Lonely guinea pig

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Fairyclairy

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Hey all,

First time posting on this forum!

I have 4 beautiful piggies.

Ginny who is nearly 4 years old
Tuftie who is 4 months old
Lexie who is 3 months old
Pixie who is 3 months old

I have had Ginny since she was a baby and got her with another piggie called Roxy. Unfortunately Roxy died just before last Christmas and we was crushed.

So in January we decided to get some new baby piggies (we read that older piggies get along better with babies) and we managed to find 3 gorgeous piggies who were altogether.

We was told that Tuftie was a month older and she was put with the younger piggies because nobody had taken her yet. My boyfriend instantly fell in love with her. So we decide to buy all three of them.

We introduced them to Ginny by having two separate c and c cages next to each other, so that Ginny can get used to them before fully introducing them. During this time all 3 babies were happily together and play with each other and slept together.

However since we introduced Ginny, I noticed slowly that Tuftie was being left out and was sleeping alone while the other 3 slept together in the same hut.

She seems happy enough as she is always popcorning but I am getting more and more concerned with her being on her own.

Any advice on her interacting more?
 
Oops sorry I put the wrong ages
Ginny who is nearly 4 years old
Tuftie who is 7 months old
Lexie who is 6 months old
Pixie who is 6 months old
 
How is she in herself? Is she eating well and maintaining her weight etc? Do they have four hides available to hide in etc?
 
Siikibam said:
How is she in herself? Is she eating well and maintaining her weight etc? Do they have four hides available to hide in etc?
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Yep she eats and drinks loads. She runs around like a mad man all the time.

There are 4 hiddy places:

2 plastic huts (1 big and 1 small)
1 comfy
1 corner curtain

Generally Ginny, Pixie and Lexie all cuddle together in the big hut and she goes in the small one on her own or sleeps outside.

She is a very loving piggie. She loves cuddling with us and has done since the first week we got her.

I just don't want her to feel lonely and be on her own all the time.
 
She isn’t lonely as such as she does have the others for interaction. Not all piggies like to cuddle with others though - my two don’t sleep in the same bed for example. Did she used to be cuddly with them?
 
Piggies&buns said:
She isn’t lonely as such as she does have the others for interaction. Not all piggies like to cuddle with others though - my two don’t sleep in the same bed for example. Did she used to be cuddly with them?
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She used to very cuddly with the young ones but when we put Ginny with them she has been very anti social
 
Fairyclairy said:
She used to very cuddly with the young ones but when we put Ginny with them she has been very anti social
Click to expand...

It’s possible it’s to do with their hierarchy change since they bonded with Ginny in that case. Hopefully one of the other members who were tagged will be able to provide further insight into specific sow behaviour
 
Hi!

At round 4 months piggies make the transition from being dependent youngsters to becoming more independent teenagers - for sows the onset of teenage is the age of when they are able to give birth while with boars this is signalled by the descent of the testicles (but they can make babies from 3 weeks onward while sows have seasons from 4 weeks onward).

The change in sleeping can be connected to that; it is a misconception that adult piggies sleep snuggled up; most will sleep alone if they are given the option.

However, outsider situations can and do happen. They are most common in trios but are also not all that rare in quartets or larger groups. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to make your piggies be all best bosom friends, as little as you can make your children be best friends with all their nursery mates or adults to get on like a house on fire with everbody in an office. Piggy social life is as complex as our own.

Keep an eye on the situation and if necessary find the outsider a neutered boar to live with as a pair if she is showing signs of being depressed or bullied. Otherwise in a quartet you generally have 2 that get on best and two others that may either gel as a pair or not. Sometimes you get a trio and one distinct outsider. What you hardly ever get is 4 piggies being equally good friends or 4 not getting on at all - but you will see the same dynamics in humans, too, if you observe children at play. Unfortunately by creating a group you have to run with the special set of headaches that come with complex dynamics.
Ginny through her age has got a special position as guardian; as your baby girls are growing up and creating their own hierarchy below her, Tufty may not necessarily come top; that depends on her own personality and how much kudos she can wield.
She is however NOT lonely and there is no indication that she is being bullied; just that she is keeping more apart from the others who still have greater need of protection from their guardian than her. Things are bound to change even more over the coming weeks as your other girls enter the teenage months and develop further themselves.

Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

At round 4 months piggies make the transition from being dependent youngsters to becoming more independent teenagers - for sows the onset of teenage is the age of when they are able to give birth while with boars this is signalled by the descent of the testicles (but they can make babies from 3 weeks onward while sows have seasons from 4 weeks onward).

The change in sleeping can be connected to that; it is a misconception that adult piggies sleep snuggled up; most will sleep alone if they are given the option.

However, outsider situations can and do happen. They are most common in trios but are also not all that rare in quartets or larger groups. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to make your piggies be all best bosom friends, as little as you can make your children be best friends with all their nursery mates or adults to get on like a house on fire with everbody in an office. Piggy social life is as complex as our own.

Keep an eye on the situation and if necessary find the outsider a neutered boar to live with as a pair if she is showing signs of being depressed or bullied. Otherwise in a quartet you generally have 2 that get on best and two others that may either gel as a pair or not. Sometimes you get a trio and one distinct outsider. What you hardly ever get is 4 piggies being equally good friends or 4 not getting on at all - but you will see the same dynamics in humans, too, if you observe children at play. Unfortunately by creating a group you have to run with the special set of headaches that come with complex dynamics.
Ginny through her age has got a special position as guardian; as your baby girls are growing up and creating their own hierarchy below her, Tufty may not necessarily come top; that depends on her own personality and how much kudos she can wield.
She is however NOT lonely and there is no indication that she is being bullied; just that she is keeping more apart from the others who still have greater need of protection from their guardian than her. Things are bound to change even more over the coming weeks as your other girls enter the teenage months and develop further themselves.

Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply/advice, that has given me some confidence that everything is OK 😊

Thanks to everyone for their messages 👍
 
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