Dominance worries

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furz

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Hi there
I'm new here and hoping for some advice please.

I have 2 male piggies, father and son, aged about 2½ and 1½. The younger one (Snugs) has always been a bit bigger and has been the dominant one for ages. A bit of mounting every so often, Spuds (the older one) never seems distressed by this, there's no blood shed and it hasn't been a concern till now but...

Spuds has been under the weather. Not sure what is wrong. His weight has dropped. He's been checked for everything under the sun by the vet who can find nothing wrong. He was given antibiotics and seems a lot brighter. Back to normal except he's lighter than we'd like. He had his teeth checked under anaesthetic last week and we were advised to bring them indoors afterwards as it was really cold. They normally come in for the winter anyway so we decided to move them into the indoor cage.

Since we have brought them in the dominance thing has been an issue. Snugs is trying to mount quite a bit and I am concerned for Spuds. He is never stopped from eating, there is plenty of food left over. There are tunnels and places he could keep out of the way if he wanted to but never chooses to do so, they are often side by side under cover. Spuds is no longer losing weight, but he is not putting it on either.

I'm so concerned for Spuds - don't want him to be under stress from being mounted but don't really want to separate them either as they seem to like being together and being on his own may stress him too.

I suppose the move indoors may have triggered the behaviour at the moment. Do you think it may settle down again? or am I underestimating the stress this is putting on Spuds? I thought snugs had outgrown this - or maybe they don't?
Sorry for the long post - Would really appreciate any advice you guys have. I'm very worried.

Thanks in advance
 
New territory always means a fresh sort out of the hierarchy, hence the mounting. I hope that it settles down again soon. Great that you have brought them indoors under those circumstances, anyway!

Has your vet considered worming with panacur (i.e. a build up of parasites in the guts)? Weight loss without obvious reasons is always worrying.
 
Thanks Wiebke

Fingers crossed that it all settles down.

Great suggestion about the panacur I hadn't considered that. Many thanks.
 
Just a thought.... if he has worms would I see them in his poo?
I can't see anything but now I'm hoping it is worms and he will be cured and put some weight back on.
His poo seems a little runny tonight and I am so worried.
Will ring the vets first thing. I do hope he will be ok.:...
 
No, guinea pigs don't have worms in the classical sense; it is more like a slow, long term build up of tiny parasites and stuff in the guts that prevent that all the nutrients can be properly absorbed by the body.
But of course, it may a different reason. We have had quite a few piggies with internal growths lately.

Laura will know more about panacure and perhaps knows other areas to pursue: http://www.guineapighelpline.com/
 
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Definitely get in touch with Laura, she has been such a help to me these last weeks. We have a piggy who is displaying the same symptoms of weight loss, and we have narrowed it down to internal fungal/parasitic infection. She will be able to point you in all the right directions :)
 
Hi, as someone who had to boars going through the same thing i know exactly how you feel! Ted and Dougal have been together from about 8 weeks old. when we got them Teddy was bigger and dominated Dougal. Then Dougal started constant humping and harrassing Ted. Ted would squeal in annoyance and i used to get so worried. We tried seperating but they both got very distressed. We left them to it in the end! we decided that as Ted was still eating, and seemed happy to have Dougal lay next to him etc then he must see it as a mild annoyance rather than a stressful situation. It settled down eventually (took a while), Dougal is now in charge and still puts Ted in his place now and then. I dont have any advice regarding the weight loss, but i do know that all this behaviour is normal, it looks bad to us but i imagine its normal to them. Like me nagging my husband! I hope you get to the bottom of his weight problem soon Xx
 
Thanks guys

Things seem to have settled down a bit with the behaviour.
Spuds is eating well but still no heavier. Am looking into the panacur thing with Laura's help. If anyone knows if the cat/dog panacur or the rabbit one is ok please let me know!
 
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