Should i seperate Abigail and Rosie

A

Abirose

Adult Guinea Pig
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Abi and Rose have been living together for over a year with no real problems, a few bad seasons and never seemed to really connect with each other always slept, ate separately. over the last month both have had bald patches on their backs. Vets have ruled out fungal with tests and they are having injections for mites/lice. Simon did mention they could be barbering each other. Abi's bald patches are the worst of the two and the last few days we have seen Rose pulling out Abi's fur which seems really odd as Abigail seems to be the more dominant piggy. Should I separate? Thank you
 
The thread title should read - Should I separate Abigail and Rosie. Sorry having a bad typing day :)
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Can you distract them by upping the enrichment in the cage? Scatter a few pellets in the hay, tunnels to run through, lots of different types of hay?
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Thank you Debbie, I scatter their pellets in the hay, they have tunnels, a playpen. Do you think this is boredom or dominance? they went into the recue in a group, these two never have seemed bonded, but until now apart from strong seasons they have been ok. I also give them floor time but they just find a hidey to stay in and never run around. They have both meadow and timothy hay. Thank you
 
Abirose said:
Thank you Debbie, I scatter their pellets in the hay, they have tunnels, a playpen. Do you think this is boredom or dominance? they went into the recue in a group, these two never have seemed bonded, but until now apart from strong seasons they have been ok. I also give them floor time but they just find a hidey to stay in and never run around. They have both meadow and timothy hay. Thank you
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Do you have the space to separate and get them each a neutered boar?
 
Do you think I should separate? Abigail is over 4 and is covered in lumps which she had when we rescued her, Simon said she is the lumpiest pig he has ever seen but couldn't operate as there is so many unless one becomes a particular problem and to just enjoy the time with her, she also has occasional breathing problems due to narrowing of the airways, with all her problems sadly I don't think she will have a long life although she still popcorns and will run round her cage and playpen especially if she has just taken a tasty piece of veg away from Rosie. Rosie is a very timid piggy and is very reactive if Abigail tries to get near a hidey she is in. I know this sounds awful but I think I would find it a struggle for any other pig to bond with either of my girls. They didn't have a very good start to life. Thank you
 
I have just read Wiebke's guide on Barbering, I think Rosie is trying to become the dominate piggy as Abigail who has always been the dominate one is getting older and has health problems. Still don't know whether to separate or not.
 
I’m not all that experienced, however when Honey was still alive, he and Little (dominant pig) lived together. Little would always be barbering Honey, sometimes more so than other times. There was a long period where every time Honey would drink, Little would be pulling out Honey’s fur whilst he would squeal in protest. He never did anything about it as he wasn’t top pig. They got along alright in general, they could’ve been better matched though. Since Honey died and Little was bonded with Peanut in June/July, Little is still top pig but has never demonstrated barbering since. The bond between them is a lot stronger, they get along better. It’s funny how Little would try and barber Honey just about every day, to then never try to barber Peanut at all.
I think that whilst the barbering isn’t doing much harm to the bond, the submissive pig may be just having to tolerate it to keep the peace. If you were to separate them, and have them bond with a pig of their choosing, you may find this behaviour stops altogether as they ultimately like the pig their with more. If you feel like they would benefit from new friends, then I’d say go for it. But if you think they’d do okay staying together, then see how it goes
 
Little Ones said:
I’m not all that experienced, however when Honey was still alive, he and Little (dominant pig) lived together. Little would always be barbering Honey, sometimes more so than other times. There was a long period where every time Honey would drink, Little would be pulling out Honey’s fur whilst he would squeal in protest. He never did anything about it as he wasn’t top pig. They got along alright in general, they could’ve been better matched though. Since Honey died and Little was bonded with Peanut in June/July, Little is still top pig but has never demonstrated barbering since. The bond between them is a lot stronger, they get along better. It’s funny how Little would try and barber Honey just about every day, to then never try to barber Peanut at all.
I think that whilst the barbering isn’t doing much harm to the bond, the submissive pig may be just having to tolerate it to keep the peace. If you were to separate them, and have them bond with a pig of their choosing, you may find this behaviour stops altogether as they ultimately like the pig their with more. If you feel like they would benefit from new friends, then I’d say go for it. But if you think they’d do okay staying together, then see how it goes
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Thank you for your reply, its reassuring to hear that other piggies have gone through this and it has not escalated into them hurting each other. I have had them over a year and this has only just started, that's why I think it's a power struggle between the two. I got another cage yesterday from P@H just in case I need to separate. Thank you again.
 
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