What Can My Guinea Pig's Behavior Tell Me About Him?

Is your guinea pig popcorning (consists of hopping straight up in the air, sometimes repeatedly)?

Does your guinea pig freezes in place?

Is your guinea pig sniffing?

Are two guinea pigs touching noses?

Does your guinea pig show any of the following actions: raising their heads and/or rising on their hind ends with stiff legs, shuffling side to side on stiff legs, fluffing out their fur, showing their teeth, and hissing or teeth chattering?

Is your guinea pig strutting around another guinea pig?

Does your guinea pig rub his chin, cheeks, and hind end on items?

Do your guinea pigs mount each other?

Is your guinea pig moving about restlessly while in your hands?

Is your guinea pig tossing its head in the air while being petted?

Is your guinea pig licking you?

This behavior is most often seen in young guinea pigs who are especially happy, excited or just feeling playful. Older pigs also popcorn, though they usually don't jump as high as younger pigs.

A guinea pig that is startled or uncertain about something in its environment will stand motionless.

Sniffing is a way to check out what is going on around them and to get to know others. Guinea pigs particularly like to sniff each other around the nose, chin, ears, and back end.

Touching noses is a friendly greeting between guinea pigs.

These actions are considered to be aggressive actions. If your guinea pigs do this with each other, be on high alert for fighting.

Strutting around another guinea pig while rumbling is a typical mating dance and the origin of the term "rumble strutting."

Guinea pigs will rub their chins, cheeks, and hind ends on items they wish to mark as theirs. They may also urinate on things or other guinea pigs to show their dominance.

This can be either sexual behavior (males to females) or behavior used to show dominance within the guinea pig herd's social structure, especially between females.

This behavior means that your guinea pig is getting annoyed with being petted so it will toss its head back as a way of asking you to stop.

Most owners consider this a sign of guinea pig affection, though it is possible that they just like the taste of the salt on your skin.

Guinea pigs tend to be timid, especially at first. Running away from you is not a rejection but a natural defense mechanism. Given time and patience, almost all guinea pigs will come to accept being picked up.