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Post by cleocat on May 20, 2012 13:07:33 GMT
Mainly directed at anyone who owns degus and (or has owned) guinea pigs. I know that it's common for guinea pigs to popcorn i.e. jump around randomly and kind of frolick when they get excited, but I've sometimes noticed my male 'goo doing it when he's running around the room. It's not a bad thing, I was just curious as to whether anyone else has experienced this and whether there is a link to similar guinea pig behaviour as both species are closely related?
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Post by moletteuk on May 20, 2012 18:06:01 GMT
I've never had guinea pigs or rabbits, but I had heard of popcorning before I got my degus. I've seen my degus do a vertical jump, but I don't think it's exactly the same as a popcorn, at least I'm pretty sure that in my degus it is a gesture of annoyance, rather than fun.
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Post by deguconvert on May 20, 2012 18:24:45 GMT
I've see it brought on by both exuberance and annoyance. Young pups will do it, and ours have most certainly done it! I've seen our boys do it too, but when the popcorning happens out of "joy of life" they do several in a row, where as if it is out of annoyance it is usually away from another degu that is near by and limited to one or two.
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Post by moletteuk on May 20, 2012 19:02:48 GMT
Aahhh! That explains something....my 3 used to do it quite a bit when they were youngsters, and I used to think how cute it was that they were having fun, and then later when I could see they were doing it out of annoyance I thought I had just misunderstood them when I was new to degus.
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Post by davx on May 20, 2012 20:14:21 GMT
I have to add a little notice concerning popcorning phenomena by guinea pigs. The cavies use this behaviour not as sign of enjoying their life or express happiness as even some popular German scientists claim, but it is rather a way to reduce stress. This makes also sense if we approach this topic from a behavioural-economic point of view. Stress is a source of tension and bound energy. The popcorning is a valve to release this energy in a controlled way and to avoid aggression.
Aggression in contrast is a reaction of the uncontrolled form of energy/tension... it is like an explosion, powerful and harmful.
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Post by cleocat on May 24, 2012 13:53:17 GMT
Thanks everyone who replied to this, it's definitely very interesting, and it seems to be a general concensus that it can be out of annoyance (which I didn't know). But it does make a lot of sense as my male, Basil, is a very fiesty goo and often gets annoyed with things (be they humans, other pets or inanimate objects)!
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Post by amie on May 25, 2012 3:26:32 GMT
Popcorning is actually quite a common thing amongst pretty much all rodents. I haven't seen it myself with but have definitely seen it with baby and adolescent degus when they're exited or playing. I would have thought it cute to see an older degu so exited they popcorn though! Saying that, I have seen something that could be taken as popcorning when they know they're getting a sandbath soon! lol.
I know that with rats, popcorning is a sign of major excitement and something they o when they're really happy and playing. My rats do it all the time. Especially when they're play wrestling with each other or with me. They popcorn around in pure happiness. It's very cute. I might have some videos somewhere.
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Post by deguconvert on May 25, 2012 14:12:15 GMT
I would love to see those, Amie!!
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Post by amie on May 25, 2012 15:32:13 GMT
I'll have to dig them out and put them up on youtube, then post the links on here. My laptop needs to go into the shop and all my videos are on there. I'm using a crappy computer at the moment.\
A few of my girls are quite crazy. They popcorn around after they've had a belly tickle and then proceed to beat the crap out of my hand, play nibbling and bouncing, lol.
There was a study done on rats and they actually laugh when tickled and having fun! We can't hear it, but the machines that were used could pick it up. Don't worry, the rats that were tested on had awesome life's full of fun!
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Post by deguconvert on May 26, 2012 5:35:08 GMT
That is very intriguing!! I would love to see that study, and see the sounds the machine picked up. SO COOL!!!
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Post by davx on May 26, 2012 6:20:40 GMT
We had a little discussion about this topic in my German small mammals forum: www.degupedia.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2693It was reported from other pet owners, that also rats, mice and rabbits show this behaviour in some situations. |
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