My girls keep squabbling, worried they'll fall out

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Gemma McD

Gemma McD

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I have a pair of mother and daughter piggies, mother is about a year and daughter 8 months. I don't know their history so no idea if there have been problems before. I only know they are mother and daughter as that is what I was told and their colouring is very similar. When I first got them about 3 weeks ago I thought the daughter Saffy was in charge as in the mornings Saffy will be in the pigloo and Ginny, the mother, lying outside on the hay. If I was cuddling them both Saffy would squeal and nip at Ginny if she tried to sit in the same spot! Beacuse of this I would bring them out for laptime seperately and didn't notice anymore problems. Recently I noticed Saffy always followed Ginny during floor time and wheeked like crazy if Ginny went scurrying off without her, so I went back to joint lap time. Ginny seems very content with this and stretches out on me completely whereas Saffy doesn't relax. Today I saw Ginny rumble strutting and using her ample rear to stop Saffy getting into the bedroom. They went onto have an argument at lap time with squealing, nipping and pushing. I've noticed that when they are on my lap together and I go to pick up Saffy, she will swing her head round and make to bite me. On her own she doesn't object like that. Today I moved their food bowls as I did have 1 upstairs and downstairs. They are now both downstairs in case Ginny is stopping Saffy getting to the food bowl.

Is this perfectly normal, nothing to worry about and unlikely to become serious?

Do I need to take any other steps to alleviate bullying?

Should I go back to seperate lap time or carry on with them together?

Sorry for all the Q's but as a newbie and want to make sure I do what's best for my girls :))
 
When I first got my two boys they didn't get on.
It might be worth trying them in seperate cages but where they can see each other. Also do they have a bedroom each at the moment? My boys would not share a room at all at first so they had a bedroom each and this helped a lot.
If they start to argue I find seperating them imediately was best. I have a large cage so I would just divide it into two over night and then let them get back together in the morning.
Now they love each other to bits and even sometimes share a bedroom.
I dont mean to worry you but I would be worried about this behaviour.
Maybe someone with more experience than me can help a bit more but for now I would do everything seperate and make sure they have two of everything so that they dont have to fight over things.
 
I think it is always best to have two of everything so no pig will thing they own the item. You need two pig loos,two bowls for food,two beds. This will make a great difference to them both. Keep an eye on things but when I had two piggies I did notice things like that.
 
Oh dear, just what I hoped wouldn't happen! The only things I have 2 of are food bowls and water bottles :(
 
Well water bottle is okay but you must have two of the cage things. It is unfair for only one to have a pig loo and the other to have to be out. Why not get them cost beds? They will love to snuggle up in them. :)
 
piggyfan said:
Well water bottle is okay but you must have two of the cage things. It is unfair for only one to have a pig loo and the other to have to be out. Why not get them cost beds? They will love to snuggle up in them. :)
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I feel awful, I really didn't realise and just thought that as they'd always had one pigloo it would be OK:( Poor things, I'm a bad piggy mum 8... They will be getting cosies, again I had thought 1 would be OK but I will definitely be getting 2 now. I don't have 2 cages though so can't seperate them
 
They do not need to be separated! They are getting along and not fighting or drawing blood. They just both need their own space. I am sure once they do not have to share they will be fine. :)
 
piggyfan said:
They do not need to be separated! They are getting along and not fighting or drawing blood. They just both need their own space. I am sure once they do not have to share they will be fine. :)
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Thank you, that's very reassuring. Sorry for all the questions, as I'm sure you can tell I don't have a clue really :(|) Gotta whole lot of love for piggies but not a lot of knowledge!
 
Please do not be sorry for asking. How can you learn if you do not ask? Feel free to ask anything you like. Anything you want to know? :)
 
piggyfan said:
Please do not be sorry for asking. How can you learn if you do not ask? Feel free to ask anything you like. Anything you want to know? :)
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I'm so glad I found this forum :)) Would you advise giving them lap time one on one rather than together?
 
I would say one and a time but if one of them seems to miss the other bring her out and place her next to you on the sofa.
 
As I didn't have a second bed for them last night, I put an old sweater in for one of them to curl up in. Hubby said when he checked on them, Ginny was snuggled into it and looked comfy!
 
Gemma McD said:
As I didn't have a second bed for them last night, I put an old sweater in for one of them to curl up in. Hubby said when he checked on them, Ginny was snuggled into it and looked comfy!
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Good idea. I used a cardboard box for mine until I was able to buy a second pigloo. I hope they get on better when they dont feel they have to compete for things :)
 
Our first pair of girls always fought over their house as we only had one of them. The second pair we had I dispensed with any "hideys" & just put lots of long hay in which they would run into & then eat their way out of & sleep in! Because of that they always slept in the open, there in nothing nicer than seeing chicken legs poking out from a sleepy pig :))

If you do use pigloos or whatever, you need two or a cardboard box big enough for two piggies, that has 2 holes in so they can escape if needed. They can get very possessive of any hideys though, in my opinion, & that is what sometimes can cause fights :(
 
They don't have the pigloo in their hutch during the day as they were spending all their time in the bedroom. Without the pigloo they are much more active and go in and out of their run all day. I will be getting them a cosy cup each and hope things will calm down soon. They have a bowl and bottle each and 2 tunnels in their run so I'm hoping they will settle and stop their squabbling. As far as I'm aware they've always lived together as I was told they are mother and daughter. I just wish I'd researched more before I got piggies, could have avoided all this if I'd done my homework better!
 
Just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone for all the help! Am pleased to report that after making a few changes, my girls now are getting along much better. There are still the odd squabbles over a favourite snuggle place but other than normal niggles they are happy piggies and even snuggle next to each other sometimes :))
 
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