Birdpainter
New Born Pup
Hi there,
To explain the problem I'm experiencing with my youngest guinea pig i'll start by explaining the situation with the guinea pigs i own
My last guinea pig died at the age of 7, and having grown up with guinea's i knew i wanted to get another after i had grieved his passing,
So a year later i went to the RSPCA with the intention of getting two female guinea's. However, The only guinea pigs they had at the time were a 3 year old Albino, short hair, female. As well as a very old ( they thought he was about 8 years old), blind, very sad male.
Now i had told them i wanted 2 females on the phone Which they said they had, so when i came down to the shelter i was a bit shocked to find one was a male, (although the attendant struggled to figure out if he even was male to start with)
I talked with them a little about the possibility of neutering the male or female but they said the male was too old to be Neutered and the female was too small.
So after much thought i decided to take the female, I had wanted a female anyhow, with the intent of getting another female from a local shelter, But that night i talked with my Mum (i live with her) about how the male was in such a bad situation, he had been stuck at the shelter for a long time, and how sad his story was, My mum decided to go back and adopt the male, Who we called Noshi as he liked to eat ALOT. But we were still stuck, The female was alone and this wasnt what we had wanted, a days later we managed to find a local shelter who had some female guineas ready to be adopted and we took the female down to see if she would get along with anyone. The first little guinea we tried was 'Accepted'!
This Guinea was a young (less then 8 months i believe) Rex fur female, My Guinea, Named Taini, rumbled a little but soon settled down and started mothering the new Guinea by comforting her and protecting her from us humans We left them together for about half an hour to make sure they were getting along and since it seemed like a good match we went home. They were put in a cage together with fresh bedding and the Igloo the female Taini had the other day has been washed so nothing smelt like her from the beginning.
A few months pass by and i start noticing that Baby, The young Guinea is being very active and seems to be rumbled at and chased around by Taini, My original female quite a lot, She isnt allowed to go into the igloo and snuggle often, So i got a second igloo so they could have separate space if needed.
By this time its quite warm in the summer so they slowly switch to the outdoor hutch, Staying in at night till the nights are warm enough for them, ect.
Noshi, The old guinea can see (somewhat, he is mostly blind) and smell and interact with them through the bars of his cage and seems happy with their company, not able to be with them because he isnt neutered, but after a bad thunderstorm one night he got really sick and died (i think the storm distressed him a lot? since he wasnt in a drafty area and was okay a few days before) It upset me a lot, i really loved Noshi and i had tried so hard to fight for him but he was old and had lived for 3 amazing months out of that shelter in a loving home where he had seemed happy till his death.
By this time I'm noticing that even with more space, separate igloos, toys and food bowls, Taini (the older female) is still buffering the Younger Baby.
After talking with Mum a bit about it we decided to see if having another guinea pig around could ease out the tension a bit, Maybe Taini could have company without being harassed by a young lively Guinea all the time, And Baby could have someone who would play with her more, So we ended up with two female sisters, (mixed white/brown short hairs) Who were the same age as Baby at the time, 1 year 3 months, The old owner had bought them from a breeder but couldn't look after them anymore but wanted them to stay together.
So we bought a new outdoor hutch, that is massive, but decided to introduce them on a different neural territory incase they didnt get along, so we could still keep them separate without distressing the new girls too much with too many new environments.
After there was a bit of small fighting to find a hierarchy, things seemed good and the next day they were still getting along well in there cages with lots of play time together to get to known one and another, But Taini seemed distant from the other girls, She didnt play with them, cuddle together, clean each other, ect and she seemed irritable all of the time, chattering her teeth and rumbling, chasing everyone away, Baring her teeth, ect.
At this point we decided to try one last thing to make Taini happy, We set her up on a date at a local shelter with a male of the same age who had been neutered at least a year previously. After initial grumbling and chasing she really took to him and he was smitten with her. She finally was letting someone snuggle with her, sit in igloos and clean behind her ears, which is what i wanted for her.
So we took our 5th Pig 'Bear' home where the new hutch was finally able to be lived in
We put Bear and Taini in first since she is the top of the group and then Baby and the Two Sisters, They all accepted Bear and lived happily for a while.
So, at the moment i have 5 guinea pig who all live together in an extremely large hutch, with 5 huts, 4 food bowls, 2 drinking bottles, sawdust bedding, hay in a specified area as well as from a hay rack and lots of chew able toys, rolls to run through and be entertained with, all spread out to stop hoarding of equipment,
BUT! The problem remains of Baby being chased around, chattered at, rumbled at ect, ALL OF THE TIME, She isnt allowed to snuggle with anyone, No one grooms her, No one lets her stay in an igloo with them, and she ends up sitting alone upstairs while everyone is having fun together downstairs and then is chased away when she wants to join in.
I have tried everything at this point, and Baby has become a terrified Guinea pig who bites anyone who tries to hold her, she screams and cries when you pick her up. She is afraid of everything and she has no friends in the whole group, I know she is at the bottom of the Hierarchy but this feels like a lonely life for a guinea pig? I don't know how to help her because she is scared of even me, After months and months of daily interaction she still bites and draws blood when being held and is SO frightened when i try to take her out of the cage that I'm genuinely scared she will have a heart attack from the behavior i witnessed when trying to pick her up to put her in the run with the guineas in the summer to eat grass on the garden, (Rapid pulse, freezing, being chased, screaming, biting ect)
Can anyone help me? I only gave a detailed history so people will know exactly how the guineas were introduced, ect.
