Female puberty problems

[PigglePuggle]

I think lady Piggle has hit puberty fairly hard aged 16 weeks- rumbling, strutting, hilarious butt wiggling, peeing on everything and everyone in sight, sniffing and nibbling her friend's behind... its really disrupted the previously peaceful social dynamic and Puggle wont talk to her at all. Will this calm down soon? Everything smells of hormone fuelled pee and its almost as bad as when my daughter hit puberty (less makeup and padded bras though). Is there a case hefor adopting a neutered male who might ease the social tension and appreciate the butt wiggling?

 

[Wiebke]

I think lady Piggle has hit puberty fairly hard aged 16 weeks- rumbling, strutting, hilarious butt wiggling, peeing on everything and everyone in sight, sniffing and nibbling her friend's behind... its really disrupted the previously peaceful social dynamic and Puggle wont talk to her at all. Will this calm down soon? Everything smells of hormone fuelled pee and its almost as bad as when my daughter hit puberty (less makeup and padded bras though). Is there a case hefor adopting a neutered male who might ease the social tension and appreciate the butt wiggling?

Some sows have a much harder time with puberty and hormones than others. It generally comes in spikes, often triggered by a (strong) season.

A boar can draw some of the fire although sows will still chase and mount other sows (usually just above or below in the hierarchy) before they are ready for mating - or even a boar! But the good news is that sows are never as accepting of a boar as at this age. If you can, I would still recommend to date your girls at a rescue.

You have to brace yourself for some seasonal fireworks over the first seasons as the body of a sow is reacting to the presence of boar pheromones and also brace yourself for a very dirty testosterone laden boar exhaust, which is NOT impacted by a neutering operation, as I can amply attest!
Best conduct introductions on the lawn or at least in a room where you can open a window wide and wash down everything as spraying each other with pheromone and hormone laden pee is very much par of the course!

Still, I am personally a big fan of neutered boars as my currently 6 'husboars' can attest that live with one to four sows each although my record stands at 13 sows for one patriarch!

Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Here are some videos from when 5 months old Meleri and top sow Briallen had a strong season. The Hooligan Twins are turning 7 months this week and are very much a pawful and then some! Talk about confident teenagers...
When Sows Experience A Strong Season (videos)

 

[PigglePuggle]

Poor Piggle- she's quite upset because Puggle is socially the dominant piggie (even though she's smaller and a week younger she is the dominant personality) and Piggle doesn't know why Puggle wont put up with these new sex games and doesnt want to play chase or share a nest box any more! Piggle has been sent to sit in a straw basket and isnt allowed in the play house today. I will think about expanding my herd of 2 ladies to 3 piggies, we have the space but the smells are currently a bit of an issue!

 

[Wiebke]

Poor Piggle- she's quite upset because Puggle is socially the dominant piggie (even though she's smaller and a week younger she is the dominant personality) and Piggle doesn't know why Puggle wont put up with these new sex games and doesnt want to play chase or share a nest box any more! Piggle has been sent to sit in a straw basket and isnt allowed in the play house today. I will think about expanding my herd of 2 ladies to 3 piggies, we have the space but the smells are currently a bit of an issue!

All pets are smelly! The good news is that things calm down a lot once yours are out of the worst of the puberty and are hormonally much more settled piggies. Neutered boars (except for when they meet new sows) are overall less smelly than full boars and they usually settle down, too, except for the odd strong season.

Please make sure that all piggies always have one hidey each; most of them do not snuggle up and even the snugglier piggies spent part of the time elsewhere if they have the choice. That is perfectly normal.

Size and age is not necessarily a predictor of who comes out on top. Two of my larger groups have been led by some of the smallest sows in a group - and one them had a litter sister that was half a kilo larger and heavier than the smaller sister who successfully ran a large group for several years! It is all down to what I call 'kudos' - how much leadership qualities, ambition and sheer force of personality a piggy has got.

You may however find that two of your piggies will get on better in a trio. A husboar has to be on good terms with the First Lady, but he also usually has got his favourite wife to hang out with. That is not necessarily the same. Quite often it is actually lower ranked sows who attach themselves to a husboar, but sometimes it is the boar who attaches himselves to a lady he particularly fancies. Some boars prefer quite a bit man shed time. it is interesting to see the differences! But that is why rescue dating can really help.

