Wiebke's Tribe: Sows and the City Boars

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I am very sad to have Cerian 'Little Love' making her way to the Rainbow Bridge on Friday within spitting distance of her 7th birthday but she has been rather frail since nearly dying last August.

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She is now reunited with her best friend Breila 'Briar Rose', whose sudden death just before Christmas a year ago she has taken hard. She never accepted another companion and preferred to wind up all the other Tribe piggies through the bars during her regular free roaming time. She did come to eventually tolerate non-threatening young Baeddan and Blodyn as her only acceptable direct cage neighbours, though.

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Anyway, I travelled all the way by train to Sandwich on the East Coast of Kent (amazingly it is just a two train journey with a mile's footwalk between stations in London) in order to pick them up from April Lodge Guinea Pig Rescue in November 2018. They were about 1 1/2 years old no longer wanted children's pets with little chance of adoption between Breila's ruby eyes and Cerian's long hair in a full rescue. They are my only stumble while running the Adoptables adverts for Guinea Pig Magazine and never made it there.
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Cerian (named in memory of vague lookalike Ceri 2009-14) and her closely bonded companion Breila came my way when my white coronet Carwyn would have to be pts just a few days later from what turned out to be brain tumour while Breila was a ringer for my Bedo who I had found death from a sudden overnight stroke just a few months earlier and was still missing dreadfully.
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The two girls were extremely closely bonded and would usually share the same hut for at least part of the night. Cerian provided the emotional support for very skittish Breila. They never allowed any other piggies into their bond. Breila would defence lunge at any other piggy and Cerian would nonstop dominance hump any (non-aggressive) neutered boar she was introduced to.
Nevertheless, she was able to celebrate her 5th Gotcha Day (adoption anniversary). Old age has finally got to her around the time of her estimated 7th birthday. She made her last jump onto the Bridge to meet Breila again from my arms.
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I have laid her to rest in the same planter as Breila with a little Spring bouquet containing Easter roses (hellebores), grape hyacinths but also a sprig of flowering rosemary for remembrance and the first forget-me-not.

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What a beautiful piggy Cerian was who lived a long and happy life with you ❤️ I am so sorry that she has toddled off to the rainbow bridge 😞 but she has now been reunited with her best friend Breila (((hugs))) sleep tight Cerian. I’m glad I got to see you one last time in January xx
 
I’m so sorry your have had to say goodbye to gorgeous Cerian. ❤️
 
Oh sad this. What a beautiful tribute to an amazing piggie life in the kingdom of yours.
Beautiful is unique is love and life which all receive with you x 😘
 
I'm so sorry for your loss, Cerian was a lovely piggy and she had a great life with you :hug:
 
I am so sorry @Wiebke that you lost Cerian, she was quite a beauty. Take heart that you gave her the best life and she lived it well

Sleep tight “Little Love” 🌈
 
What a beautiful tribute to a special girl. So sorry for your loss.
popcorn free across the rainbow bridge little one. 🌈
 
miowmix said:
I'm sorry for your loss. I remember them from when they were at the lodge, sadly never met you as wasn't volunteering on the day you came to get them. There's still a pic of them in the lodge's media library:
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Thank you! It was that picture I fell in love with when Jo sent it to me for the Guinea Pig Magazine Adoptables with the comment that they hadn't had any interest whatsoever at the rescue. I had to ask for another advert picture instead... :)

