She Devil

Alisa3114

Alisa3114

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Location
South Wales
Got a bit of a dilemma with the girls. Ariel lost a load of weight and had her checked and they couldn’t find anything physically wrong to cause the weightloss so put it down to maybe the others are bullying her as she’s always on her own and doesn’t really seem to bother with the others much. So the last 2 weeks I’ve been getting her out everyday and feeding her on her own to try and bulk her up and give her sometime alone in the playpen where she seems happy pattering about on her own and eating hay forage and veggies. But when we put her back in with the others she just freezes up. So I sat watching them the other night and it’s Aria that is the she devil. Every bit of hay Ariel went to eat she pulled it from her when I put the veggies in every bit Ariel had she grabbed from her mouth ☹️ But it looks like it’s not just Ariel as Aria chased Avery around and pulled out chunks of her fur. I’m stuck what to do. I took Aria out and put her in the playpen so the others could have a break. I thought at first of putting Ariel into a separate cage and getting a new friend for her, then I thought perhaps I should now put Avery or one of the others with her although they don’t seem close. Or do I take the she devil out or just leave them as they are and hope it doesn’t get any worse ☹️ 🤞🏻Sorry for the long post and thanks if you got to the end 👍
 
Oh gosh what a decision?It does sound like Aria is bullying both girls to some extent. It is a difficult one, if you take her out then put her back it might make matters worse unless it was permanent and you were to find a new companion for her. I would monitor a little longer and perhaps keep feeding up Ariel as you are doing for a while longer.
Would you have room for another cage set up if needed?
 
Do you scatter the veg, hand feed or put in bowls? Taking food from another piggy is in itself normal but if she’s not allowed to eat then that is tantamount to bullying. How much weight did she lose and over what period of time?

Have you been weighing her daily the past two weeks to see how she’s doing in that regard? The issue with this is that hay should make up the biggest part of their diet. So feeding veg (more of a snack) isn’t likely to make much difference.

I also wonder whether taking her out and leaving the top pig behind has also caused a bit of an issue. And sows don’t fight, they pull hair.

How old are they all? How often has she pulled chunks of hair out? And how are the two girls now behaving without Aria in with them? It does sound like there is some bullying going on which isn’t conducive to a long term bond.

Have a read of the guides below and see where she sits behaviour wise.
Bonds In Trouble
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
 
Bill & Ted said:
Oh gosh what a decision?It does sound like Aria is bullying both girls to some extent. It is a difficult one, if you take her out then put her back it might make matters worse unless it was permanent and you were to find a new companion for her. I would monitor a little longer and perhaps keep feeding up Ariel as you are doing for a while longer.
Would you have room for another cage set up if needed?
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It would Not as big a cage as they are all in at the moment, it would have to be the ferplast cage that Alisa and Aria were in when I had them so would only be big enough for 2 ☹️
 
Siikibam said:
Do you scatter the veg, hand feed or put in bowls? Taking food from another piggy is in itself normal but if she’s not allowed to eat then that is tantamount to bullying. How much weight did she lose and over what period of time?

Have you been weighing her daily the past two weeks to see how she’s doing in that regard? The issue with this is that hay should make up the biggest part of their diet. So feeding veg (more of a snack) isn’t likely to make much difference.

I also wonder whether taking her out and leaving the top pig behind has also caused a bit of an issue. And sows don’t fight, they pull hair.

How old are they all? How often has she pulled chunks of hair out? And how are the two girls now behaving without Aria in with them? It does sound like there is some bullying going on which isn’t conducive to a long term bond.

Have a read of the guides below and see where she sits behaviour wise.
Bonds In Trouble
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
Click to expand...
I scatter the veg all around the cage to try and give them all a chance to get some.
She lost 200g in a month. I’ve been giving her a bowl of mashed up pellets everyday to try and bulk her up but so far in the 2 weeks she only put on 60g as its been varying between her weight staying the same putting on 20g then losing 20g etc so it’s really slow going up .
Alisa is roughly about 3 and half to four she’s my dominant one and Aria is her daughter. Aria is coming up to 2 and Avaleigh, Avery & Ariel are 18 months.
I haven’t given her extra veg just given her the same amount as she normally has just separate from the girls. The playpen is full of hay and I’ve been leaving her in there for about an hour everyday so she can have some peace to eat.
Aria was only away from them for an hour and she was downstairs with me so I didn’t see how the girls were without her as their cage is upstairs.
 
