Do My 2 Females Like Each Other Really? Or Not...

[Slinkikitten]

I've had my 4 month old piggies for about 3 weeks and they seem to be getting on worse! I got them from a lady who had 5 girls in a hutch, so they were used to eachother. The first few days at home they snuggled up together, but as they've got more tame and friendly with me, they've got less happy with eachother!
Daisyboo does not like Juniper sharing her space and will nip her on the bottom and chase her out of the little house, so she goes to sleep under the hammock instead. They rumblestrut about, so I thought they were maybe sorting out who is more dominant, and Daisyboo steals veg out of Juni's mouth! When I have them both on my lap, they nip and chase eachother about, so I prefer to snuggle them one at a time now.
Is this normal piggy behaviour or should I be worried? Do they just miss their old companions?
They are very happy other than this and do love to popcorn about on the fleece and are coming over to me when I call them!
Gorgeous, sweet, friendly girls but I do worry that they don't really like eachother.
Should I do something?
Thanks in advance for your help/advice,
Sarah x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

Please don't worry. Your girls have made it through the original fright (that was then they were seeking protection in each other by snuggling up) to now settling in and sorting out their hierarchy. That is why you feel they don't like each other. In fact, they are busy creating their own mini group. Once that is settled, then they can work on becoming good friends and happy pets.

You may find these information threads here helpful, as they explain a lot more in better detail:
Sow Behaviour
Illustrated Bonding Behaviours And Dynamics (contains more information on what happens in the dominance phase)
How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language

We have put the most frequently asked for information by new owners into a bundle:
" Starter Kit" Of Information Threads For New Owners

 

[Rach75]

I'm probably not going to be much help with this one as my two girls are exactly the same. They came from a cage that had two mothers with about 5 or so siblings and like you I thought great they'll get on like a house on fire. They are now 11 weeks old and are still chasing and nipping at each other. Ivy pinches food all the time from Pixie, one sleeps under the shelf, the other at the far side of the cage. BUT...... we can often catch them asleep near each other (never snuggled up) having really peaceful moments and when they are out they'll popcorn together. What do you do? While having floor time tonight things got quite heated but 10 mins after putting them away they were really peaceful again. It's a mystery to me too!

 

[Freela]

This sounds like normal sorting out of the hierarchy. Guinea pigs can be a bonded pair and still not sleep side by side all the time and will want their own space as well. Stealing food from one another is common (and actually isn't a bad thing, as the threat that someone else will get it encourages guinea pigs to try new foods and be better eaters!) The dominant pig will tend to steal food from the less dominant pig, which is just part of being the dominant pig (Sundae, my more submissive pig, will take food and run off with it ensure it stays hers!)

When it comes to lap time, some pigs will fight over the humans. I had one of my original pair of pigs, Linney, for over six years. Linney did NOT share her people. She would get really aggressive her companions if we tried to hold both at once. They were apparently interfering with her special time! So we held the pigs separately so that everyone got time and there were no fights. Even now that Linney has passed away and I think the two I have now would not come to a fight about the issue, I still like holding them one at a time... gives me quality time with both, and Hadley (youngest pig) seems to think that being out of the cage with the people on her own means nap time, while being out of the cage with Sundae means run around and get up to no good time!

 

[Slinkikitten]

Thank you so much! It's great to put my mind at rest, whilst watching them sort things out. Such amazing little characters!
Thanks also for the info links. Although I have owned piggies before, these are my first sows