Every time I start to think of myself as a fairly seasoned piggy owner, they do something new to stress me out again! I'm hoping that those with more knowledge of behaviour and an outside perspective on the situation might be able to give their opinion on my current piggy social affairs?
I had a lovely group of six sows who rubbed along quite nicely for several years. Twiggy piggy was the Big Boss and was a gentle but firm leader who kept everyone in order. I sadly lost her six weeks ago after a long and very brave battle with cancer. She was just super and I miss her terribly. I also lost Bea earlier in the year, who was a sweet little underpig. So now down to four sows. The new Big Boss is Gloria, a 5 year old californian who used to be First Lady. She has lots of opinions about everything and certainly lets everyone know! She is a heart pig and has been on meds for over a year, doing well. New First Lady is Cornflake, a 5 year old sweet greedy girl who gets on well with everyone. Then there is Maple (Cornflake's daughter) who is 4 and has lived with these same three sows since the day she was born. Bottom of the pile is Harriet, a 5 year old absolute darling who is total social glue, you can put her in with anyone and she doesn't cause any issues. Very submissive, does her own thing, trundles around happily. Has a bit of an on/off URI at the moment which is being treated but generally very well. Cage is a 2x10 C&C with 2x2 loft.
My other cage is a 2x6 C&C with 2x2 loft that is home to Mr Parsnip, a 4 year old bossy neutered lakeland, and his wife Daisy, a 3 year old rather fat tricolour who is totally henpecked by her husboar. Very submissive.
Poor Maple was spayed 2 weeks ago due to cystic ovaries and has recovered well, but seems to be getting picked on by Gloria recently. It was there before the spay, but seems to be worse since. Gloria will chatter her teeth at her and Maple will often run away very quickly when she gets too close. She does look very worried when this happens. Maple has taken to hiding in the loft (seems happy enough there) or at the other end of the cage. But then just to confuse me, will come and sit next to Gloria quite happily when it's veggie time! So I don't know if I'm worrying that she's more upset than she actually is. Gloria doesn't display aggressive behaviour to either of the other two sows. I know there is the possibility she may have cystic ovaries, and I will ask their vet to scan her next week when she has an appointment, but she wouldn't be a good candidate for anaesthesia due to her heart, so I'd have to look into medical management for this if they are present.
My other worry is that Maple does enjoy picking on Harriet, always has - she will headbutt her whenever she comes nearby and Harriet freezes and makes the most awful squeal. I know that's normal submissive behaviour but it does seem a shame! So now Harriet won't go up into the loft because Maple is rather rude to her. I think I'm just being overprotective of my sweet Harriet here, and she's probably not really bothered at all.
I hoped that others could reassure me that this is just normal lady guinea pig politics and that I don't really need to intervene, and that I'm totally overthinking the whole thing. Or if anyone thinks this might be impacting negatively on the piggies then I could look at rearranging things to try to keep everyone happy. Maple has never lived with a boy but I do have the option to try her in with Mr Parsnip and Daisy to see if she'd be happier there. I wouldn't want to introduce a neutered boy to the main herd as Gloria has fought (drawn blood) with both boys I've tried her with in the past, and being a heart pig, I try not to stress her if possible! I just worry that if I take Maple out to try something different, I might not be able to bond her back into the girl herd if things go wrong.
These piggies do keep you on your toes don't they! I'd be very appreciative of everyone's thoughts and any wisdom you may have
Thank you!
I had a lovely group of six sows who rubbed along quite nicely for several years. Twiggy piggy was the Big Boss and was a gentle but firm leader who kept everyone in order. I sadly lost her six weeks ago after a long and very brave battle with cancer. She was just super and I miss her terribly. I also lost Bea earlier in the year, who was a sweet little underpig. So now down to four sows. The new Big Boss is Gloria, a 5 year old californian who used to be First Lady. She has lots of opinions about everything and certainly lets everyone know! She is a heart pig and has been on meds for over a year, doing well. New First Lady is Cornflake, a 5 year old sweet greedy girl who gets on well with everyone. Then there is Maple (Cornflake's daughter) who is 4 and has lived with these same three sows since the day she was born. Bottom of the pile is Harriet, a 5 year old absolute darling who is total social glue, you can put her in with anyone and she doesn't cause any issues. Very submissive, does her own thing, trundles around happily. Has a bit of an on/off URI at the moment which is being treated but generally very well. Cage is a 2x10 C&C with 2x2 loft.
My other cage is a 2x6 C&C with 2x2 loft that is home to Mr Parsnip, a 4 year old bossy neutered lakeland, and his wife Daisy, a 3 year old rather fat tricolour who is totally henpecked by her husboar. Very submissive.
Poor Maple was spayed 2 weeks ago due to cystic ovaries and has recovered well, but seems to be getting picked on by Gloria recently. It was there before the spay, but seems to be worse since. Gloria will chatter her teeth at her and Maple will often run away very quickly when she gets too close. She does look very worried when this happens. Maple has taken to hiding in the loft (seems happy enough there) or at the other end of the cage. But then just to confuse me, will come and sit next to Gloria quite happily when it's veggie time! So I don't know if I'm worrying that she's more upset than she actually is. Gloria doesn't display aggressive behaviour to either of the other two sows. I know there is the possibility she may have cystic ovaries, and I will ask their vet to scan her next week when she has an appointment, but she wouldn't be a good candidate for anaesthesia due to her heart, so I'd have to look into medical management for this if they are present.
My other worry is that Maple does enjoy picking on Harriet, always has - she will headbutt her whenever she comes nearby and Harriet freezes and makes the most awful squeal. I know that's normal submissive behaviour but it does seem a shame! So now Harriet won't go up into the loft because Maple is rather rude to her. I think I'm just being overprotective of my sweet Harriet here, and she's probably not really bothered at all.
I hoped that others could reassure me that this is just normal lady guinea pig politics and that I don't really need to intervene, and that I'm totally overthinking the whole thing. Or if anyone thinks this might be impacting negatively on the piggies then I could look at rearranging things to try to keep everyone happy. Maple has never lived with a boy but I do have the option to try her in with Mr Parsnip and Daisy to see if she'd be happier there. I wouldn't want to introduce a neutered boy to the main herd as Gloria has fought (drawn blood) with both boys I've tried her with in the past, and being a heart pig, I try not to stress her if possible! I just worry that if I take Maple out to try something different, I might not be able to bond her back into the girl herd if things go wrong.
These piggies do keep you on your toes don't they! I'd be very appreciative of everyone's thoughts and any wisdom you may have
Thank you!
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