To explain the problem I'm experiencing with my youngest guinea pig i'll start by explaining the situation with the guinea pigs i own
My last guinea pig died at the age of 7, and having grown up with guinea's i knew i wanted to get another after i had grieved his passing,
So a year later i went to the RSPCA with the intention of getting two female guinea's. However, The only guinea pigs they had at the time were a 3 year old Albino, short hair, female. As well as a very old ( they thought he was about 8 years old), blind, very sad male.
Now i had told them i wanted 2 females on the phone Which they said they had, so when i came down to the shelter i was a bit shocked to find one was a male, (although the attendant struggled to figure out if he even was male to start with)
I talked with them a little about the possibility of neutering the male or female but they said the male was too old to be Neutered and the female was too small.
So after much thought i decided to take the female, I had wanted a female anyhow, with the intent of getting another female from a local shelter, But that night i talked with my Mum (i live with her) about how the male was in such a bad situation, he had been stuck at the shelter for a long time, and how sad his story was, My mum decided to go back and adopt the male, Who we called Noshi as he liked to eat ALOT. But we were still stuck, The female was alone and this wasnt what we had wanted, a days later we managed to find a local shelter who had some female guineas ready to be adopted and we took the female down to see if she would get along with anyone. The first little guinea we tried was 'Accepted'!
This Guinea was a young (less then 8 months i believe) Rex fur female, My Guinea, Named Taini, rumbled a little but soon settled down and started mothering the new Guinea by comforting her and protecting her from us humans
We left them together for about half an hour to make sure they were getting along and since it seemed like a good match we went home. They were put in a cage together with fresh bedding and the Igloo the female Taini had the other day has been washed so nothing smelt like her from the beginning. A few months pass by and i start noticing that Baby, The young Guinea is being very active and seems to be rumbled at and chased around by Taini, My original female quite a lot, She isnt allowed to go into the igloo and snuggle often, So i got a second igloo so they could have separate space if needed.
By this time its quite warm in the summer so they slowly switch to the outdoor hutch, Staying in at night till the nights are warm enough for them, ect.
Noshi, The old guinea can see (somewhat, he is mostly blind) and smell and interact with them through the bars of his cage and seems happy with their company, not able to be with them because he isnt neutered, but after a bad thunderstorm one night he got really sick and died (i think the storm distressed him a lot? since he wasnt in a drafty area and was okay a few days before) It upset me a lot, i really loved Noshi and i had tried so hard to fight for him but he was old and had lived for 3 amazing months out of that shelter in a loving home where he had seemed happy till his death.
By this time I'm noticing that even with more space, separate igloos, toys and food bowls, Taini (the older female) is still buffering the Younger Baby.
After talking with Mum a bit about it we decided to see if having another guinea pig around could ease out the tension a bit, Maybe Taini could have company without being harassed by a young lively Guinea all the time, And Baby could have someone who would play with her more, So we ended up with two female sisters, (mixed white/brown short hairs) Who were the same age as Baby at the time, 1 year 3 months, The old owner had bought them from a breeder but couldn't look after them anymore but wanted them to stay together.
So we bought a new outdoor hutch, that is massive, but decided to introduce them on a different neural territory incase they didnt get along, so we could still keep them separate without distressing the new girls too much with too many new environments.
After there was a bit of small fighting to find a hierarchy, things seemed good and the next day they were still getting along well in there cages with lots of play time together to get to known one and another, But Taini seemed distant from the other girls, She didnt play with them, cuddle together, clean each other, ect and she seemed irritable all of the time, chattering her teeth and rumbling, chasing everyone away, Baring her teeth, ect.
At this point we decided to try one last thing to make Taini happy, We set her up on a date at a local shelter with a male of the same age who had been neutered at least a year previously. After initial grumbling and chasing she really took to him and he was smitten with her. She finally was letting someone snuggle with her, sit in igloos and clean behind her ears, which is what i wanted for her.
So we took our 5th Pig 'Bear' home where the new hutch was finally able to be lived in
We put Bear and Taini in first since she is the top of the group and then Baby and the Two Sisters, They all accepted Bear and lived happily for a while.
So, at the moment i have 5 guinea pig who all live together in an extremely large hutch, with 5 huts, 4 food bowls, 2 drinking bottles, sawdust bedding, hay in a specified area as well as from a hay rack and lots of chew able toys, rolls to run through and be entertained with, all spread out to stop hoarding of equipment,
BUT! The problem remains of Baby being chased around, chattered at, rumbled at ect, ALL OF THE TIME, She isnt allowed to snuggle with anyone, No one grooms her, No one lets her stay in an igloo with them, and she ends up sitting alone upstairs while everyone is having fun together downstairs and then is chased away when she wants to join in.
I have tried everything at this point, and Baby has become a terrified Guinea pig who bites anyone who tries to hold her, she screams and cries when you pick her up. She is afraid of everything and she has no friends in the whole group, I know she is at the bottom of the Hierarchy but this feels like a lonely life for a guinea pig? I don't know how to help her because she is scared of even me, After months and months of daily interaction she still bites and draws blood when being held and is SO frightened when i try to take her out of the cage that I'm genuinely scared she will have a heart attack from the behavior i witnessed when trying to pick her up to put her in the run with the guineas in the summer to eat grass on the garden, (Rapid pulse, freezing, being chased, screaming, biting ect)
Can anyone help me? I only gave a detailed history so people will know exactly how the guineas were introduced, ect.
This behavior is now just towards Baby :/