Advice please, guinea pig barbering

Vickyg

Vickyg

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Port Talbot
Dear piggie owners and experts....Before I start my post I have read threads created on here by the experts giving advice and seen a vet to see if my piggie is OK health wise and she is.

I was asked by a rescue I volunteer at if I would rehome a piggie as she wasn't getting on with the others they had there so I said yes. She has a lovely nature and quite calm and friendly. But what I realised was is not that she isn't getting on with others and being aggressive as such....but she overgrooms all the others a lot. She doesn't leave them alone. They all have large patches of fur missing and I have watched her and the others really seem annoyed by it. If i could translate the expression on their little faces into human terms it would be "just leave me alone/get off me". As an example....they will all be nestled in their hay bed snoozing and not moving and she will turn her head and just take a chunk out of whoes closest. I've had piggies over 20 years and never seen it like this of had experience of this before. of serious barbering before. They have a lovely large purpose built home, which I'm very proud of, Lots of things to keep them occupied, plenty of good quality fresh hay etc.

PLEASE PLEASE can you help me as I just don't know what else I can do to improve things. Pumpkin, Snowdrop and Florrie are getting the most frustrated with this and I feel like a bad pig mum
 
Vickyg said:
Dear piggie owners and experts....Before I start my post I have read threads created on here by the experts giving advice and seen a vet to see if my piggie is OK health wise and she is.

I was asked by a rescue I volunteer at if I would rehome a piggie as she wasn't getting on with the others they had there so I said yes. She has a lovely nature and quite calm and friendly. But what I realised was is not that she isn't getting on with others and being aggressive as such....but she overgrooms all the others a lot. She doesn't leave them alone. They all have large patches of fur missing and I have watched her and the others really seem annoyed by it. If i could translate the expression on their little faces into human terms it would be "just leave me alone/get off me". As an example....they will all be nestled in their hay bed snoozing and not moving and she will turn her head and just take a chunk out of whoes closest. I've had piggies over 20 years and never seen it like this of had experience of this before. of serious barbering before. They have a lovely large purpose built home, which I'm very proud of, Lots of things to keep them occupied, plenty of good quality fresh hay etc.

PLEASE PLEASE can you help me as I just don't know what else I can do to improve things. Pumpkin, Snowdrop and Florrie are getting the most frustrated with this and I feel like a bad pig mum
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I am really sorry I don't have any advice but the same thing is happening to one of my piggies. Hopefully someone will give you some good advice🤞.
From what I have read you should put more distractions in the cage? This seems to work ok for my piggies, the barbering only happens now when I have taken all the accessories out of the cage when I am trying to clean it. I really hope you find something that works for you to stop the barbering, all the best from me and my piggies x
 
Thank you all . Appreciate the kind words. With my piggie it's constant and it's heart breaking. I put loads of things in their area to keep them occupied but I'm at a loss. I've tried everything possible. If it was occasionally I could deal with this, but it's constant x
 
I’ve no experience of such extensive social over grooming I'm afraid. @VickiA - do you have any experience of this?

I have a bereaved almost 7 year old now bonded to a 2 year old (the 2 year old fought with his previous cagemate who lives as a single pig next door the pair).
My older boy used to have a skirt off his back end. Since being bonded with the 2 year old back in June, his skirt has completely disappeared at the teeth of his new friend. It’s nothing to the extent you are describing though.
 
She done this to my elderly long haired girl who was recently put to sleep (rip willow) . I genuinely don't know what else to do. It would feel cruel to separate her off but ....... it maybe the only way. She is 2 years old and the r3st of the pack are a mix of age's but she has never changed
 
I think it would come down to how distressing it is for the others and whether it is genuinely disrupting the harmony.
If it isn’t distressing (although may be annoying), she isn’t overly anxious (ie the root of the barbering) and they are all still well bonded then it may just be possible to accept the short hair cuts and leave them together.
If there is any concern or distress for her or the others as a herd then separating is certainly a possibility. She would have to be beside them so would still have interaction between the bars.
I’m just leaning towards it isn’t harmful to anybody then perhaps separation isn’t needed?
We obviously don’t know what is actually going on in the cage though
 
The others are becoming distressed, one of them has become very reclusive and there is agitation between her and another, this ive witnessed for sure. I may trial.keeping her along side to see if this helps settle things down
 
Vickyg said:
The others are becoming distressed, one of them has become very reclusive and there is agitation between her and another, this ive witnessed for sure. I may trial.keeping her along side to see if this helps settle things down
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I think this would be a sensible solution if the others are now becoming stressed. Has she been checked over by vet to see if she has any underlying health issue that may be causing her to behave in this way? I haven’t had experience with serious over grooming myself but I think that if friction is building it may be better for her to be housed alongside her companions.
 
VickiA said:
I think this would be a sensible solution if the others are now becoming stressed. Has she been checked over by vet to see if she has any underlying health issue that may be causing her to behave in this way? I haven’t had experience with serious over grooming myself but I think that if friction is building it may be better for her to be housed alongside her companions.
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Hi VickiA yes she has been checked already by a vet and no underlying conditions.
 
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