In guinea pigs, mounting is either a sign that they are communicating or they want to reproduce. It is natural for guinea pigs, spayed and not, to hump and mount other guinea pigs. The mounting should need to stop at a certain point, as this could lead to fights between them.
Guinea pigs usually mount on each other to communicate their dominance and role. A dominant guinea pig will mount on subordinate guinea pigs to initially place themselves as the boss and occasionally after this to declare their place. Also, mounting can be a sign of sexual maturity.
In guinea pigs, mounting is normal behavior. However, it is vital to point out the frequency with which a guinea pig does climb up.
Also, it is critical to check how the guinea pig is being mounted. Any biting, kicking, vocalizations or fleeing are the signs which indicate that the guinea pig is not willing to be inferior.
It is necessary to separate the guinea pigs at this point to prevent any fight.
Also read: Why do guinea pigs fight?
What does it mean when guinea pigs hump each other?
Mounting in guinea pigs is either communication with guinea pigs or a reproduction response. As odd as they may look like, but this behavior is entirely natural.
Mounting in guinea pigs means that they are trying to reproduce, which is a natural tendency that can occur even if they are neutered.
Spring always activates the hormones in guinea pigs, even in those creatures who cannot breed, which leads to behaviors related to breeding.
Also, mounting is the behavior of making love. That means that one guinea pig shows their mating through climbing up or interest in bonding, and the other guinea pig shows if they return these feelings by allowing them.
Mounting also means that the guinea pig performs one of the many different and connected behaviors guinea pigs use to ascertain and strengthen social hierarchy.
That can be stimulated by the territorial feeling of guinea pigs, or the need to establish a structure with other guinea pigs. Mounting is very common to appear between those guinea pigs, which are uncommon with one and other.
Because of these reasons, be on the lookout for mounting. Depending on the frequency and scenario, make sure that the fights between guinea pigs may not occur.
Why does my guinea pig hump the other?
Guinea pigs are social animals, and also have stringent structures. There are many behaviors that guinea pigs will show while establishing such arrangements, including licking, chinning, circling, chasing, grooming, and humping.
Also, there can be two guinea pigs battling for authority. They can also kick, bite, and fight with each other. Once a structure has been established, the powerful guinea pig can affirm itself through various activities.
There is no breeding season for guinea pigs. Both females and males can reproduce throughout the year; that is why the population of guinea pigs quickly rises without any control.
However, spring naturally activates the mating tendencies in guinea pigs. Or, at the minimum, make them far more robust.
Spring is when both guinea pigs, males, and females, have flows of testosterone and estrogen within their systems. These hormonal spikes lead to immoderate reproductive behavior, such as humping.
That may be between same-sex pairs or maybe in females and males reconfirming social structures before mating starts. Stable couples, in the wild, reproduce before the other partners of the region.
For guinea pigs, spring is the perfect time to breed. There is a quantity of food, and the climate is peaceful and stable, which brings a higher chance of survival for guinea pigs’ babies.
Guinea pigs will maintain this tendency to mount during spring, even if they are neutered. During the spring season, you may notice your guinea pig climbing up more frequently in a few weeks only for this reason.
A guinea pig can also mount on another guinea pig if they have other aromas upon them, and they want to re-mark their territory. That can happen if the guinea pigs are shifted to a new home or enclosure, or if one of the guinea pigs was taken out for a while.
Guinea pig mounting and biting each other
Some guinea pigs can also bite while performing the mounting acts. This biting is another form of communication between the guinea pigs, and this is usually a nip, not more than a pinch.
Typically, the guinea pigs try to establish themselves as the alpha or dominant. A guinea pig will be the only one to pinch.
Guinea pigs will surely bite when they have been climbed up and also want to be the strong guinea pig.
It can be a sign of warning to the other guinea pig with a nip, which may develop into a brutal bite if ignored.
The bites of guinea pigs can lead to injuries, or the fur will be pulled out by this. If this behavior continues, a fight may gradually develop or be revealed.
It is essential to separate the guinea pigs even in the case of anything beyond a normal pinch, which is also a common grooming trick.
Not every guinea pig will get ahead, and each of them may need to be kept separately for their safety and health.
Why are my female guinea pigs mounting each other?
Female guinea pigs hump each other because they mean to declare social authority. That is a normal behavior reaching fast for sexual maturity. That means that they are affirming power without fighting.
If one of your female guinea pigs is humping on another guinea pig, it is a settling issue over social authority or territory.
