3 baby Girlies....Help!?

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woolie

Hi all,

First of all i'm new here, so please be gentle with me!

This question may have already been asked and answered elsewhere else.....so sorry if i'm repeating something!

Anyway....to the point-

As of christmas eve I now have 3 lovely little girlie piggies, 2 are sisters and are now 8 weeks old ( Simba & Buster ), the other is from the same breader but a different family and she is now 6 weeks old ( Whisper ).

At first i was worried the younger one might not fit in, or might not be accepted or be picked on etc. However, no worries there! Shes actually a total bully!

That said, not all the time. All 3 can happily eat together, play together etc, however all of a sudden Whisper will just attack & bite. Usually its quiet Simba that gets the brunt & she'll chase her for a good 5 mins at a time before backing off. Occasionally Buster gets it in the neck too! But theres lots of sqealing going on!

Am i right to be concerned? Or is this just Whispers way of telling the other 2 shes the dominant female? Will this settle with age?

Its new to me, as i've only ever had older more laid back rescue piggies in the past!

Help Anyone?

Thanks
 
A little more info......

Following on from my post above.

I've had the 3 girls to the vets for a health check etc, all are fine, but......i asked the vet to confirm their sex and well, she struggled. In the end she did confirm both Simba & Buster (the 8 week olds) as sows, but can't be sure about Whisper (6 weeks). I must admit i have struggled myself, i've got the books out and had a good look, but just not too sure. Could anyone recommend a website or somewhere with good clear pictures to help?

Cos now i'm thinking, could all this aggression be hormones instead? Cos she/he is doing a fair bit of bum sniffing and sticking her/his chest out too!

Should have mentioned too, that they were all living happily for about a week before the aggression started
 
well if it was me i would immediatly take out Whisper and keep him seperate incase he is male as even at 6 weeks he can get them pregnant.

It could be that Whisper is trying to mate with them and they are trying to get him/her off them. Did you go through a bonding stage when you put Whisper in with them or did you just put him in.

You definitley need to be sure about his sex before trying to bond them again.
 
The easy to remember rule is

' i ' for the boys and ' y ' for the girls.

Boys i...i...i.. ! Girls..why..why...why ?... :)

The vet local to us can't sex guinea pigs so yours isn't the only one.

Claire
xx
 
Hi and thanks......

sue 1974 - I didnt personally do a bonding stage with them, the breeder had already done this and they had been in joint cages for a week prior to me bringing them home, so when i brought them home they were all placed in their new home. Like i said they were fine for about 7 days......and then...

So at this stage, i suppose i better get him his/her own pad for now!

Claire - the problem i have is...if i can kind of explain it, that Whisper kinda has a Y but its more like a lollypop... in other words an arch joining the top of the Y ? But the vet had a good mess around and couldnt get a little willie to pop out or feel anything else!

so...... another cage it is then!

If i seperate them, and sort out whispers sex, how long would you suggest before i try to re bond them? thats if she is a girl.
 
If she's a girl you can bond them again as soon as you know for sure. Being that age, they'll be likely to get along. Younger sows aren't usually too moody about newbies. But if she is actually a male, he could mate your two females and pregnancy could put their lives at huge risk. I'm a little surprised a trained vet can't sex a six week old guinea pig - I can sex my babies when they're a day old! :{
 
where do you live? maybe there is a member on here that lives near you that could put your mind at ease
 
update..

Just to let you all know, thanks to the website lavenderjade recommended, i can now confirm Whisper is most definitely a Girlie! Wooohoo :)

So then, now i know i defo have 3 sows, should i just persevere with them all in the one cage? rather than separating them? And hope they will eventually form that girlie bond?

J x
 
I sexed mine at hours old, it's not hard once you get used to it. If the breeder has said Whisper is a girl I'd go with that.
If you can get someone to hold her, take a pic of her bits and post it up, we might be able to help :)

Reasons she may be aggressive, apart from her secretly being male and wanting to mate with your others, is that she might be trying to be boss pig. This usually involves chasing around for a few days and can appear more vicious than it actually is.

She may feel threatened by the bigger pigs and her response is chasing. All the young pigs I've had who have should aggression have all calmed down once they got to near enough a year old.
 
another thing.......

So last night, after 100% confirming whisper is a girl, they all seemed very happy together, no squealing, well until whisper ran in their bed where poor simba was peacefully sleeping, simba squealing her head off came dashing out, looking very startled! Whisper then curled up in simbas then empty spot! Oh what a girl! Checked simba over, no wounds, thank goodness!

Any way, another question about their behaviour-

They are in a large cage during the day when i'm at work, so when i get home i let them run around in the large run i built for them using the cube metal shelving you can build their cages with. Because my house isn't piggie proof! Anyway, why is it that all they seem to do when they are in there is try and find a way out? Buster gnawing at the bars, simba trying to climb up and over it? Which i'm sure she'll achieve eventually! Not 100% sure of their language yet, so the erratic squeaking that they make, i think tells me they are frightened? hmmmmm. The room is very quiet, and i talk nicely and calmly to them, feed them treats etc.....

Again, is this just their age? sorry but as i said i've never had piggies that were so young.

J x
 
i think you called whisper the wrong name, more like miss shouts a lot! i think they're being typical baby abbys, very cheeky and loud! they'll quieten as they mature x
 
I think Whisper is just trying to be boss pig, and the stealing of beds, chasing, nipping etc is worse than it looks.

As for them trying to escape, I can see you have a tube in your avatar, if they have plently of thing like this, and maybe pigloos to hide in this will prevent them getting bored! I always put in a big handful of dried grass when mine go in the run, this occupies them for a while! Toys don't have to be expensive, mine love cardboard boxes and paper bags to run in and out of.

They just sound very excitable tbh!
 
Hi, all...

had them out again last night, added their food bowl, some hay & a carboard box for them to play in, along with their other stuff, and they were much much happier! Popcorning all over the place! I love it! I'm gonna save a fortune on the electric bill, havent watched any TV since i got them! They are far more entertaining! :))

Buster is so strong though, that when she really has a good gnaw at the bars, she actually moves it! And Simba is still determine to find a way over it!

But i'm sure i'm getting somewhere, i spent ages lying on the floor at their level, having lovely conversations with them, and they didnt seem as frightened. I'm sure they are going to be fab!

I'm so in love! ......the other half has defo had his nose pushed out!
 
Simba trying her hardest to escape up & over

Buster gnawing away....
 

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Yay, so glad to hear they are popcorning everywhere! sweet.

And Simba and Buster are naughty girls! They may settle down as they get older.
 
awww! i am so in love with these three, but i must admit i have a special soft spot for simba as she's so like my pheobe. aww, they're lovely xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
yeah i think they are kinda special too, as soon as i saw them i fell in love!

and yeah Simba is very special, such a cutie! checked out your pics & she is very like pheobe...very sweet and stunning too!

It was great tonight, i'd been away with work since yesterday morning & left strict instructions for the other half and the kids (which they followed to a T), anyway when i got home about 7, i came straight in the room and started talking & they came straight to the front of their cage, sniffing and chatting away to me! It was lush! They know me already! Apart from the huge squashy hug i received from my 3 year old, this was a fab welcome home!

I've also noticed a few new noises tonight & also they have spent most of their time out of their bed and just relaxed & chilled out! rather than just poping out for food, water or hay. I'm very surprised how quickly they are changing and adapting!
 
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