mating guinea pigs

[monkey]

Sorry to be crass, but I am rather alarmed (& embarrassed -we've just had guests arrive and this is the 1st time - honest!) about our guinea pigs quite clearly having sex, frantically, over & over again.

DH (this is ALL his fault) had one as a kid & wanted our sons to have a pet too. He got 2 in March. He was assured they were both male, and brothers. The woman in the shop even showed him their penises to reasure him.

I have to say, his faith is still unwavering, but I am not so convinced. They were at it, in the garden, in full view of our boys & our guests. lots of times. It was the smaller one mounting the larger, surely, if they are different gendes, at theast the larger should in theory be male & therefore doing the mounting?

I am fearing the worst, so can anyone tell me how large a litter to expect & if we can get any comeback from the pet shop?

Alternatively, if anyone has any charming stories of their incestuous, homosexual guinea pigs & this is quite normal brotherly behaviour, i'd appreciate it.

ROFL!! I'm sorry... I'm laughing too much to offer any advice...

Ahem. Calmed down enough to do a Google search (on "guinea pigs" homosexual if you're interested) and apparently:

"Mounting is not just a sexual behavior. It is also a sign of dominance. Dogs will mount each other in dominance as will guinea pigs.

I hope that answers your question"

thanks, i feel slightly less worried & revolted now you've said that. had a quick look at the site - how wierd are some people??

Having said that, dh in exasperation when I refused to agree they must 100% definitely both be male, showed me their penises. I'm even less convinced. I'm sure they come in all shapes & sizes, but frankly, well, i won't be too indiscreet about our pet's genitalia I suppose.

Now guests have gone, suitably shocked, amused & revolted, they've stopped.

Monkey - my male rabbits used to do this at every given opportunity and like Soupy said, it's a show of dominance. My parents FEMALE dog used to mount her brother! How sordid can animals be?!

Very funny though!

Oh God - we also bought two supposedly male guineas in March - do I have this to look forward to? Were they babies when you bought them? I understand that males are usually ok together if they are both babies but some still do fight so they have to be separated. My two have been ok so far. However, I also have two rabbits and they are at it all the time - male (neutered) on female or female on male - they're really not fussy.