TheLottiediarys
Teenage Guinea Pig
Sadly for Anya and Aurora, They have now lost their two cage mates, Bear and Lottie in a space of a few weeks,
Obviously this has been an upsetting time for everyone, But I'm thinking mostly about how the girls are dealing with losing Bear.
Since we now have two pairs, Anya and Aurora and Baby and Donnie, I'm considering preparing them all for the possibility of them becoming a foursome.
This would be wonderful for Anya and Aurora if they take to each other, But I'm thinking a lot about Baby right now and how this might effect her.
I think a little back story on Baby might be helpful here since I'm wondering if it would be a bad idea to try this for her sake:
Its been a long road for Baby since I got her.
I originally got her as a friend for my first Guinea Pig, Taini, Taini was 2 at this point having got her as a rescue and Baby was well... a Baby, she was a tiny little thing and must have only been about 8 weeks old.
Unfortunately I was ill-prepared for how this would pan out, which was Taini rejecting her altogether, and me worried for the pair deciding to get two more girl Guinea Pigs (Bad idea I know!), Georgia and Lottie, who unfortunately again rejected Baby all together, though happily accepted Taini as the matriarch.
So we had a foursome of Taini, Georgia, Lottie and Baby who would exclude Baby completely.
At this point having read that a male can diffuse tension between girls I then got Bear, Who the girls loved!, but sadly couldn't help Baby and also 'turned against her'.
Seeing how Baby was deteriorating at this point I decided to remove her from the group completely.
Baby got a little better here, She had lost a lot of weight and was now putting it back on, becoming a more healthy, happy little Guinea Pig.
She had become very bite-y towards me while in the group and would draw blood occasionally when handling her. She would hide in a hut all day long and showed signs of depression when in the group. She had also lost interest in cleaning herself and developed dry flaky skin, and a vitamin C deficiency, So bless her it had been a bad ride so far for her.
Obviously I know Piggies need companionship and she would pine for other Pigs, though when I tried reintroducing her to the group they would again reject her. I believe this is when she developed her notoriously challenging attitude towards other Pigs which I had to deal with in the future.
I tried everything at this point, I took Lottie, the lowest ranking pig of the group, out to try to bond with Baby and this time it was Baby who gave as good as she got back, these girls just did not want to be friends.
So Baby was once more a lone Pig.
Then I had the bright idea of trying her with other Pig rather then the girls I had.
I searched around and brought home Anya and Aurora, envisioning a beautiful moment where Baby would accept these girls and have a happy life! Twas not to be though.
After Quarantining the new girls and having them live next to Baby for about two weeks I tried introducing on N-Territory (Which I had always done in the past) But Baby did not like them one bit, Aurora was okay but Baby was aggressive towards Anya straight away, So i had to stop them, I tried in vain another time a few weeks later but they still didn't get on, Baby was being overly aggressive from the beginning and I began wondering if she had some psychological trauma from her treatment from the group, It seemed like she pined for other Pigs but became so defensive when she was introduced to them that it stopped her from bonding with them.
Thus began a year and a half long battle to find her someone.
Finally we found Donnie,
I had wondered if Baby's problems with Guinea Pigs was actually about FEMALE Guinea Pigs, If her trauma was directly about female GP's and if bonding her with a Neutered Male would work.
Thankfully little Donnie seemed smitten with Baby from the beginning even through a lot of bossing about. and they have lived happily together for nearly a year now!
So, what I'm now wondering is; Will attempting to introduce Baby and Donnie to Anya and Aurora be a bad idea?
Could it destabilize Baby and Donnie's relationship?
Would trying to introduce Baby to girls again harm her?
Or, Would this be a good thing for everyone involved,
Would it be better for Baby to possibly be in a group where she could possibly be the top ranking Guinea Pig?
Would it be different for her, since shes managed to create a good relationship with a Pig already,
Would she be more confident in bonding now and less defensive? I'm pretty sure part of the reason for her past behavior is because she just didn't know how to act with other GP's, Her whole life all she had known is being attacked constantly. So it is so surprising that she acted how she did? But now she has Donnie.
Or would she feel like this is two females who could challenge her relationship with Donnie? and therefore stay defensive about him?
Side note- Does a female being bonded with a male affect the chances of her being the top pig? would it be more likely? or not affect it?
So, is it worthwhile to attempt this bond at some point?
I wouldn't rush this, It would happen over a few weeks if it looked like Baby, or any of the Pigs, was struggling. And I would happily have two pairs if it meant Baby was happier.
I was thinking of setting up a new C&C set up today, where the pairs are side by side so I can watch how Baby and the girls react to one another.
Even if we ended up with two pairs who cant live together but are happy side by side, I think that would be good for everyone too.