These are the piggies in whose memory I adopted Cerian (endearment of Ceri) and Breila:
Ceri 'Love' (ca. 2009-14; adopted from a now defunct Cumbrian rescue as a last minute additional offer to already reserved cousin Cariad 'Darling' to go to a safe guaranteed non-breeding pet home; from a neglect breeder's batch). She was a friendly girl who got on with literally anypig and a helpful social enabler.
Carwyn 'Blessed Love' (ca. 2011/12 - September 2018 around the advert deadline; adopted May 2015 from Northeast Guinea Pig Rescue, Newcastle area after being rescued from a neglect breeder and then returned to the rescue again after a failed adoption. After 3 years in a 1 ft sq breeder box he packed as much fun, joy and love into the second half of his life with the Tribe as he could.
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Bedo 'Little Splendid Lord' (old endearment name of Meredith, 2013 - June 18; found dumped with his fallen out mate in a cardboard box in Cannock Chase on a freezing October morning and adopted from The Potteries Guinea Pig Rescue in January 2014). He was a dedicated and loving family man both as a husboar as well as a caring nursery nurse-cum-adoptive daddy boar to the rambunctious TEAS baby triplet girls.
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It was quite a journey with an overnight stay in Sandwich (very pretty place!) but it was also a lovely visit seeing the rescue and meeting everybody. As we sadly had to cancel any holidays for the second half of 2018 due to a health issue, it served as my own mini-adventure of the year. I used to adopt a piggy or two once a year on a 'long shot' adoption (most enquiries didn't come off); but it was always a great opportunity to visit rescues and meet rescue people in person that I wouldn't normally get to see and meet.

April Lodge are doing a wonderful community and not just rescue job for their area, which is a long way from anywhere else and which has only access to a general vet not really interested in guinea pigs.

PS: I have always taken care never to adopt any total lookalikes and only name piggies in memory of a previous Tribe piggy several years after their death. I've never wanted the newbie to carry a weight of expectation they do not deserve and always wanted to give them the freedom to fully develop their own personality and potential and to have their very own journey with the Tribe. Cerian and Breila have come about as close to me breaking my rules as I have ever come.
 
So sorry for your loss of lovely Cerian. What a gorgeous girl she was with her long fur. I'm sure she was very glad to come and live with you to such a good old age 🌈
 
Wow Bedo and Breila are very similar, they must have been related somewhere along the line : )
 
miowmix said:
Wow Bedo and Breila are very similar, they must have been related somewhere along the line : )
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They were indeed very similar but originated half a country apart...

But I was sure I wouldn't be coming across another one anytime soon and I was missing Bedo so much at the time... Both very striking indeed.
 
You take such great photos of your piggies. I wish I had pics of this quality of my boys .
 
DavRz said:
You take such great photos of your piggies. I wish I had pics of this quality of my boys .
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Thank you.

I use an armchair or sofa, a neutral fleece for background, something to nibble - it helps to calm them and also makes for more interesting faces -, while I sit on the ground and hold the camera at their height so the pictures are face to face and not looking down. Make sure that you have good daylight and shoot away; you are going to delete dozens of blurred or uninteresting pictures for just a few good shots. ;)

Or get down on your belly with your camera during free roaming time/shoot through the cage grids instead of down over the rim.
 
There has been an emergency arrival just before the weekend in the form of a stunning lady, Sisu from @Little Ones .
Unfortunately, she didn't cope well with the loss of her mate Sprout and needed to find a new home rather urgently.

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She is currently settling into her new home and will hopefully find congenial company with the Tribe once she has got her bearings. She is quite a big and dominant sow but she should eventually find a perfect mate or two here.

With the permission of her previous owner she has been renamed Sulwen (pronounced Silwen), which means 'Blessed or Bright Sun'.
 
Wiebke said:
There has been an emergency arrival just before the weekend in the form of a stunning lady, Sisu from @Little Ones . Unfortunately, she didn't cope well with the loss of her mate Sprout and needed to find a new home rather urgently.

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She is currently settling into her new home and will hopefully find congenial company with the Tribe once she has got her bearings. She is quite a big and dominant sow but she should eventually find a perfect mate or two here.

With the permission of her previous owner she has been renamed Sulwen (pronounced Silwen), which means 'Blessed or Bright Sun'.
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What a beautiful girl she is ❤️ I’m so glad Sulwen has found a happy forever home with you and hopefully the tribe too x
 
Sulwen 'Bright Sun'/Sisu is unfortunately turning out to be a rather tricky customer. She is at heart a rather fearful and insecure piggy who over-compensates with confrontational and overly dominant behaviour ('fear-aggression').

