One last question

Question
I have one more question regarding my two little piggies.  Since Wednsday night when we brought home our new little guy, there has been a bit of a stink.  I don't know if its the new little guy's pee or if it is possibly a sort of mating smell or something from the older one.  It is not an attractive smell.  If it is smelly pee what can I do for it?  If it is meant to be a sort of attractant from the older one, will it go away when he learns that he can't mate with the new little guy?  Thanks for the help.

Heather H

Answer
I'm chuckling to myself because I know exactly what you are smelling.

It's not urine. It's the smell of what breeders often call 'eau de sex'. The sows apparently find it appealing, humans... yuck!  The boar emits this smell when he's courting a female. It's almost a sour smell and is very pungent. A little of it goes a very long way, it can fill a room.

Females emanate an odor when they're coming into estrus. That's how the male of that species knows how to find them from miles away. With some animals it's not detected by humans, in others it's very prominent, such as a billy goat. Ferrets also have a male smell that seems to stay with them.

Males of every species have their own special odor that attracts females. A billy goat is probably one of the best examples, but all animals have a 'special scent' of one kind or another that is prominent when their hormones are in full gear. For a guinea pig it's pretty darned strong relative to the size of the animal.

Here's the good news! He will stop as soon as he realizes this new kid is not a female.  It will only take a day or so. In the meantime it's a pukey smell to the owners and we can't imagine what the girls find about it that seems to start their engines.

Thank goodness human females are attracted to things like fresh soap and good colognes.