if I should be concerned or if they're just reminding each other that they think they're boss.

 

[bpatters]

Rumblestrutting between two males will go on forever. It's perfectly normal, and it will get worse as they both go through puberty.

Make sure all the hideys have two doors so that one pig can't trap the other.

How big is your cage? Males need a lot of room.

 

[cassiekupo]

It's a 2x4 C&C setup right now, and when they get a bit older (larger) I want to add a loft setup of some sort to give them a little more space. Because they're still relatively small it suits them well enough right now. Yes, all hideys have multiple outlets; they still try to shove each other out of the way if they want a particular spot, of course.

 

[bpatters]

You say it suits them, but they're rumblestrutting, which means they're striving for dominance. I'd enlarge that cage NOW if it were me.

 

[lunarminx]

I'm just curious because I've never bonded guinea pigs before--I have my two young males together (5mo and 2.5mo) and they've been together for almost three weeks now. Despite this, they both still rumblestrut around the cage at least once a day. The older male does it quite frequently. I've made sure that there are two food bowls, two water bottles, and four hideys to try to keep them from becoming territorial, but particularly around the hideys they still strut. They are not otherwise aggressive.

I was just wondering if I should be concerned or if they're just reminding each other that they think they're boss.

I have 6 pigs, I neutered male and 5 females and two of the females do that all the time,they are just more dominate.

 

[lunarminx]

When I had two males in adolescence, a 3x3 worked better over the 2x4 even though it was shorter they had more room to get by each other if that makes sense to you. The brothers went from the sweetest little things to hating each other, both wanted to be dominate.

 

[Comely Guineas]

Male guinea pigs will basically always exhibit some sort of dominance behaviour. Having a larger cage will help as they won't come in contact with each other as often. I have 2 boars in a 2x6 cage and that is easily sufficient space for them. However one will still occasionally mount the other and rumble strut and chase to say 'get outta my way'. The main thing is to have enough personal space for each pig. I'd say that you should upgrade to at least a 2x5, it's better than just adding a loft because they get more continuous running space and less opportunity for a confrontation.