What's Going On With Benson?

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tabelmabel

tabelmabel

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hiya I'm wondering if anyone can explain why benson has become more chilled out since stan died?

So - initially we had stan and benson (brothers) from about 8 weeks of age. From the start, stan was super confident with everything. Very inquisitive, happy to be petted etc. Benson was always the quieter one. He just took more time to get to know.

In time, we had 2 very calm pigs but, whereas stan was always desperate to be held and cuddled, benson preferred really to be left alone. Confident around the cage, but quite difficult to catch in a large cage, always trying to be just out of reach!

OnCe out of the cage, he chirruped away like stan but at a lower volume.


Anyway, since stan died (and looking back i would say since stan got ill) benson has become far more relaxed. He doesn't try to run away at all in the cage, i can lift the lid and stroke him or pick him up. thinking back to when i first took stan to the vet, i took benson too and benson was chirping away happily at the vet which is pretty unusual for him.

He isn't ill, he is definitely the same weight, eating well and looking good. He has bonded well with our new baby pig.

He and stan were never snuggly together pigs, stan was dominant but benson could stand up for himself and there was many a rumble.

Does anyone know what's happened here? Is benson happier without stan? Or is he setting a calm example for baby mike?


I am puzzled!
 
He may be depressed. Have you considered getting him a new cagemate? Pigs are heard animals so very social and experience grief. Some rescues will set up play dates so that you end up with a good match
 
Yes little mike lives in the same cage as benson and they seem to be getting on great. Benson seems to be intetacting well with mike, though sometimes he does give signals that he wants some space away from Mike's incessant chatter!
 
Beans&Toast said:
Perhaps he feels more confident now that he's the dominant pig and maybe this little baby piggy has chilled him out and they're both relaxed together?
Click to expand...

I was hoping that could be it. I must get a better avatar pic! Mike is actually on my avatar trying to hide away under benson! Benson seems quite content with mike in close proximity most of the time. Mike follows benson everywhere. It's only when benson wants to sprawl on his bed that he gets a bit rumbly with mike
 
Maybe he is happier. When I lost my dove 2 months ago Zuli who was by no means dominant has now taken on the dominant role with my new pig Zuli. She loves her sister but I honestly think she is happier now with this new piggy she can boss around, they cuddle constantly and the other pair never did.
 
He may have switched places in the hierarchy with the loss of the dominant pig, if he is now the dominant in his pairing with his new, younger buddy. I'm not sure if this is a common thing, but my dominant pigs have always been more mellow than my subordinate pigs. Not sure if it's a fluke or if there's something in the 'boss pig' personality that equates to confidence. Depending on age (not sure if he's an adolescent pig of if he's a few years old), some of this may also be maturity. Pigs do tend to mellow out with age.
 
Pigs definitely mellow as they age, one of my pigs still loves her zoomies and popcorning but overall as a heard it is far less frequent and afternoon naps have gotten longer over the past couple years
 
he's coming up 4. Maybe he did realize he'd need to change his dominance status once stan started to weaken. His happy chirruping at the vets when stan was ill was completely inappropriate!
he seemed to come into his own when stan was ill. But then when stan died, he seemed sad. That's what i thought anyway but, who knows, maybe he would have been ok on his own. It's lovely to have him so cuddly as we've a long way to go before baby mike gets to the mellow stage!
 
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