Little Piggles
Senior Guinea Pig
Just a quick question regarding dominance hierarchies. Do they ever change over time?
The reason I ask is that when we just had Pippa and Willow, Pippa was very much in charge. She was not aggressive but would occasionally rumble when the mood struck her. Pippa would shove Willow out of her way and always have the first choice of sleeping area.
This continued when Pixel was added as a baby, although the extra friend seemed to chill Pippa out somewhat. Pixel and Pippa were quite close and happy to share everything. Willow accepted her, but tended to ignore her for the most part. By this I mean she wouldn’t actually seek out her company.
However, recently it seems that Willow is now in charge of our little trio. She always has first dibs on the sleeping area and will kick Pixel out of a space she wants and sometimes will do this to Pippa too. Willow doesn’t bully Pixel, but can be quite grumpy towards her, although has never hurt her. Saying that, they all eat happily together and Pixel has been known to take food from both other girls. She will sometimes take food and hide with it whilst she eats it. All three sleep on their own.
As far as characters go they are still the same; Pippa is full of mischief and always first to the front of the cage, Willow is still very chilled (unless you try to pick her up!) and Pixel is the most intelligent and adventurous, although quite shy.
I just wondered if it was common for dominance to shift and if the arrival of Pixel was the cause for it. Has anyone else seen this at all?
Pippa and Willow are both 18 months old and Pixel is 9 months.
Thankyou
The reason I ask is that when we just had Pippa and Willow, Pippa was very much in charge. She was not aggressive but would occasionally rumble when the mood struck her. Pippa would shove Willow out of her way and always have the first choice of sleeping area.
This continued when Pixel was added as a baby, although the extra friend seemed to chill Pippa out somewhat. Pixel and Pippa were quite close and happy to share everything. Willow accepted her, but tended to ignore her for the most part. By this I mean she wouldn’t actually seek out her company.
However, recently it seems that Willow is now in charge of our little trio. She always has first dibs on the sleeping area and will kick Pixel out of a space she wants and sometimes will do this to Pippa too. Willow doesn’t bully Pixel, but can be quite grumpy towards her, although has never hurt her. Saying that, they all eat happily together and Pixel has been known to take food from both other girls. She will sometimes take food and hide with it whilst she eats it. All three sleep on their own.
As far as characters go they are still the same; Pippa is full of mischief and always first to the front of the cage, Willow is still very chilled (unless you try to pick her up!) and Pixel is the most intelligent and adventurous, although quite shy.
I just wondered if it was common for dominance to shift and if the arrival of Pixel was the cause for it. Has anyone else seen this at all?
Pippa and Willow are both 18 months old and Pixel is 9 months.
Thankyou
