karalianne
Junior Guinea Pig
I am going to tell you the (longish) story of Batman's life. The question, at the end of it all, is whether or not I should try him in with the brothers again or if I should try him in a pair with one of them or something like that. I would prefer to avoid splitting the brothers up, since they have lived together since they were born, but I will do it if I have to.
When Batman was one month old, he was surrendered at the SPCA, along with his brother, Robin. The reason cited was that the owners had "too many" (which tells me they were probably breeding, whether accidentally or on purpose).
Batman and Robin lived together at the SPCA until they were nearly nine months old, when I adopted them to be friends for my 4yo male, Guido. I brought them home on July 31, 2011, and set them up in separate cages for quarantine as I didn't have any coroplast but I did have three pet store rabbit cages (which here are about 18" wide and 36" long so almost large enough for one pig).
On August 1, 2011, Robin died. It was rather sudden and I am pretty sure he had an undiagnosed heart condition that was aggravated by the move. To be safe, I of course took Batman and Guido to the vet (on different days) so we could ensure that there was no URI involved.
Following quarantine, I introduced Batman and Guido, and Batman was overjoyed to have a new friend! He followed Guido around the room during floor time and Guido ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him, as he had never been in contact with another guinea pig in his entire life, save through the bars of his cage. I concluded that Batman was a little bit too enthusiastic about Guido, and started planning a great C&C cage that would allow them to chat but would keep Guido safe from Batman's attentions.
Sadly, along the middle of September, after they had only known each other for about a month, Guido fell ill and died. It was a parasitic infestation, and I took Batman to the vet again and had him dewormed, just to be safe.
Batman was an onlypig from then on, though I was looking constantly for a new friend for him. I wanted a boy who was about the same size as he was, as I was a bit worried he might squish a baby in his excitement. I spent lots of time with my little man, who had been carefully socialized to humans at the SPCA anyway.
All I could find were pairs of boars, so I finally succumbed and collected the brothers at the beginning of January. I knew they needed to come home with me when I felt how awfully long their nails were. After quarantine, I set the brothers' cage next to Batman's and let them start to get to know each other.
I introduced them three times while I was working on the C&C cage design and assembling the materials and so on. The first time, Squeak mounted Batman a lot and Bubble was the one who was most likely to strike out if Batman came too close. The second time, Bubble spent the entire time ignoring the other two while Squeak mounted Batman over and over and over again. The third time, there was far less mounting, and Bubble seemed more tolerant of Batman's presence. That was the night I finished their new cage (3x5 C&C), and following that introduction I put them all into the cage.
They were fine for about 36 hours or so, and then at some point on the second full day they were together, Squeak and Batman got into a fight. Squeak has a few bald spots as a result, and Batman got a nasty bite on his foot and his ear got all torn up. I took Batman to the vet the very next day, and she gave me Chlor Palm as an antibiotic and a syringe of Metacam for pain. I also put in a divider so that now the brothers have a 3x3 C&C cage and Batman is in a 2x3 C&C cage, right next door.
Tomorrow morning will be Batman's final dose of Chlor Palm. I have been giving poop soup as probiotics (so helpful to have two healthy boys right next door) and will keep going until at least Saturday. He had lost a little weight but has begun gaining it back. His highest weight was 1316g on February 26 (six days post-fight) and was down to 1264g yesterday, but he's up to 1267g today.
I have been letting the boys have floor time together, and there is no fighting or mounting or anything when we do that. When I put them back in their cages tonight after I cleaned things up (it was replace the towels and fleece day today), Batman went up to the divider and sat and watched the other two for a little while. I usually find him sitting out in the open, in one corner right beside the divider, and one of the brothers (sometimes Squeak, sometimes Bubble) is usually sitting right next to him on the other side of the divider.
So I am wondering if maybe Batman misses the brothers and maybe they will be okay again. I can't try them again just yet as I am still working in town at the moment, but that will be done in a couple of weeks and then I will be at home all the time. What would you guys do?
