Bonding trio

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Annieareyouok

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Hi

I have 2 sows who are about 12 weeks old and a neutered boar who is about 8 months.

They have been bonded for about 2 weeks now and all is going well. The girls have been together since they were very young (not sisters).

Over the past couple of days I have noticed that the more dominant girl (Luna) is showing some dominance behaviours towards my quieter and smaller girl (Marshmallow). It leads to very loud squeals from the smaller girl. There just seems to be a lot of chasing and “kicking out” of hides, nothing major from Luna. My boy (Comet) is super chill but he’s definitely made “best friends” with Luna as they go everywhere together.

Marshmallow is still eating and drinking fine, as I know it can be “a thing” where they resource guard. She seems OK but I just feel for her that she’s being picked on and the squeals she makes cause us a lot of worry for her.

They are in a 5x2 C&C and have 3 of everything.

Any advice? Or is this just normal? Will it settle? Is it because Luna is in season and because Comet is there she is challenging for him? TIA
 
Annieareyouok said:
Hi

I have 2 sows who are about 12 weeks old and a neutered boar who is about 8 months.

They have been bonded for about 2 weeks now and all is going well. The girls have been together since they were very young (not sisters).

Over the past couple of days I have noticed that the more dominant girl (Luna) is showing some dominance behaviours towards my quieter and smaller girl (Marshmallow). It leads to very loud squeals from the smaller girl. There just seems to be a lot of chasing and “kicking out” of hides, nothing major from Luna. My boy (Comet) is super chill but he’s definitely made “best friends” with Luna as they go everywhere together.

Marshmallow is still eating and drinking fine, as I know it can be “a thing” where they resource guard. She seems OK but I just feel for her that she’s being picked on and the squeals she makes cause us a lot of worry for her.

They are in a 5x2 C&C and have 3 of everything.

Any advice? Or is this just normal? Will it settle? Is it because Luna is in season and because Comet is there she is challenging for him? TIA
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

This is normal dominance behaviour. The squealing is submission behaviour. It is likely that Luna is coming into a strong season due to living with a new boar and having to cope with the heady position of being First Lady of a group while still at an age where she is looking for guidance rather than being the leader. This insecurity often comes out as over the top dominance. It should settle down again. Your little new group is still in the territorial establishment phase, which follows rhw introduction and makes the other part of the bonding process. It lasts on average two weeks but it can take anything from just 2-3 days to 4 weeks or even longer.

I would recommend to sprinkle feed veg and pellets around the cage. This not only triggers the natural foraging instinct and counts as an enrichment, it also helps to minimise any dominance food hogging. Things will calm down again once Luna has come to grips with her new position and feels more confident in herself.

Your boar will stay out of any hierarchical debate between sows that does not involve his own ranking; that is normal piggy mixed group etiquette.

Wiebke

Thread 'Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)'

1 Sexing on arrival
2 Important reproductive Facts
- Start of making babies - seasons - lack of menopause
- Pregnancy
3 Sows in season
- How a season runs
- Strong seasons (snap seasons; the social role of strong seasons; problem seasons)
4 Behaviour and social aspects
- Bonding (Possible combos; acceptance and dating; special bonding aspects)
-...
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boureki

Thread 'Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs'

1 List of dominance behaviours in ascending order of aggression
2 What may cause this type of behaviour in boars?
3 When do you see these behaviours in sows?
4 What can trigger fall-outs?
5 Further helpful guide links


I thought it may be handy to have a sticky on typical dominance behaviours for a reference - hopefully it may help humans understand guinea pigs and their behaviour a bit more and hopefully prevent some avoidable problems!


1 List of dominance behaviours...
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