Why are my male guinea pigs mounting each other?
Male guinea pigs also hump each other for the same reasons that female guinea pigs do to show the authority.
There is a little chance that this behavior can be more aggressive by biting or pinching sharply if one of the guinea pigs does not give up on becoming inferior to the other.
It should be noted that female guinea pigs can also climb on male guinea pigs. In most groups and pairs, it is only the female guinea pig who is the dominant one.
Neutered male guinea pig mounting female
Neutering guinea pigs stops a lot of unpleasant and violent behaviors. These behaviors include:
- Biting
- Barbering
- Aggressive behavior
- Fighting
As a behavior, mounting is not dangerous. It is an essential procedure of communication between guinea pigs. Only, for this reason, neutered male guinea pigs will still mount on the event. The desire of a guinea pig might feel to affirm authority may also be dampened by cleaning.
Optional mounting is not harmful to property, but it can be irritating, especially to the guinea pigs being mounted. Be on the lookout for any negative responses, including hitting, vocalizations, or escaping.
Will neutering guinea pigs stop mounting behavior
Those guinea pigs which are neutered still have hormones. Permitted, these levels may not point as high as they would in unneutered guinea pigs.
During early summer months or in the spring, neutered guinea pigs will usually mount only for reproduction. That is a natural time of year for many creatures.
The change of season activates sexual behavior, including mounting. Neutering a guinea pig may not be sufficient to finish this tendency.
Preferably, a guinea pig should be neutered before they are 6 months old. Those guinea pigs who are neutered older may have already understood mounting behavior and may continue doing so post-neutering.
Should you stop guinea pigs from mounting?
There should be a difference between excessive mounting and standard mounting. Generally, mounting is an essential element of communication.
In the guinea pig’s social structure, hierarchy is significant. Also, other behaviors allow guinea pigs to establish these hierarchies, as compared to chasing, biting, and fighting, mounting is a non-violent path.
Introducing a new guinea pig to your family may see a flow in mounting behavior for this basis. Even once the dominant guinea pig has been fixed on, other dominance and mounting signs may begin again for days or weeks afterward.
You can also notice these behaviors return if one guinea pig is gone for some time, for example, for a veterinary surgeon’s visit.
If both guinea pigs are struggling for authority, then mounting becomes a problem. This problem occurs when mounting behavior may include fur pulling and biting, probably resulting in wounds.
That can be even worse, a fight. It is a bad sign if a guinea pig denies being mounted, and the mounter hunts it. Guinea pigs are more than eligible for harshly hurting each other in a rough or noisy fight.
It is essential to separate guinea pigs that show any aggressiveness concerning mounting. Show equal fondness to both guinea pigs and do not punish them for their violent behavior.
That is not a good thing to do, and also it can damage your relationships with the guinea pigs. Give some time to your guinea pigs to adjust with each other’s presence, probably by using an enclosure that keeps them separated but can smell and see each other.
It is another issue if mounting is due to the guinea pigs reaching for sexual maturity. Mounting is a sign that the guinea pig can breed.
Or else they are not far off from this. On the occasion that you have two or more guinea pigs and are of the opposite sex, you need to separate them as you don’t want to have babies surprisingly. You can talk with your veterinary surgeon about having the guinea pigs neutered.
Is excessive mounting dangerous for guinea pigs
The only way that mounting could pose a problem that could be if the guinea pig being mounted has a wound or disease.
Any heart condition or respiration illness can become worse by the weight of the other guinea pig. Injuries may also be irritated. A guinea pig will scream if they are in pain or distress.
If your guinea pig is injured or sick, keep them separate in your house. And do observe all interactions with other guinea pigs to avoid any mounting behavior from arising.
Mounting behavior is not just an act of breeding in guinea pigs. It is also a form of communication.
Mostly, they communicate for social hierarchy. Guinea pigs are very social and have strict structures that lower one guinea pig as the strong (primarily female) and the rest as inferior.
A strong guinea pig will use mounting, close to the side other acts, to implement their place as the dominant.
Mounting can happen between female guinea pigs, male guinea pigs, and both male-female pairs.
Neutered guinea pigs can still practice mounting. Either in response to spring or for communication, and early summer activating hormonal spikes.
Sources: Reduction in aggression and dominance status in guinea pigs, Guinea Pigs: Aggression and Dominance, Social confrontation in male guinea pigs, The environment, hormones, and aggressive behavior: a 5-year-study in guinea pigs.
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