Guinea pigs are social creatures, so it’s a great idea if you have the financial means and the space to have more than one guinea pig in the same enclosure to keep each other company. Putting a male and female piggie together will definitely result in babies if they’re not neutered, but what about when you house two females or two males together and you see one of them… getting busy with the other? Why would a male guinea pig mount another male? Is your guinea pig gay? Let’s explore!

Why Male Guinea Pigs Mount Other Males (or females mount other females!)

While we can’t climb into a guinea pig’s head and heart and know for sure that they aren’t expressing their love to a same-sex partner (and if so, we stan an LGBTQIA+ guinea pig romance), the general consensus is that guinea pigs mount each other as an expression of dominance.

When you put two male guinea pigs together, or even two females sometimes, you may notice mating behavior taking place as the piggies get settled in. This is completely normal! Guinea pigs need to establish their social hierarchy (aka who’s the boss) in order to coexist peacefully. Usually an older or bigger male will naturally assert dominance over a younger or smaller male (though sometimes when a younger male goes through ‘piggie puberty’ dominance issues can arise). One way of asserting this dominance is…well… hopping aboard the Piggie Express, let’s say. 😉

Other dominance behaviors you may see your guinea pigs exhibit include:

Head-raising – whoever can lift their chin the highest is the winner

Rumblestrutting – ruffling up their fur, making a purring/chuddering sound and slowly shifting weight between their hind legs in a little dance prior to mounting

Chasing or nipping – watch carefully for any super aggressive behavior like chattering teeth while hair raising on end, or lunging and drawing blood and be prepared to safely separate your piggies with a dustpan or other barricade (not your bare hands!) if they end up in a ‘flying furball’ tussle

So the next time you look over and see your male guinea pig mounting another male, or your female guinea pig mounting another female, or a female guinea pig mounting a male, put yourself at ease knowing they’re just doin’ what guinea pigs do and working out their social order.

Want answers to more of your burning guinea pig questions along with comprehensive, illustrated info covering just about everything you want to know about taking care of guinea pigs, all in one spot? Check out The Guinea Pig Guide official book here!