Am I A Bad Piggy Mum?

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Rochester Piggy

Teenage Guinea Pig
Joined
Jan 22, 2017
Messages
729
Reaction score
540
Points
495
Location
Rochester, Washington, USA
I have one piggy, Cali, and she doesn't have a friend. I am talking to her and interacting with her all day, as I work from home. She's very healthy and happy, and my Black Labrador Retriever loves her. I would never trust them alone together, because you never know what a 36 kilo dog could do to a 1200 gram piggy, but they are allowed visits under close supervision, such as during lap time or floor time with me or my boyfriend holding my dogs collar while her and Cali interact over the floor time fence. My dog will several times a day go over to the cage (a 4 square meter C&C cage by the way) and they interact through the grids! The reason she doesn't have a friend is she is very mean to other piggies. She mounts them, rumblestrutts, and even drew blood once. She has had 2 companions, one which passed and the other had to be returned to the rescue. So am I a bad piggy mum?
 
I would be strict with different animals bonding. My dog often sniffs or interacts with them through bars, but I'd only ever trust Ginny to be around her (he has often used her as a pillow on my lap and walks by her as he's walking from the landing to his room. I wouldn't save you're a bad piggy mum, but make sure to keep strict supervision, if you notice the slightest edge I take them away.

Although, I really really advise getting another friend. As she's had a cagemate before, she might not be totally adverse to a new friend, though you may need to do something like they do for boars, boar bonding at a rescue.
 
I don't think you are a bad Mum at all - clearly you adore Cali and only want what is best for her.

I think that is is quite rare for a piggy not to be able to bond with another piggy. Sometimes it just take a few goes to find the right companion, but then it is unlikely that you wold meet the partner of your dreams by walking up to the first person you saw on the street either!
I also believe that if at all possible it is much better for a guinea pig to have another piggy for companionship - inter species relationships can only offer so much.

You mention that Cali mounts and rumble struts at other piggies - this is all actually completely normal behavior, even for well bonded piggies. It is just their way of deciding who is in charge, and certainly does not mean that she can't have a friend.

You mention returning a piggy to a rescue. Would it be possible for them to help find a good match for Cali?
Maybe they can try her with a few pigs and see if she gets on with one of them?
Plus if they are experienced they will know what to look out for to ensure that no one gets hurt.

So I would try contacting the rescue, explaining the situation, and seeing if they feel they can help find a special piggy friend for Cali.
 
No you are not a bad Mum, not at all. What you are doing is trying to figure out what is best for Cali, and anyone trying to do the best is a sign of being a caring piggy-Mum, certainly not bad.
I had a piggy named Snowball and she didn't fare well living in a herd. I introduced her and she was nervous and ended up fear-aggressive, her chattering of teeth at the others eventually sent the entire herd off into aggression and I had to remove her. This was a failed introduction.
Back on her own she was more confident and was quite a 'people' pig. After a few months I tried her again, and again she was nervous but there was no aggression from her, just lots of running and hiding. She eventually calmed down and lived with the herd for a year until she started getting aggressive again.
Having removed her for a second time I bonded her with a boar and she was clearly very comfortable with him. Though she had plenty of attention from me it clearly wasn't enough, she had become restless and looked a little lost somehow, and was truly happy with her boar-friend.

This showed me that even though she appeared to dislike piggy-company she actually just needed the right one for her.
Oreo was another piggy I had who needed boar company, not other sows.

Obvioulsy my Snowball had a different character to Cali, with Snowball being more submissive (her's was fear-aggression) and was not really one to mount.
However I would have thought that yours is another case of not finding the right friend for her. Some piggies are not fussy, they are easy-going and will accept just about anyone, whilst others need a certain personality to click, and some prefer one sex to another.

I agree that taking her bonding to a rescue would be a great idea for her, and they will also supervise the bonding and will know which behaviours from her are likely to be temporary and which ones are signs that dominance may go too far. I always found intros stressful and often it looks quite bad when it's actually quite normal and as I say, temporary. However drawing blood on the other was clearly a step too far. As a rescue is likely to have done many intros, they will helpfully have some idea of likely compatible matches for her personality :) x
 
Critter said:
No you are not a bad Mum, not at all. What you are doing is trying to figure out what is best for Cali, and anyone trying to do the best is a sign of being a caring piggy-Mum, certainly not bad.
I had a piggy named Snowball and she didn't fare well living in a herd. I introduced her and she was nervous and ended up fear-aggressive, her chattering of teeth at the others eventually sent the entire herd off into aggression and I had to remove her. This was a failed introduction.
Back on her own she was more confident and was quite a 'people' pig. After a few months I tried her again, and again she was nervous but there was no aggression from her, just lots of running and hiding. She eventually calmed down and lived with the herd for a year until she started getting aggressive again.
Having removed her for a second time I bonded her with a boar and she was clearly very comfortable with him. Though she had plenty of attention from me it clearly wasn't enough, she had become restless and looked a little lost somehow, and was truly happy with her boar-friend.

This showed me that even though she appeared to dislike piggy-company she actually just needed the right one for her.
Oreo was another piggy I had who needed boar company, not other sows.

Obvioulsy my Snowball had a different character to Cali, with Snowball being more submissive (her's was fear-aggression) and was not really one to mount.
However I would have thought that yours is another case of not finding the right friend for her. Some piggies are not fussy, they are easy-going and will accept just about anyone, whilst others need a certain personality to click, and some prefer one sex to another.

I agree that taking her bonding to a rescue would be a great idea for her, and they will also supervise the bonding and will know which behaviours from her are likely to be temporary and which ones are signs that dominance may go too far. I always found intros stressful and often it looks quite bad when it's actually quite normal and as I say, temporary. However drawing blood on the other was clearly a step too far. As a rescue is likely to have done many intros, they will helpfully have some idea of likely compatible matches for her personality :) x
Click to expand...
The rescue where we got the pig we returned is closing, but in June Cali is going to a guinea pig rescue for boarding while I go to a 7 day family reunion (at a campground with it being super hot 24/7 and no way to have air conditioning so no way would I take her with me). I was emailing with the lady and mentioned how Cali doesn't like other piggies and she said she could try to bond Cali with other females or neutered males while she was there. She gets a full health check upon arrival and stays in a room next to other healthy piggies, in a big cage! This lady is very experienced with guinea pigs and has been caring for them since she was a child, she said.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top