jerico
Junior Guinea Pig
I would like you to meet Pablo and Pepper. I have recently introduced the boars to each other and I was hoping they would get along swimmingly before I concluded on whether or not I should return Pepper back to the store where I got him. You see, ever since I purchased Pepper last week, he's been getting more and more...hmm, what's the word I'm looking for...uncomfortable. Yesterday, he bit me and drew blood and I was beginning to ponder if he would be a good match for Pablo. Their cages were set next to each other since Pepper arrived to our house, and at first, Pablo and Pepper greeted each other the same way; warning each other to back off.
As the days passed, Pablo became less protective of his cage and more curious about the other pig on the cage next to his. He no longer gave any warning sounds or chattered his teeth to Pepper, he simply smelled the cage next to his and tried to nibble at the wires. Pepper, on the other hand, looked like he needed more time. He constantly warned Pablo to keep his distance. If Pablo came out of his barn to eat, so would Pepper but it was only to give him warnings. Pablo ate his food without minding the wheeking junior who was trying to sound and look tough.
Yesterday, after he bit me, I sat down in the living room feeling anxious. Pepper had only been with us for five days, but I love the little boar like he had been with us for years. I showed my mother the bite and said, "If he doesn't get along with Pablo once we do the formal introduction, we're gonna need to take him back to the store." My mother nodded her head.
Before I introduced them yesterday, I was thinking of ways to make them less hostile towards each other. I thought of the "buddy bath," but I remembered reading how it adds more stress to the pigs. I still bathed them, separately of course. It was time for Pablo to take a bath and Pepper needs to get used to bathing. When I did introduce them to each other, the normal thing happened: a lot of humping, teeth chattering, chasing, and warning sounds but not biting or drawing of blood. I was surprisingly calm. I knew that if the two wouldn't/couldn't get along, Pepper would have to go back and Pablo would have to stay alone again until I found him another buddy.
They stayed in the playpen since noon. The experience was a rollercoaster ride. They would fight, calm down and lie down, then once they rested they would get up again and fight. No blood or anything, thankfully. Just piggies trying to understand each other. Pablo even went as far as to nibble Pepper's ear, which I read is a sign of pigs accepting the outsider into their group.
As you can see from the picture above, Pepper is most definitely staying with us.
I love a happy ending.
