One guinea pig too greedy

Josie&Nutmeg

Josie&Nutmeg

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 3, 2021
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Location
Derby
Hi everyone!
I have 2 beautiful girlies! One, Josie is obviously the dominant sow, but she is a lot more nervous. Nutmeg is very confident and comes out to meet me a lot! When I put there veg in I try and peek through the door to see them eating, and it is always nutmeg never Josie! I have noticed nutmeg is getting a lot bigger and Josie a lot thinner. Nutmeg is starting to bully her a bit now!
Please help, thank you!
 
Josie&Nutmeg said:
Hi everyone!
I have 2 beautiful girlies! One, Josie is obviously the dominant sow, but she is a lot more nervous. Nutmeg is very confident and comes out to meet me a lot! When I put there veg in I try and peek through the door to see them eating, and it is always nutmeg never Josie! I have noticed nutmeg is getting a lot bigger and Josie a lot thinner. Nutmeg is starting to bully her a bit now!
Please help, thank you!
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How big is your cage? Do they have two pellet bowls?

We had a greedy piggy (is there any other type) and what we’d do is usher them both into separate hides and give them their lettuce leaf/cucumber slice/ pepper separately so you know both are having equal amounts rather than popping food straight in
 
Weigh your piggies weekly and keep a note of their weights so you can see any downward/upward trends. Scatter pellets in different parts of the cage, that includes vegetables, give unlimited hay again in different parts of the cage
 
Thank you! I have a 6ft times 2ft hutch, I will try scattering the food around! I will start weighing them weekly
 
I have just weighed the girls
Nutmeg (the greedy one) 1087
Josie 902
I don’t know if this is good or bad!
 
It’s always worth ruling out a health issue with a health check at the vets.

Like humans, piggies are naturally different weights, so what is ‘normal’ for one isn’t for another.

As well as scatter feeding as already mentioned, you could always take Josie out to give her some syringe feed - either with a syringe or offer her a spoon with it on ( this is Phoebe’s preferred method )

Re possible bullying, one of the experienced behaviour people can advise.
 
If you piggy is getting bullied you must read our bullying thread. This will explain in depth how to handle the situation.

Scatter feed is definitely the best solution while also weighing her to see any drastic weight loss.

I toss veggies all around my cage. In hay. In their hides. In the corners. On top and inside their tunnels. Pellets I don’t scatter feed but you most certainly can if you would like. I hope you don’t have to split your girls up but sadly this may be the case.
 
If Josie is dominant but Nutmeg is potentially bullying, then it can be that Nutmeg is trying to take over and become the dominant piggy - there can be several reasons for this but ruling out that Josie isnt harbouring an illness is important. If there is going to be a change in leadership, then that's fine (it can happen) but what is important is that both piggies are ok with it.

Bullying is more than just normal dominance.
Ensuring they are weighed weekly (daily if you have any concerns over food intake), is important and a useful tool to help establish if bullying may be occurring (a bullied piggy can be chased away from food and therefore lose weight).

I completely agree about scatter feeding - I scatter feed both veg and pellets for my boys - as well as ensuring hay is available in multiple places around the cage.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...gforum.co.uk/threads/bonds-in-trouble.152930/
 
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