So i just wanted your thoughts on the situation....
Let me know what you think
Obviously this has been an upsetting time for everyone, But I'm thinking mostly about how the girls are dealing with losing Bear.
Since we now have two pairs, Anya and Aurora and Baby and Donnie, I'm considering preparing them all for the possibility of them becoming a foursome.
This would be wonderful for Anya and Aurora if they take to each other, But I'm thinking a lot about Baby right now and how this might effect her.
I think a little back story on Baby might be helpful here since I'm wondering if it would be a bad idea to try this for her sake:
Its been a long road for Baby since I got her.
I originally got her as a friend for my first Guinea Pig, Taini, Taini was 2 at this point having got her as a rescue and Baby was well... a Baby, she was a tiny little thing and must have only been about 8 weeks old.
Unfortunately I was ill-prepared for how this would pan out, which was Taini rejecting her altogether, and me worried for the pair deciding to get two more girl Guinea Pigs (Bad idea I know!), Georgia and Lottie, who unfortunately again rejected Baby all together, though happily accepted Taini as the matriarch.
So we had a foursome of Taini, Georgia, Lottie and Baby who would exclude Baby completely.
At this point having read that a male can diffuse tension between girls I then got Bear, Who the girls loved!, but sadly couldn't help Baby and also 'turned against her'.
Seeing how Baby was deteriorating at this point I decided to remove her from the group completely.
Baby got a little better here, She had lost a lot of weight and was now putting it back on, becoming a more healthy, happy little Guinea Pig.
She had become very bite-y towards me while in the group and would draw blood occasionally when handling her. She would hide in a hut all day long and showed signs of depression when in the group. She had also lost interest in cleaning herself and developed dry flaky skin, and a vitamin C deficiency, So bless her it had been a bad ride so far for her.
Obviously I know Piggies need companionship and she would pine for other Pigs, though when I tried reintroducing her to the group they would again reject her. I believe this is when she developed her notoriously challenging attitude towards other Pigs which I had to deal with in the future.
I tried everything at this point, I took Lottie, the lowest ranking pig of the group, out to try to bond with Baby and this time it was Baby who gave as good as she got back, these girls just did not want to be friends.
So Baby was once more a lone Pig.
Then I had the bright idea of trying her with other Pig rather then the girls I had.
I searched around and brought home Anya and Aurora, envisioning a beautiful moment where Baby would accept these girls and have a happy life! Twas not to be though.
After Quarantining the new girls and having them live next to Baby for about two weeks I tried introducing on N-Territory (Which I had always done in the past) But Baby did not like them one bit, Aurora was okay but Baby was aggressive towards Anya straight away, So i had to stop them, I tried in vain another time a few weeks later but they still didn't get on, Baby was being overly aggressive from the beginning and I began wondering if she had some psychological trauma from her treatment from the group, It seemed like she pined for other Pigs but became so defensive when she was introduced to them that it stopped her from bonding with them.
Thus began a year and a half long battle to find her someone.
Finally we found Donnie,
I had wondered if Baby's problems with Guinea Pigs was actually about FEMALE Guinea Pigs, If her trauma was directly about female GP's and if bonding her with a Neutered Male would work.
Thankfully little Donnie seemed smitten with Baby from the beginning even through a lot of bossing about. and they have lived happily together for nearly a year now!
So, what I'm now wondering is; Will attempting to introduce Baby and Donnie to Anya and Aurora be a bad idea?
Could it destabilize Baby and Donnie's relationship?
Would trying to introduce Baby to girls again harm her?
Or, Would this be a good thing for everyone involved,
Would it be better for Baby to possibly be in a group where she could possibly be the top ranking Guinea Pig?
Would it be different for her, since shes managed to create a good relationship with a Pig already,
Would she be more confident in bonding now and less defensive? I'm pretty sure part of the reason for her past behavior is because she just didn't know how to act with other GP's, Her whole life all she had known is being attacked constantly. So it is so surprising that she acted how she did? But now she has Donnie.
Or would she feel like this is two females who could challenge her relationship with Donnie? and therefore stay defensive about him?
Side note- Does a female being bonded with a male affect the chances of her being the top pig? would it be more likely? or not affect it?
So, is it worthwhile to attempt this bond at some point?
I wouldn't rush this, It would happen over a few weeks if it looked like Baby, or any of the Pigs, was struggling. And I would happily have two pairs if it meant Baby was happier.
I was thinking of setting up a new C&C set up today, where the pairs are side by side so I can watch how Baby and the girls react to one another.
Even if we ended up with two pairs who cant live together but are happy side by side, I think that would be good for everyone too.
So i just wanted your thoughts on the situation....
Let me know what you think
