Is There Such A Thing As A Socially Dysfunctional Pig?!

[Tbag]

Wyatt continually has me stumped with his behaviour and I'm wondering if its down to the changes he experienced as a youngster? As if he's somehow not got the social skills he should have? Or maybe some sort of hormonal imbalance?!

Quick background:
We adopted him from Animal Lifeline as a baby straight from mum, at 4 weeks instead of the preferred 6 weeks which was unbeknownst to me at the time but by the time I found out Tango had bonded with him and I felt experienced enough to identify and deal with any potential issues that could crop up (thankfully nothing did!). So after just four weeks of snuggling and playing with his siblings and cousins he comes to live with us and Tango, who was a decidedly unsnuggly and not very playful chap - Wyatt desperately tried to cuddle with Tango which was quite sad to see! He got over it and they got on very well, with Tango as a good old dependable Uncle Pig to show him the ropes. Sadly after only 4/5 months Tango's kidney issues started to develop and then after 6 months we had to say goodbye. So after only a few months Wyatt had lost the first pig he'd ever properly bonded with. We let Wyatt see Tango after he was gone so he understood what happened and he settled back into life fairly well at first, and then started looking very lost whilst we tried to find him boar-dates. When we went dating the sweet and playful little fellow we'd come to know completely disappeared and he turned into a dominant monster (though obviously attempting bonding at the hormonal age of 6 months presents its problems anyway!). After a few failed dates we met Ludo and things were seemingly ok after an hour or two at the rescue. Brought Ludo home and all hell broke loose again with Mr Mounting doing his thing. All very touch and go, the original thread is on here somewhere, but eventually I felt ok about them being together.

Anyway...
I keep a VERY close eye on them and have a lot of procedures in place to ensure the peace and harmony lasts, lots of space, lots of things, handle Wyatt first etc etc. Every time I think they're getting really close to each other rather than just living together - sleeping next to each other, sharing the haybox etc - Wyatt will have a little flare up and decide to go crazy mounting and chasing poor Ludo. As said I keep a close eye on things, and especially Ludo's health and well-being; behaviour never gets aggressive or violent and Ludo never seems depressed or bullied, maintains his weight well and is a happy, attentive little chap. Yesterday Wyatt had one of his days but it was particularly extreme and it went on through the night and the noise even woke us up in the early hours, he was mounting Ludo then running off and then less than a minute later mounting him again. All through this Ludo seemed unphased and continued to eat his hay in the interludes. Never seen anything quite like that before and I'm just left wondering why!? Perhaps the strangest thing about it is that the minute Wyatt is left on his own in the cage or run he gets super distressed and starts wheeking at and looking for Ludo! Things usually always return to normal within a few hours too. It just seems to me like Wyatt has no idea what he wants to or is supposed to do! He seems to really want to be best of friends and cuddle and play but then somehow ends up going into these dominance fuelled performances

I can't pinpoint anything that triggers his flare up dominance spells, they have lots of everything and plenty of space, they've been getting loads of extra time outdoors in the run too lately with all the good weather. I did think perhaps its the heat but generally that's when he's at his most placid as he just flops out on his ice pods.
Another thing I find interesting is that Wyatt is a very 'people-pig' - he loves human attention, being talked to, being cuddled, being played with. I swear he was meant to be a dog not a piggy sometimes!


So after all that ramble I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts or has ever encountered anything similar?

 

[Wiebke]

There is the occasional dysfunctional guinea pig with long term massive behavioural issues and no obvious causes in their background. They are thankfully fairly rare, but they happen. They are often better kept as live-alongside piggies with their own territory, but regular interaction through the bars if life with a companion or group becomes too disruptive and leads to serious tensions within the group. Sometimes, they can live with a "social enabler" type of companion.

Guinea pigs that have been separated too early (losing out socialisation) and/or have been kept alone can lose the their identification as a guinea pig and rather see themselves as humans. This group of piggies can be kept as singles in a household where they get plenty of human interaction throughout the day to fill their need for company of what they perceive their kind.

A third group are the grumps who for some reason decide not to get on with their mate anymore. This is more typical boar pairs who are bonded but get into trouble whenever they share the same space; they live happily as next door neighbours with their own territory but constant interaction with their mate.
Older sows can also - sometimes suddenly - decide that they do no longer want to live with their long term companion (which in some cases can be a litter sister). Sometimes, this happens in the wake of an operation or medically necessary separation. Again, they are happiest as live-alongside piggies.

A fourth group are sows with hormonal issues, often, but not always caused by ovarian cysts; they can be quite aggressive and very disruptive. Again, it depends on whether the companion/group can cope or not, apart from addressing the problem medically wither via hormone treatment or a spay. These girls often do not understand why they cannot live with their mates, as can happen with teenage boars in full juice.

It can often take some time to work out what is the problem and the best solution. You also may find that two years down the line things look different again.

 

[Tbag]

Thanks @Wiebke - really interesting things to mull over, especially the second point. I hope he wasn't jeopardised by leaving his litter mates so soon and that he was able to pick things up off Tango enough? I'd be so annoyed with myself if this was the case, but at the same time there wasn't much I could have done differently.

For now its intermittent behaviour, and isn't affecting their health and wellbeing or their overall bond, so hopefully it will remain this way as when he isn't having a moment they co-exist very happily!

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks @Wiebke - really interesting things to mull over, especially the second point. I hope he wasn't jeopardised by leaving his litter mates so soon and that he was able to pick things up off Tango enough? I'd be so annoyed with myself if this was the case, but at the same time there wasn't much I could have done differently.

For now its intermittent behaviour, and isn't affecting their health and wellbeing or their overall bond, so hopefully it will remain this way as when he isn't having a moment they co-exist very happily!

As long as this behaviour is only intermittent and doesn't put the bond in jeopardy, I wouldn't do anything about it.

Rehoming at 4 weeks is not detrimental in the social development, as long as he has a new companion to continue the job. It is more a physical reason re. stronger and better developed immune system and bigger body mass to cope with the stress of a move to a new home and life and be less likely to fall prey to illness that is at the back of a recommended later adoption. Some piggies are a bit mad-cap... The real problem piggies are those that are separated at two weeks or even younger or that are kept single from when they are separated as babies.

 

[madguinealady]

I took on two girls at four weeks that had lost their mum's.They went in with two older girls and flourished.I was given them because I knew what I was doing and they needed older pigs, the rescue didn't want them going as a pair if that makes sense

 

[Freela]

I'm not an expert at boars, but even sows show intermittent dominant behaviors that may look antisocial but do not actually affect the bond between the guinea pigs themselves. Establishing/maintaining dominance is normal and understood behavior between them, even if it may look 'mean' by human standards. And some pigs are more keen on reinforcing the hierarchy than others... having gone from a real dictator of a dominant pig to a far more laid back dominant pig, I can see the different 'management styles' that different pigs bring to the mix. The same subordinate pig has been perfectly happy living with both, for what it's worth. Also, not all bonded pairs do things that we might consider as looking particularly close... for instance, a lot of pairs never cuddle up to sleep and want separate food dishes, etc. They can still be a bonded pair and not do these things together.