Do I need to separate them?

[Lola1]

I am looking for some advice on guinea pig behaviour and whether I should separate my girls. I may be over protective but I would be interested to know your views.

I have one 18 month old girl (Lola) and a 4 month old girl (Daisy). Lola is a rescue pig and had a problem with an abscess when I got her, but all is healed now and she seems very well. When I first got Daisy she was picked on a bit by Lola with the odd nip here or there and plenty of teeth chattering but it seemed to calm down a bit after a while. It has been a couple of months now and Daisy dotes on Lola and loves cuddling up to her, however Lola does not always seem to be so welcoming. A few times when they are sat on my knee Lola will nip Daisy if she moves about too much. Today Daisy was running around in our hallway and ran up to Lola to cuddle up and her affection was returned with a nip on the ear which drew blood.

I am now wondering if this is a sign to separate them? Am I worrying too much as I know pigs are notorious for biting ears? Is Lola just anti social and prefers to be left alone?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Hermes]

I keep boars so my knowledge of sow behaviour may be sub par. However, I would say Lola is just asserting her dominance when they are in new territory and telling Daisy to get out of her space. I wouldn't be overly concerned unless Daisy is being bullied all the time and is being stressed by it or there is definite fighting going on. I think odd nips in situations like that aren't unusual and ears are easily damaged so I don't think that the 'blood has been drawn so separate' rule applies here. When you have them out for cuddles maybe stop Daisy trying to cuddle up to Lola on your lap, I find this upsets my boys sometimes and I'm sure I've read another thread on here today about this.

 

[Lola1]

Thanks for your reply.
Daisy seems pretty happy despite the lack of love from her fellow pig, she popcorns around her house plenty so that is a good sign. Maybe I will make sure they have separate cuddles with me from time to time as they are very different with regards to what they like to do.