Here's a photo of what I mean about how I often find them:
Squeak is on the left, the other two are on the right by JannaLou, on Flickr. (Squeak is a weird boy, he often flops onto his side in the middle of the cage and takes a nap like that.)
When Batman was one month old, he was surrendered at the SPCA, along with his brother, Robin. The reason cited was that the owners had "too many" (which tells me they were probably breeding, whether accidentally or on purpose).
Batman and Robin lived together at the SPCA until they were nearly nine months old, when I adopted them to be friends for my 4yo male, Guido. I brought them home on July 31, 2011, and set them up in separate cages for quarantine as I didn't have any coroplast but I did have three pet store rabbit cages (which here are about 18" wide and 36" long so almost large enough for one pig).
On August 1, 2011, Robin died. It was rather sudden and I am pretty sure he had an undiagnosed heart condition that was aggravated by the move. To be safe, I of course took Batman and Guido to the vet (on different days) so we could ensure that there was no URI involved.
Following quarantine, I introduced Batman and Guido, and Batman was overjoyed to have a new friend! He followed Guido around the room during floor time and Guido ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him, as he had never been in contact with another guinea pig in his entire life, save through the bars of his cage. I concluded that Batman was a little bit too enthusiastic about Guido, and started planning a great C&C cage that would allow them to chat but would keep Guido safe from Batman's attentions.
Sadly, along the middle of September, after they had only known each other for about a month, Guido fell ill and died. It was a parasitic infestation, and I took Batman to the vet again and had him dewormed, just to be safe.
Batman was an onlypig from then on, though I was looking constantly for a new friend for him. I wanted a boy who was about the same size as he was, as I was a bit worried he might squish a baby in his excitement. I spent lots of time with my little man, who had been carefully socialized to humans at the SPCA anyway.
All I could find were pairs of boars, so I finally succumbed and collected the brothers at the beginning of January. I knew they needed to come home with me when I felt how awfully long their nails were. After quarantine, I set the brothers' cage next to Batman's and let them start to get to know each other.
I introduced them three times while I was working on the C&C cage design and assembling the materials and so on. The first time, Squeak mounted Batman a lot and Bubble was the one who was most likely to strike out if Batman came too close. The second time, Bubble spent the entire time ignoring the other two while Squeak mounted Batman over and over and over again. The third time, there was far less mounting, and Bubble seemed more tolerant of Batman's presence. That was the night I finished their new cage (3x5 C&C), and following that introduction I put them all into the cage.
They were fine for about 36 hours or so, and then at some point on the second full day they were together, Squeak and Batman got into a fight. Squeak has a few bald spots as a result, and Batman got a nasty bite on his foot and his ear got all torn up. I took Batman to the vet the very next day, and she gave me Chlor Palm as an antibiotic and a syringe of Metacam for pain. I also put in a divider so that now the brothers have a 3x3 C&C cage and Batman is in a 2x3 C&C cage, right next door.
Tomorrow morning will be Batman's final dose of Chlor Palm. I have been giving poop soup as probiotics (so helpful to have two healthy boys right next door) and will keep going until at least Saturday. He had lost a little weight but has begun gaining it back. His highest weight was 1316g on February 26 (six days post-fight) and was down to 1264g yesterday, but he's up to 1267g today.
I have been letting the boys have floor time together, and there is no fighting or mounting or anything when we do that. When I put them back in their cages tonight after I cleaned things up (it was replace the towels and fleece day today), Batman went up to the divider and sat and watched the other two for a little while. I usually find him sitting out in the open, in one corner right beside the divider, and one of the brothers (sometimes Squeak, sometimes Bubble) is usually sitting right next to him on the other side of the divider.
So I am wondering if maybe Batman misses the brothers and maybe they will be okay again. I can't try them again just yet as I am still working in town at the moment, but that will be done in a couple of weeks and then I will be at home all the time. What would you guys do?
Here's a photo of what I mean about how I often find them:
Squeak is on the left, the other two are on the right by JannaLou, on Flickr. (Squeak is a weird boy, he often flops onto his side in the middle of the cage and takes a nap like that.)
