Editing Guinea pig (section)

===Behavior===
[[File:Three guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) at Keswick Public Library.jpg|thumb|Guinea pigs "social groom" each other.|alt=|left]]

Guinea pigs can learn complex paths to food and can accurately remember a learned path for months. Their most robust [[problem-solving]] strategy is motion.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Charters|first = Jessie Blount Allen|title = The associative processes of the guinea pig: A study of the psychical development of an animal with a nervous system well medullated at birth|journal = Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology|volume = XIV|issue = 4|pages = 300–337|date=July 1904|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dWcKAAAAMAAJ&q=guinea+pigs&pg=RA2-PA300|access-date = 2006-12-27|doi=10.1002/cne.920140402| hdl=2027/mdp.39015031094876 }}</ref> While guinea pigs can jump small obstacles, they cannot jump very high. Most of them are poor climbers and are not particularly agile. They startle easily, and when they sense danger, they either freeze in place for long periods or run for cover with rapid, darting motions.{{sfn|Terril|Clemons|1998|p=6}} Larger groups of startled guinea pigs "[[stampede]]", running in haphazard directions as a means of confusing predators.{{sfn|Wagner|Manning|1976|p=34}} When happily excited, guinea pigs may (often repeatedly) perform little hops in the air (a movement known as "popcorning"), analogous to the [[ferret]]'s [[weasel war dance|war dance]]<ref>{{cite web|title = Guinea Pigs|publisher = Canadian Federation of Humane Societies|url = http://cfhs.ca/athome/guinea_pigs|access-date = 2007-03-21|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070402223933/http://cfhs.ca/athome/guinea_pigs/|archive-date = 2007-04-02}}</ref> or rabbit happy hops (binkies). Guinea pigs are also good swimmers,<ref name="harkness">{{cite book|last1 = Harkness|first1 = John E.|last2 = Wagner|first2 = Joseph E.|title = The Biology and Medicine of Rabbits and Rodents|publisher = Williams & Wilkins|year = 1995|pages = 30–39|isbn = 978-0-683-03919-1}}</ref> although they do not like being wet and infrequently need bathing.

Like many rodents, guinea pigs sometimes participate in [[social grooming]] and regularly self-groom.{{sfn|Vanderlip|2003|p=79}} A milky-white substance is secreted from their eyes and rubbed into the hair during the grooming process.{{sfn|Richardson|2000|page=72}} Groups of boars often chew each other's hair, but this is a method of establishing hierarchy within a group, rather than a social gesture.<ref name="harkness" /> Dominance is also established through biting (especially of the ears), [[Goose bumps|piloerection]], aggressive noises, head thrusts, and leaping attacks.{{sfn|Wagner|Manning|1976|p=38}} Non-sexual simulated [[wikt:mount#Verb|mounting]] for dominance is also common among same-sex groups.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Guinea pig eyesight is not as good as that of a human in terms of distance and color, but they have a wider angle of vision (about 340°) and see in partial color ([[dichromacy]]). They have well-developed senses of hearing, [[olfaction|smell]], and touch.{{sfn|Wagner|Manning|1976|pp=32–33}}{{sfn|Vanderlip|2003|p=14}}

Guinea pigs have developed a different [[biological rhythm]] from their wild counterparts and have longer periods of activity followed by short sleep in between.{{sfn|Terril|Clemons|1998|p=6}} Activity is scattered randomly throughout the day; aside from an avoidance of intense light, no regular [[circadian rhythm|circadian patterns]] are apparent.{{sfn|Terril|Clemons|1998|p=6}}[[File:Cat with guinea pigs.jpg|alt=|thumb|300x300px|Although this cat has accepted these guinea pigs, the success of interspecies interaction depends on the individual animals.]]Guinea pigs do not generally thrive when housed with other species. Larger animals may regard guinea pigs as [[predation|prey]], though some [[dog]]s and [[cat]]s can be trained to accept them.<ref name="behrend">{{cite book|last=Behrend|first=Katrin|url=https://archive.org/details/guineapigseveryt00behr/page/22|title=Guinea Pigs: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual|publisher=Barron's|year=1998|isbn=978-0-7641-0670-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/guineapigseveryt00behr/page/22 22–23]}}</ref> Opinion is divided over the cohousing of guinea pigs and [[domestic rabbit|rabbit]]s. Some published sources say that guinea pigs and rabbits complement each other well when sharing a cage.<ref name="behrend" />{{sfn|Vanderlip|2003|p=20}} However, rabbits have different nutritional requirements; as [[Lagomorpha|lagomorphs]], they synthesize their own [[vitamin C]], so the two species will not thrive if fed the same food when housed together.{{sfn|Terril|Clemons|1998|p=41}} Rabbits may also harbor diseases (such as respiratory infections from ''[[Bordetella]]'' and ''[[Pasteurella]]''), to which guinea pigs are susceptible.{{sfn|Wagner|Manning|1976|pp=126–128}} Housing guinea pigs with other rodents such as [[gerbil]]s and [[hamster]]s may increase instances of respiratory and other infections,{{sfn|Wagner|Manning|1976|p=122}} and such rodents may act aggressively toward guinea pigs.{{sfn|Vanderlip|2003|p=19}}