How long has Aria been behaving like this? And is it only towards the Ariel and Avery?

Weight takes longer to put on than it does losing. Just feed her the normal diet and as long as she’s gaining that’s fine. 20g loss could be the difference between an empty/full bladder or stomach. Is her weight on an overall upwards trend? Were they in separate groups before you bonded them all?
 
Siikibam said:
How long has Aria been behaving like this? And is it only towards the Ariel and Avery?

Weight takes longer to put on than it does losing. Just feed her the normal diet and as long as she’s gaining that’s fine. 20g loss could be the difference between an empty/full bladder or stomach. Is her weight on an overall upwards trend? Were they in separate groups before you bonded them all?
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Aria has always been the fiesty one into everything and has to be the first at everything, Alisa is the only one who doesn’t take any nonsense from her. Yes her weight has not dropped any lower just really slowly going up. They’ve Been bonded together since September 2019 it was Alisa and Aria who were bonded with Avaleigh, Avery & Ariel who are triplets I think they were about 3 months at them most and Aria was about six months old so they’ve basically grown up together.
 
Has she always been like that towards Ariel and Avery then? Or does her behaviour appear to have changed recently?
 
Siikibam said:
Has she always been like that towards Ariel and Avery then? Or does her behaviour appear to have changed recently?
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She’s pretty much always been bossy to all of them although I’ve never seen her pulling anyone’s hair or stopping them eating before. Ariel has always been a loner. The others apart from Alisa (who never allows any of them to sure a hide or bed with her) will cuddle together but she’s always the opposite side of the cage on her own she just always seemed to prefer spending her time in the hay instead of being in any of the beds.
 
I would consider getting her checked out by the vet just to rule out anything health related. Do you respect the hierarchy when dealing with them?
 
Siikibam said:
I would consider getting her checked out by the vet just to rule out anything health related. Do you respect the hierarchy when dealing with them?
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Do you mean Ariel or Aria? Ariel has been checked by the vet and she was ok and said it was probably bullying.

She does suffer from a runny nose from her one nostril but it’s never developed into a URI. The vet said said she either has allergies or polyps in her nose but said she was too small to operate on so said to nebulise her with F10 which seems to have helped as her nose has stayed dry for much longer and hasn’t had a runny nose for months when it used to be every couple of weeks it would happen.

I’m not sure what you mean by respecting the hierarch. Everytime you go near the cage Aria runs to the side to have a chin rub and when I’m topping up their hay or pellets she’s always the first there, and she wants to be hand fed the veg as if she wants to try everything first. Shes very curious and is into everything. She’s the only one that will let you give chin rubs or head rubs in the cage and when I’m spot cleaning she’s there seeing what I’m doing and getting in the way but if you try to pick her up she teeth chatters at you None of the others ever does it.
 
I would be getting Aria vet checked if her behaviour is a sudden change - sudden behaviour changes can be a sign of an issue eg if she is the age for ovarian cysts to start

Being chattered at for trying to pick her up - that can be normal (most piggies hate being picked up) or if a new thing, a sign of discomfort etc
 
Piggies&buns said:
I would be getting Aria vet checked if her behaviour is a sudden change - sudden behaviour changes can be a sign of an issue eg if she is the age for ovarian cysts to start

Being chattered at for trying to pick her up - that can be normal (most piggies hate being picked up) or if a new thing, a sign of discomfort etc
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She’s always done the teeth chattering. She doesn’t have any hair loss on her sides, or is that only when it’s advanced cysts?
 
Alisa3114 said:
She’s always done the teeth chattering. She doesn’t have any hair loss on her sides, or is that only when it’s advanced cysts?
Click to expand...

Cysts can be present with a change in behaviour being the only symptom. Not saying that is what it is, but it’s one of the things which comes to mind if a sows behaviour changes and she becomes more moody and herd dynamics get upset
 
:agr: I was meaning getting Aria checked out. With regards hierarchy, I meant hand feeding for example. You need to work from the top down. If you’re taking them out or putting them back in you need to do the same.
 
Siikibam said:
:agr: I was meaning getting Aria checked out. With regards hierarchy, I meant hand feeding for example. You need to work from the top down. If you’re taking them out or putting them back in you need to do the same.
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Aww I get it now. I will get Aria checked out. I didn’t know about having to get them out in order it was just whichever one I caught and Aria was usually last as she’s the hardest to catch 🤦🏼‍♀️ Thanks for all the advice it’s much appreciated 😊
 
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