New Piggie In The Mix

[Paigeemariee]

a couple months ago I introduced a younger piggie that I adopted into my cage with my two other piggies
(after quarantine and washing their cage of course), one of the older pigs (Burro) was chasing her around nipping at her (the younger one) causing a scene which was normal, after two days they seemed to get along very well, and my oldest pig (pepita) had no problems with the younger one. Well time went by it's been a couple months and now all of the sudden the younger pig is chasing around pepita and nipping at her, pepita being submissive will yelp and run away from her. I'm not sure what the problem is. Their cage is a 2X6 with plenty of places to hide on their own along with 2 water bottles 2 food bowls and 2 areas with hay so I'm not sure why this would be happening thanks!

 

[Wiebke]

a couple months ago I introduced a younger piggie that I adopted into my cage with my two other piggies
(after quarantine and washing their cage of course), one of the older pigs (Burro) was chasing her around nipping at her (the younger one) causing a scene which was normal, after two days they seemed to get along very well, and my oldest pig (pepita) had no problems with the younger one. Well time went by it's been a couple months and now all of the sudden the younger pig is chasing around pepita and nipping at her, pepita being submissive will yelp and run away from her. I'm not sure what the problem is. Their cage is a 2X6 with plenty of places to hide on their own along with 2 water bottles 2 food bowls and 2 areas with hay so I'm not sure why this would be happening thanks!

Hi and welcome

How old are your various piggies? Depending on the age, either a strong teenage season or hormonal issues/ovarian cysts can be at the bottom of your behaviour. the other possibility is that Pepita may have an underlying issue, which can cause a dominant, but lower ranked group member to try and overtake her.

When establishing a group hierarchy, the worst of the dominance always comes down between the newbie and the guinea pig just ranked above. Any guinea pig whose position is not at risk can take it much more relaxed.

 

[Paigeemariee]

Hi and welcome

How old are your various piggies? Depending on the age, either a strong teenage season or hormonal issues/ovarian cysts can be at the bottom of your behaviour. the other possibility is that Pepita may have an underlying issue, which can cause a dominant, but lower ranked group member to try and overtake her.

When establishing a group hierarchy, the worst of the dominance always comes down between the newbie and the guinea pig just ranked above. Any guinea pig whose position is not at risk can take it much more relaxed.

Pepita is about 2 years old, she's the least dominant of them all, Burro is a year behind her and is the most dominant it seems and Penelope is the youngest at 4 months

 

[Wiebke]

Pepita is about 2 years old, she's the least dominant of them all, Burro is a year behind her and is the most dominant it seems and Penelope is the youngest at 4 months

It seems that Burro has hit the teenage months, which can be characterised by strong season where a sow rather loses control over her surging hormones and goes on a chasing/mounting spree. It should die down within a day of total excess. This kind of over the top season is generally amazingly well tolerated by the companions and does not lead to fall-outs although of course the companions can be quite vocal and complain!

If you see longer periods of sows usually over 18 months and most older having aggressive phases or bein in season constantly, then please see a vet over ovarian cysts, which can be treated by either hormone injections or a spaying operation.