 

[PigglePuggle]

Thanks! You are convincing me on the neutered husboar topic and I'll do some research with local rescue centres. Piggle and Puggle always have 3 hidey options but the log cabin is the favourite thing in the playpen today and Piggle has been banished by Puggle for inappropriate sexual behaviour. Fortunately Piggle is extremely food focused and extra parsley seems to make up for most of life's injustices, while Puggle likes to take over play spaces regardless of food. We never thought they would be so individual, but they are very different personalities- I do think a third herd member would help a lot when they arent on friendly terms though

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks! You are convincing me on the neutered husboar topic and I'll do some research with local rescue centres. Piggle and Puggle always have 3 hidey options but the log cabin is the favourite thing in the playpen today and Piggle has been banished by Puggle for inappropriate sexual behaviour. Fortunately Piggle is extremely food focused and extra parsley seems to make up for most of life's injustices, while Puggle likes to take over play spaces regardless of food. We never thought they would be so individual, but they are very different personalities- I do think a third herd member would help a lot when they arent on friendly terms though

You might like to contact The Potteries Guinea Pig Rescue, which have neutered several boars recently; they are your closest good standard rescue that offers dating.
@VickiA fosters for them and she may know more.

Otherwise try the RSPCA. They have a boar neutering policy, but do usually not offer dating. We have listed the branches that are piggy savvy and offer dating in our recommended good standard rescues list on the top bar.

 

[VickiA]

Thanks for tagging me @Wiebke. I love sows, @PigglePuggle but they can be quite complex personalities. Heaven knows I have had my fair share of troublesome sows over the years. I still can’t quite believe that my little herd of 4 sows still get along but that’s the reason why I added in recently a neutered boar, young Ralph, to help keep the herd nice and stable.

The Potteries doesn’t have any neutered boars ready at the moment but we have a pretty continuous boar neutering programme ongoing so if you message the rescue Helen can add you to the list.

In the meantime I would recommend having 3 beds/hideys and ensuring all have multiple exits. Cardboard boxes with doors cut in or a small child’s plastic stool work brilliantly for this. If any particular house is causing tension between the girls I would remove that one. I had one pair of very troublesome sows who would fight continuously over one particular red pigloo when there were 2 others - a blue one and a green one in the cage- but the red one was a magnet for trouble. So I removed it and harmony was restored eventually. Even now with my harmonious herd if I notice anything getting too much attention I will remove it from the cage so it can’t become a focus for disagreement. Pesky sows!

 

[PigglePuggle]

Yes I already confiscated the hay cube earlier this week! I think the worst has passed overnight and this morning they are friends again. When they went back in their cage last night Piggle decided to get all terratorial over possession of... the toilet! She spent all night patrolling the toilet corner and sitting in the toilet making dominance noises and shaking her behind, which didnt bother Puggle at all. Now they are in the hutch sharing a bowl of dandelions and clover like everything is fine!

 

[Wiebke]

Yes I already confiscated the hay cube earlier this week! I think the worst has passed overnight and this morning they are friends again. When they went back in their cage last night Piggle decided to get all terratorial over possession of... the toilet! She spent all night patrolling the toilet corner and sitting in the toilet making dominance noises and shaking her behind, which didnt bother Puggle at all. Now they are in the hutch sharing a bowl of dandelions and clover like everything is fine!

Piggle has likely had a stronger season. These phases come and go during the teenage months.

 

[PigglePuggle]

I wonder if them spending last weekend with the guinea pig sitter has contributed to this? They took their own cage with them (in fact they took more luggage than we did going on holiday!) but during the day they were out in a hutch and run that other piggies will have used- maybe there was a lingering smell of some musky male that started this off? Everything seems better today though and Piggle doesnt smell so much even though she spent the night in the toilet

 

[VickiA]

A change of scene can certainly upset the dynamics in any bond. But most likely it’s just pesky sow hormones and a strong season.