Can separated guineas forget each other ?

[Mamaguineapig]

My two guinea boys are living in separate areas of the indoor hutch right now due to vets advice after Snuggles operation ( 4 days ago ). As Daniel ( the healthy one) has been pining for his buddy snuggle the vet said it would be okay to let them meet again under supervision incase Daniel grooms snuggles stitches out . So last night I gave them a 10 minute supervised playtime. Daniel went in purring like mad so happy to see snuggle and then snuggle started burying his head in Daniels fur and following him around constantly sniffing his bottom . Is this normal ? I am worried that they have forgotten each other ! Help ! Thanks ..... Is this a dominance thing ? I wonder who "alpha pig" is ?

 

[Suzygpr]

That sounds like normal behaviour for boys saying hello again. If you can house them, even temporarily, side by side so they can see and talk to each other it will make reintroducing them far easier.

Yesterday I rebonded a pair of 18 month old brothers that fell out during their hormonal time and lived separately in a 2 storey hutch for many months. They came into the rescue and for the past week they have been in a divided cage so they can get to know each other again. They are now back together, snuggled up with each other - so very happy not to be alone anymore.

HTH

Suzy x

 

[Mamaguineapig]

Thanks Suzy .... It is great to get advice from people who run rescues ! Hopefully my boys can get back together soon ! Unfortunately their temp accommodation is upstairs downstairs ! They will be able to hear and maybe smell each other ! Poor Daniel spent about 5 minutes looking up probably wondering where the ramp had gone !

 

[Piggyologist]

Not so long ago I heard from a vet that even after a couple of hours separation boys might start to show dominant behaviour. This doesn't apply as much to girls. This doesn't mean they have forgotten each other. When we put our girls into a new place they always start to rumble, chase each other, push, raise their heads in front of another one's nose, etc.

 

[Freela]

I did notice some odd behaviours after one of my pigs, Frenzy, had surgery. The first thing was that when I reintroduced them, Linney was extremely happy to see her and proceeded to groom her all over and lick her fur everywhere. I thought it was either a scent thing (either Frenzy smelled/tasted strange due to the anasthesia) or it was to make her 'smell like me' again on Linney's part.

Is Snuggle on any sort of antibiotic? The nose to the bum thing made me think of something that happened with Frenzy... she was on Baytril, she was not eating due to her major dental issues, and she was desperately trying to eat Linney's poop. They do eat soft poops to help replenish their digestive flora... because her system was thrown off and she was not eating well she was not producing her own pellets and thus was desperate for the other pig's. If he is on an antibiotic, I might look into a probiotic for him in case the nose to the bum move is his attempt to re-establish a healthy gut balance.

 

[Mamaguineapig]

Thanks :0) snuggle is still getting anti biotic jags from vet once a week . Thankfully the frantic bottom sniffing seems to have passed and they are back to normal with each other . I put them in together for the whole day yesterday and kept a close eye on them . They both seem happy to be together again ! Good point on poop eating !