Just moved in two more guinea pigs - Dominance?

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My female guinea pig, Jessie, used to live with a rabbit but sadly he passed away. Yesterday, from a rescue centre, me and my family adopted two more female guinea pigs to keep her company - Daisy and Suzie. We moved them in last night and they didn't seem to mind each other.

This morning I noticed Jessie making a clicky sound which I think might be her trying to show them whose boss. I'm a little worried though because Daisy is now a bit scared of Jessie (Suzie seems ok). Daisy was eating from the food bowl and then Jessie wanted to eat too. As Jessie approached the bowl though, Daisy quickly backed away into the corner of the hutch.

Is it normal for this little battle to happen? And do you think they'll settle down and be calm around each other?

Thanks :)
 
It does sound pretty normal at this stage.

Could you pop another bowl in for a little whille. Put the bowls in seperate corners.

I expect the new hutch smells like Jessies and they are aware they are on her turf. As long as there are no real fights where they hurt each other and are bleeding it will probably work out okay.
 
Hi!

It sounds pretty normal. Your two young sow will be rather timid at the beginning as well, so they do not only have to cope with a dominant elder sow, but completely new surroundings as well. Put in more food bowls for the moment and make sure that you weigh your piggies once weekly; it's a good health monitor throughout their life, but you can also see whether they are eating enough in situations like this.

Here is a link to sow behaviour:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38561

Settling in shy guinea pigs:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36239
 
All three piggies are middle aged - does that change anything?
 
No it shouldn't do.

Just remember everyone will be freaked out today and it could take a while to settle.

As long as they aren't fighting it will probably be fine.

Lots of veggies and a few food bowls would be much appreciated for them all today.
 
Thank you :)

I've put out another bowl on the other side of the hutch.

It seems now that Jessie has accepted Suzie because they have huddled together but Daisy is trying to get close to them now too.


Just remembered something else I wanted to ask: The hutch is two-storey and there is a ramp inbetween levels - earlier Daisy kind of fell onto the top of the ramp and then ran down it and we put Suzie at the top of it so she could go down too. Will they quickly figure it out for themselves how to use the ramp themselves?

More comments on both situations are welcome :)
 
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No, not necessarily; I have bonded middle aged sows - it's more dependent on their character.

If you mean with clicking sound that Jessica was chattering her teeth, this is a sign of aggression and translates as: "stay away from me or I'll fight".

You will find a good and detailed description of signs and levels of aggressiveness in the boar behaviour thread:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949

It can't be easy on Jessica to go from living with a rabbit to living with two guinea pigs. Make sure that you have one food bowl each for the time, spaced apart and, if, you can, some hides (shoe boxes etc.) with TWO exits each, so nopig can be backed into on and "locked in" by blocking the exit.
 
I did notice that Jessie seemed to be acting quite intimidating towards Daisy but I'll leave them to work it out unless they start fighting.

Jessie and Suzie seem to have accepted each other so they have a food bowl and Daisy has a separate one on the other side of the hutch.

Thank you for the link and your help :)


I'm sorting out the shoe box now. Thank you :D
 
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I would assume that Daisy and Jessica are the two top sows, so they will have to sort out the dominance between them. I have noticed that any lower ranked sows are usually more easily accepted as they don't threaten the rank in the hierarchy.

That dominance sort-out can last a while. "Handbags at dawn" are not unusual between sows, but thankfully, rarely bloody and cause for a separation!
 
Daisy is trying to get close to Jessie but she keeps jumping away when she sniffs her :P

I think I've just got to give it time for them to work it out for themselves - I don't think Jessie will get very aggressive now but I'll keep my eye on them :)

Thank you :)
 
I think that this just seems like normal behaviour, just one of them is a little shy. As long as they are not getting blocked off the food then their is no real, large worry.
 
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