Bit worried about my piggies, help please!

[Sookeh]

My two Guinea Pigs have lived together with no problems for four weeks now, or thereabouts. I'm giving their cage a big clean this morning and when I've taken them out into the other cage they are behaving very strange and it seems to be getting worse

GP1 who is the more dominant has started trying to mount poor little GP2 and rumbling really loudly at him, they've also seemed to run towards each other, more to butt each other than fight IYSWIM.

They also jump and twitch wildly around the cage, I'm not sure it's "popcorning" because it seems quite frantic and they sort of twitch their heads when they do it too.

They are still small but I'm worried it will get worse if I leave them together. Any advice would be really appreciated as I'm thinking of separating them.

[ZZZenAgain]

the rumbling is annoyance and the mounting is an attempt at dominance, as is head raising. For this they face each other and toss their heads up, the highest head wins I think.

I have two females and there was some of this when the second one (new one) had been with us a couple of weeks. She had settled in and was making a bid at dominance I think, which was thwarted by GP number 1 who continued to rule the roost. GP number 2 would tryand mount her from behind and rip fur off the back with her teeth. I intervened at that point. It has settled down but they occasionally squabble and rumble. No experience with boars but imagine it is similar but more intensive.

Not sure what the jumping and twitching is . Have you seen youtube videos of popcorning?

[Sookeh]

I have seen the popcorning videos but they seem to do it a lot, and quite violently if that's the right word. It's more of a thrashing. I'm secretly hoping that just means they're reallllly happy

Is rumbling not just cause to separate them? Should I just wait and see?

[ZZZenAgain]

I think I would leave them to get on with it unless they draw blood, in which case you will have to separate them IMO. The rumbling is just showing irritability I think and they should be allowed to let off steam, they will get on each other's nerves now and again. My GP 1 rumbles at GP2 a lot but tbh I think she is justified

Maybe it is the different setting that has unnerved them

[BonkeyMollocks]

Unless they start really fighting them leave them to it. Its all dominant behaviour. they are sorting out who is boss pig. Rumbling and humping are all compleatly normal! I found this invaluable!

Don't separate unless they fight and draw blood like mine have . You may find that they will be hard to get back together like I have.

It sounds like they are popcorning. My Little pig jumps stupidly high in the air sometime when he does it and twists mid air.

[Lancelottie]

Our female guinea used to rumble, chatter, head raise, mount the (neutered) male and chew the fur off his back. She was definitely Top Pig!

The head-twitch-leap does just sound like popcorning (are they still quite young, as that's when they do it most energetically?).

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

YY to all of the above.

Our adult boars sometimes squabble, usually because one of them wants the other to move (too much sense to walk round each other).

If you put them into a smaller area (like a smaller cage) then that will annoy them. We transport ours in a washing basket from Pighouse to indoors.If they are too long in there, they circle round nose to tail. Then the pushing starts .One puts their head under the other's belly. Then the rumblestrutting starts.
GP1 does it most, his body goes still, he's on tiptoes and does a rattlesnake purr.It's not the same sound as a happy purr.

GP1 popcorns, it is funny because he's a big lad. I thought he'd been stung .His head was down to his side and his little back legs kicked out like a wild mustang. Impressive!