Freela
Senior Guinea Pig
This is my first time having a subordinate pig assume a leadership position with a new companion, so bear with me here!
We had Leela (subordinate) and Hadley (dominant) as a bonded pair for 4.5 years (Leela's whole life.) When Hadley passed away we got a new little month-old pig, Tomie. Leela stepped up and (rather forcibly) assumed the boss position and Tomie is just happy to be there, she is very much a baby who just wants an older pig there. They have been together about a week and Leela's general bossiness has decreased, though we still see normal dominance behaviour (mainly kicking Tomie out of hideys or making her wait in line for the water bottle), but there are also times when Leela lets Tomie snuggle with her in the pigloo and such. No fights, no more chinning, no tooth chattering... all is generally calm and we're happy.
The one thing I do notice is that although Leela accepts Tomie, she doesn't really seem to 'lead' Tomie, if that makes sense. Most of my other 'boss' pigs had an eye out for the pigs beneath them and would respond if they were upset or excited or something. Leela, by and large, doesn't. I think she is just not used to have someone other than herself to look out for. She is figuring it out gradually... for instance, today during free roaming time Tomie got separated and got spooked and started wheeking and Leela did come over and find her so that Tomie could follow along behind her. She did this twice. Earlier in the week the same thing happened and Leela just kept on eating her snacks and ignoring all the noise! I'm thinking Leela is just new to having a protege and needs time to adapt... I know my other, more naturally dominant pigs were more like 'mother hens' with the new additions (while also keeping them in line), whereas Leela seems happy with Tomie's presence but doesn't really seem to act like Tomie is her responsibility! LOL!
We had Leela (subordinate) and Hadley (dominant) as a bonded pair for 4.5 years (Leela's whole life.) When Hadley passed away we got a new little month-old pig, Tomie. Leela stepped up and (rather forcibly) assumed the boss position and Tomie is just happy to be there, she is very much a baby who just wants an older pig there. They have been together about a week and Leela's general bossiness has decreased, though we still see normal dominance behaviour (mainly kicking Tomie out of hideys or making her wait in line for the water bottle), but there are also times when Leela lets Tomie snuggle with her in the pigloo and such. No fights, no more chinning, no tooth chattering... all is generally calm and we're happy.
The one thing I do notice is that although Leela accepts Tomie, she doesn't really seem to 'lead' Tomie, if that makes sense. Most of my other 'boss' pigs had an eye out for the pigs beneath them and would respond if they were upset or excited or something. Leela, by and large, doesn't. I think she is just not used to have someone other than herself to look out for. She is figuring it out gradually... for instance, today during free roaming time Tomie got separated and got spooked and started wheeking and Leela did come over and find her so that Tomie could follow along behind her. She did this twice. Earlier in the week the same thing happened and Leela just kept on eating her snacks and ignoring all the noise! I'm thinking Leela is just new to having a protege and needs time to adapt... I know my other, more naturally dominant pigs were more like 'mother hens' with the new additions (while also keeping them in line), whereas Leela seems happy with Tomie's presence but doesn't really seem to act like Tomie is her responsibility! LOL!
