New and looking for advice! 3 sows, all 4 yrs old fighting!

[Nannywoland]

Hi

I am new to the forums and have joined in the hope that someone might be able to give me some advice as I am really not sure whether I am doing the right thing or if I am missing something!

I have 3 sows, all 4 yrs old and have had them since they were tiny (8 weeks old I think). They are all very friendly and live indoors in my living room in the largest cage I could find at the time, which was the Zooplus 140. I let them out to run about most evenings and they have fresh greens everyday and some other veg and are basically very spoilt rolleyes

All's been fine until about a week ago when I began to notice one of them (Piggle) was starting to chase the smallest one (Truffle) about. They have tended to have the odd scuffle from time to time and sort it out so I assumed nothing of it. But this has escalated until last night when Piggle kept trying to climb on Truffle (dominance thing?) and screeching at each other. I had to separate Piggle as despite taking her out several times (on to my lap) she started again as soon as put back.

So now I have Piggle in her own cage - which isn't big enough for permanently, I know if this is going to be a permanent thing I need to get another bigger cage- and the other two together and they seem to be okay.

I feel sad about it as I don't want Piggle to be on her own but I am not sure whether they should be all together if they are going to fight like this.. No blood etc but definitely getting worse.

Am I doing anything wrong? Do you think having a tiered cage would help? They all have their own houses and lost of hay and food available all the time.

Argghhhh :{

Advice and help appreciated. I am feeling very sad for Piggle and Truffle and frustrated as I don't really want to have to clean out two sets of cages all the time - but obviously will do if I need to!

Thanks in advance. :<>:rose

 

[Wiebke]

Have Piggle checked for ovarian cysts - they can cause hormonal imbalances that can come out as agressive behaviour.

Treatment has moved on and you do not need necessarily have to have her spayed (major operation) if your vet is willing to try hormonal treatment first. It's much less intrusive and a couple of treatments can do the trick.

Here is more info: http://www.guinealynx.info/ovarian_cysts.html

 

[Nannywoland]

Have Piggle checked for ovarian cysts - they can cause hormonal imbalances that can come out as agressive behaviour.

Treatment has moved on and you do not need necessarily have to have her spayed (major operation) if your vet is willing to try hormonal treatment first. It's much less intrusive and a couple of treatments can do the trick.

Here is more info: http://www.guinealynx.info/ovarian_cysts.html

Hi

Thank you for the advice, much appreciated.

Could possibly be this so will have her checked over by a vet tomorrow - I put her in with the others again for a bit tonight and they seem much calmer now but I am sitting with them and keeping an eye on them.. Don't know if I can trust them yet!

:{

Thanks -c

 

[alcesterpigs]

It is always a convenient answer to say the problem is hormonal with females, a good excuse!
I would not be unduly concerned at the moment. Try putting them together again, it would be most unlikely that they would need to be permamently separated after this length of time.
I have a few sows with hormonal cysts, they only get aggressive when their food is late!

 

[Teresa J]

Women - who'd have them eh?

My groups of girls do occasionally have spats but they usually sort it out themselves so as long as no blood is being drawn I dont think I'd worry too much. I sometimes find that giving the cage a good clean and puting everything back in a different place with perhaps some new items takes their mind off scrapping.

Teresa x

 

[*SRH*]

I have three sows. Sorrel, Rosemary and Hazel all get on really well. However, Rosemary went to the vets for a week due to a major ear operation. She was apart from Sorrel and Hazel for two weeks in total.

When she went back it Sorrel was really aggressive towards Rosemary who was much smaller than her(due to lack of weight from her operation). At first it was just a little teeth chattering but then it turned into huge lunges and bites. There was a time when Sorrel flew at Rosmeary and when we stuck our hands in the middle there was a huge bite on it. That was aimed at Rosemary.

Like you, we had a worry that Rosemary would never be accepted back. We kept her on her own in a small cage.

The next day we put them in neutral territory and dabbed vanilla extract on their noses. This made them relaxed and so they all smelled the same. Also at the same time a presure hose was on so in a way they realised that they had to be friends. When they seemed more relaxed we gave them some of their favourite food (carrot) and left them for a while.

