May have to separate

[PebbsPigs]

It’s always best to start your own thread. Posting on an older thread can mean your post is gobbled up.

It is always better for piggies to live alongside each other if they can’t live together. Only seeing each other during floor time is unfortunately not enough. Communication is about more than sharing space - there’s body language and scent as well.

Being as she has been on her own, she may not know how to communicate or ‘be’ a ‘normal’ piggy. Having said that, 9 months isn’t as bad. Please do try and give her the companionship she needs, even if through the bars.

How big is their cage and is it possible to split it so there’s room for the pair and your single? A single/pair of sows need minimum 120x60cm. If you have that size of cage for the single then you have ample space to find her a friend to live with. If space on one floor is at a premium then you could consider stacking your cages (once the newbie is bonded with another piggy). If it’s a commercial, you could use a table to house one above the other.

If you decide to find her a friend, it would be much better for you to take her dating (at a rescue) so she can choose her own friend. It can sometimes take some piggies a couple of tries to find the right friend. Have a read of the guide I’ve linked to below about single piggies.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-forum-recommended-rescues.1I didn’t know you could do that with rescue pigs so may be an idea! They live in hutches at the moment but I’m considering buying a stacked hutch so they can live close together as currently my set up does not allow the hutches to even be near each other

It’s always best to start your own thread. Posting on an older thread can mean your post is gobbled up.

It is always better for piggies to live alongside each other if they can’t live together. Only seeing each other during floor time is unfortunately not enough. Communication is about more than sharing space - there’s body language and scent as well.

Being as she has been on her own, she may not know how to communicate or ‘be’ a ‘normal’ piggy. Having said that, 9 months isn’t as bad. Please do try and give her the companionship she needs, even if through the bars.

How big is their cage and is it possible to split it so there’s room for the pair and your single? A single/pair of sows need minimum 120x60cm. If you have that size of cage for the single then you have ample space to find her a friend to live with. If space on one floor is at a premium then you could consider stacking your cages (once the newbie is bonded with another piggy). If it’s a commercial, you could use a table to house one above the other.

If you decide to find her a friend, it would be much better for you to take her dating (at a rescue) so she can choose her own friend. It can sometimes take some piggies a couple of tries to find the right friend. Have a read of the guide I’ve linked to below about single piggies.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-forum-recommended-rescues.196734/

I didn’t know you could do that with rescues so may be an idea once I have the living situation sorted! They live in hutches at the minute but I’m considering buying a stacked hutch so they can at least be near each other as the space I have cannot have the hutches anywhere near each other at the moment. Lots to consider here, thank you for your advice!

 

[Siikibam]

Are they indoors or outdoors? And are the hutches facing each other or one next to the other?

 

[PebbsPigs]

Are they indoors or outdoors? And are the hutches facing each other or one next to the other?

They were outdoors at the start, the two in a hutch and the new one in her cage (I bought her with the cage) which I had them living nextdoor to each other all day and all night so they could see each other (after weather-proofing the cage), but now they’re separated I’ve got the cage indoors and they have playtime for about 4-5 hours each afternoon/evening next door to each other, playtime is a mix of indoors and outdoors. During playtime they rumble and chatter at each other at the barrier to warn one another it’s their territory (I think) but then they settle and get on with eating their veggies. I can’t remember if I mentioned above or if that was in another thread but blood was drawn when I left them unsupervised (they were getting on fine when I left them) and I’m too terrified to try them together again, it’s really stressful for all of us, humans included! To make matters worse one of my original two is (suspected) lethal white (mild case) so she is blind and gets confused. When the fighting happens she tries to fight her sister as well as the new one because she is unsure of which pig is touching her. The introductions brought out a horrible violent side to the other original pig who even chattered at me and my partner got bitten a few times. So all in all it has been unpleasant for all of us