M
Matt
Hi, new here. Dad with three kids who have two piggies, Daisy and Coffee (a.k.a Cocoa) housed outside. A long story but bear with me...
We bought the piggies at a pet shop at 6 weeks (born mid August) and housed them in a shared cage. Their relationship was a bit tense. Daisy tended to hog the food bowl (in fact sit in it) rather than let Coffee get at it. In general she showed quite a lot of 'dominant' behaviour but they seemed to get by. The pet shop had assured us they were two females. At 8 weeks Daisy contracted some mites so took them to vet who prescribed some drops. While looking them over vet (trainee) said she thought that Daisy was a male.
We panicked and bought a second cage in order to avoid multiplying piggies. After about 12 weeks Cocoa suffered some ringworm on her snout so off to vet they went again. This time we saw the experienced vet who assured us they were both female after all.
Grrrrr...
So we thought we would reintroduce them to each other. The children have them out of the cage for some human interaction twice a day, but they tend to ignore each other and run to opposite ends of the sofa.
We put them in a run on the grass. To begin with Daisy tends to run at Coffee who would back off. At one point they stood on hind legs and 'boxed' for a second, but otherwise there was no contact. After a few minutes they would be calmer and settle down to graze. The run has a small hutch area. When not grazing Daisy would tend to stand in the doorway and stop Coffee getting in and out. However, when we open the door to put them back in their hutches we often find them snuggled up to each other for warmth - so they can't hate each other that much.
It is getting cold, and despite well covered and waterproofed cages with loads of hay in the sleeping areas we think they would be warmer if they could be together.
However we are apprehensive that they may not get on or that Daisy will bully Coffee. Are they still young enough (4 months) or will they be too set in their ways? What would the forum members do?
Thanks for any suggestions.
We bought the piggies at a pet shop at 6 weeks (born mid August) and housed them in a shared cage. Their relationship was a bit tense. Daisy tended to hog the food bowl (in fact sit in it) rather than let Coffee get at it. In general she showed quite a lot of 'dominant' behaviour but they seemed to get by. The pet shop had assured us they were two females. At 8 weeks Daisy contracted some mites so took them to vet who prescribed some drops. While looking them over vet (trainee) said she thought that Daisy was a male.
We panicked and bought a second cage in order to avoid multiplying piggies. After about 12 weeks Cocoa suffered some ringworm on her snout so off to vet they went again. This time we saw the experienced vet who assured us they were both female after all.
Grrrrr...
So we thought we would reintroduce them to each other. The children have them out of the cage for some human interaction twice a day, but they tend to ignore each other and run to opposite ends of the sofa.
We put them in a run on the grass. To begin with Daisy tends to run at Coffee who would back off. At one point they stood on hind legs and 'boxed' for a second, but otherwise there was no contact. After a few minutes they would be calmer and settle down to graze. The run has a small hutch area. When not grazing Daisy would tend to stand in the doorway and stop Coffee getting in and out. However, when we open the door to put them back in their hutches we often find them snuggled up to each other for warmth - so they can't hate each other that much.
It is getting cold, and despite well covered and waterproofed cages with loads of hay in the sleeping areas we think they would be warmer if they could be together.
However we are apprehensive that they may not get on or that Daisy will bully Coffee. Are they still young enough (4 months) or will they be too set in their ways? What would the forum members do?
Thanks for any suggestions.