My wife and I have two pigs. We adopted Molly from an animal shelter back in January, and is the older one at maybe 9 months to 1 year. Ellie we got from a pet store two days ago, and she is about 5 weeks old.
When introducing them to each other, we took every precaution we had previously read about. We had a large, neutral play area that was free of any piggy scent. Molly was clearly trying to dominate as she is twice the size of Ellie. The basic nipping, butt sniffing, butt dragging was all being done by Molly, while Ellie kind of just took it. No blood shed or fights have occurred, as I think Ellie is far too submissive to even fight back.
I understand that it's normal for this to occur. However my concerns are that while Molly is trying to be dominate, she also seems to deny Ellie any food. We have two of everything (water bottles, food bowls, haystacks). When Molly sees Ellie eating some hay, Molly will sometimes nip Ellie, causing her to stop eating. Today, Ellie sat mostly in the corner not moving much nor eating while Molly seemed normal, occasionally coming up to Ellie to nip her.
When we take Molly away from the play area, Ellie will start moving around, eating and drinking normally. We use the C&C cage grids to make up the play area they are in. We put a divider in the middle to stop the bullying from Molly. Molly would be upset about that, biting the cage divider and pacing around it, while smelling Ellie. Ellie would do the same thing, as if they wanted to be next to each other. To our surprise, Ellie was small enough to wiggle through the grids, and was back with Molly. She did this three times, making me believe she wants to be next to Molly despite the bullying/dominating. However when Ellie is with Molly, she often doesn't move or eat much since Molly is trying to be dominate.
I'm sorry for the long post. I guess I'm just concerned because I don't understand what's happening. It seems like they want to be next to each other, but Ellie eats less and doesn't move much when Molly is around. Molly will nip her, causing Ellie to cry out like she's scared. I can't tell if Molly's dominance is causing Ellie too much stress to want to eat or move. I just want to make sure Ellie's health is good during this process of bonding them.
Any advice or reassurance is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
When introducing them to each other, we took every precaution we had previously read about. We had a large, neutral play area that was free of any piggy scent. Molly was clearly trying to dominate as she is twice the size of Ellie. The basic nipping, butt sniffing, butt dragging was all being done by Molly, while Ellie kind of just took it. No blood shed or fights have occurred, as I think Ellie is far too submissive to even fight back.
I understand that it's normal for this to occur. However my concerns are that while Molly is trying to be dominate, she also seems to deny Ellie any food. We have two of everything (water bottles, food bowls, haystacks). When Molly sees Ellie eating some hay, Molly will sometimes nip Ellie, causing her to stop eating. Today, Ellie sat mostly in the corner not moving much nor eating while Molly seemed normal, occasionally coming up to Ellie to nip her.
When we take Molly away from the play area, Ellie will start moving around, eating and drinking normally. We use the C&C cage grids to make up the play area they are in. We put a divider in the middle to stop the bullying from Molly. Molly would be upset about that, biting the cage divider and pacing around it, while smelling Ellie. Ellie would do the same thing, as if they wanted to be next to each other. To our surprise, Ellie was small enough to wiggle through the grids, and was back with Molly. She did this three times, making me believe she wants to be next to Molly despite the bullying/dominating. However when Ellie is with Molly, she often doesn't move or eat much since Molly is trying to be dominate.
I'm sorry for the long post. I guess I'm just concerned because I don't understand what's happening. It seems like they want to be next to each other, but Ellie eats less and doesn't move much when Molly is around. Molly will nip her, causing Ellie to cry out like she's scared. I can't tell if Molly's dominance is causing Ellie too much stress to want to eat or move. I just want to make sure Ellie's health is good during this process of bonding them.
Any advice or reassurance is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