Next we cleaned their house out properly, with dissinfectant and put them back in so it was like neutral territory. After that they got on fine/

If you can not get any loud noises or a neutral cage, try using a sofa with towels on it. Also have something ready just in case they have a full battle.(NEVER SEPERATE WITH NON COVERED HANDS, ALWAYS USE GLOVES OR A TOWEL, ANGRY GUINEAPIGS WILL BITE ANYTHING)

As a generaly thumbnail when they are both rearing up on their hindquaters that is the time to seperate.

The Cavy Spirit Dating Game

The initial introduction is done to determine how fast or prolonged the process will be. We also use this process when we are trying to find a good mate for someone else's guinea pig.

Get a large bath towel or two.

Put the towels on the couch (neutral, unfamiliar territory).
Spread them out over the middle of the couch.

Each person holding a pig, sits at opposite ends of the couch.
Make sure the towels are between you and there is a good amount of space (it helps to have a big couch!). Floor works, too. Keep kids quiet and out of reach. No other distractions.

Let the pigs find each other on their own time.
You may need to nudge them in the right direction. Have another towel handy to toss on the pigs if you need to separate them.

Let the games begin!
More often than not, pet owners want to break up guinea pigs exhibiting normal dominant behavior. Everyone looks worried and asks, "Is that normal?" And be prepared to answer the question, "Mommy, what are they doing?"

How long and what next?
Usually, the first 15 minutes is just getting acclimated to the new surroundings and the idea that there is another guinea pig there. It's the next 15 to 30 minutes that can get interesting. The nice thing about being on the couch is it makes it easy for them to run to you when they get uncomfortable. But, keep your interactions and interference to an absolute minimum.

Some guinea pigs will get along just great. Some will decide on peaceful co-existence right from the beginning. Some will act like long lost buddies or lovers! But, most will go through the standard dominance dance getting to know each other and trying to figure out who is going to be the boss of who. They must and will decide this. It may not be now, but it will get decided.



When to separate them? Serious blood is drawn or a wound is inflicted. Some nipping or minor biting can be quite normal. Even little tufts of hair in the mouth can be normal.



Some standard dating game behavior is (any sex combination):


Safe, non-combative, dominance behavior
Rumblestrutting
Butt sniffing
Butt nudging
Chasing
Butt dragging (they are leaving their scent)
Mounting (any which way: rear mount, head mount, side mount, flying leap mount!)
Nose face-offs (higher in the air wins, one must lower their nose to be subservient to the other)
Teeth chattering: a little (signal of dominance)
Raised hackles (hair on the back of the neck and along the spine)

Posturing for possible attack, battle for dominance is escalating
Teeth chattering: sustained (signal of anger, aggression, warning)
Nips, light bites, may result in little tufts of fur in their teeth
Wide yawn, but this is no yawn, they are showing their teeth
Snorting (like a strong puff or hiss)

These behaviors may sound serious and they should be monitored VERY CLOSELY, BUT do NOT separate the pigs exhibiting this behavior, yet. This is when the average pet owner loses it and pulls the pig out. Most of the time, this behavior will continue for a while until one backs down.

Fighting with intent to harm
Bite attacks are no longer warning nips, they are lunges with intent to harm.
Combination of raised hackles, loud and angry teeth chattering, rumblestrutting in place with the head staying in one position while facing the other guinea pig doing the same thing. Usually a signal of a biting attack. But they may back down before they engage.
Both pigs rear up on their haunches, face to face. This is a clear, brief signal of their intent to launch full attacks at each other. Separate if possible before the attack.
Full battle. The pigs are locked together in a vicious ball of fur. This is very serious. Separate immediately, but be careful. Throw a towel over them and use a dustpan or something other than your hand to separate them. Unintended bites from their very sharp incisors can cause serious damage.

The best indicator to watch for on when to separate guinea pigs is the posturing of the nipping and bite attacks. If that gets more serious, that's the time to separate them. If blood is drawn, it's definitely time to stop that session. Hopefully, you can separate your guinea pigs before any serious harm is done.

We have only witnessed one full onslaught battle and that was not during an introduction, but did result in a serious injury to one of the guinea pigs. It was a battle between a father and son over the sows during floortime (one of our social experiments that bombed). We have seen two sows raise up on their haunches, but the actual attacks were minor. They were able to sort out their hierarchy.

We have probably gone through the dating game process close to 100 times! To date, over the course of several years, NONE of the guinea pig pairs that we have matched up and adopted out have ceased getting along, and that includes many boar pairs and some boar trios. (We do periodic follow ups on our adoptions.)

Hope that helps and good luck with it. I am sure it will be fine at the end. x