She had a week of living next to Llelo's similarly aged widow Melangell 'Sweet Angel' in a divided run. Mella is the only piggy slightly larger than Sulwen and the only Tribe piggy who Sulwen hasn't pulled her dominance dance through the bars against. Sulwen very much picked her cues from Melangell during the last week and there was no hostile behaviour across the divider.
Mella would have liked her as a new mate by signalling it with some ostentious piggy washing but Sulwen unfortunately didn't. The bonding sadly didn't last a quarter of an hour before it started to escalate with some mutual 'stay our of my personal sphere' lunging, started by Sulwen. :(

Picture from the initial intro to see whether it would be worth taking this further by living alongside each other for some days. There was no hostile territorial behaviour, so I put in the necessary furniture.
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Picture from the start of the bonding proper
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Sulwen has now taken Mella's cage next to Merlin where she has got a couple of months' time to make friends with my smallest and least dominant boar. I am taking this one very slowly to help her work through her fear-aggression issues gradually. I have spotted her piggy washing next to Merlin so I am keeping my fingers crossed that friendship will grow and that she will behave once face to face. At the moment, there is still a fair bit of territorial behaviour mixed in.
Should the bonding fail, Melangell has already become best of friends through the bars with Merlin so he is assured a lady who loves him in any case. It would have been nice if Sulwen and Melangell would have made friends to live both with Merlin but piggies and best laid plans don't work out all that often...

Sulwen and Merlin
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The joys of fickle ladies!

PS: Mella is currently denned next to the big group to hopefully bond with them one she has had a little time to get over her disappointment and to interact with them through the bars.
She is a friendly, rather laid back and not very dominant lady who was living with Brathlys and Llelo but has sadly lost them just half a year apart. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether she is going to live with Brangwyn or Merlin, just that she does with one of the Cornish boys.

@Little Ones
@Bradshaw Piggies
 
I am so sorry she is being so difficult :( it has honestly come as such a surprise! When we bonded her with Sprout, we did it at home rather than at the rescue and it was a done deal pretty much instantly, so it’s such a surprise that she is like this. Like Merlin, Sprout was a very small boar (1100 grams at his heaviest!) and non-dominant (he would just constantly woo her with rumblestruts), so hopefully this will be the match for her with some time. I’ve never seen any type of dominance from her with Sprout - no rumblestrutting, teeth chattering, nothing at all - so losing him must have really rocked her :(
I’m just so glad she’s with someone who can read her and understand her and who has patience to work through any of her issues. I’m very hopeful that she will overcome her insecurity issues with time.
 
Little Ones said:
I am so sorry she is being so difficult :( it has honestly come as such a surprise! When we bonded her with Sprout, we did it at home rather than at the rescue and it was a done deal pretty much instantly, so it’s such a surprise that she is like this. Like Merlin, Sprout was a very small boar (1100 grams at his heaviest!) and non-dominant (he would just constantly woo her with rumblestruts), so hopefully this will be the match for her with some time. I’ve never seen any type of dominance from her with Sprout - no rumblestrutting, teeth chattering, nothing at all - so losing him must have really rocked her :(
I’m just so glad she’s with someone who can read her and understand her and who has patience to work through any of her issues. I’m very hopeful that she will overcome her insecurity issues with time.
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Merlin was and is her best bet but I wanted to try out other options that would have been more convenient for me first; I'd hoped that Sulwen would hitch up with dominant Brangwyn before she arrived. Now I cannot see that one working out, to be honest. Brangwyn is too naturally dominant himself.

In my own experience widowed piggies who have shared a happy bond are usually either desperate for new company (which I had been hoping for) or rather often somewhat insecure in terms of a new relationship. Sulwen has very much turned out to be in the second group since her loss is compounded by the move to a new home.
Bonding her and Melangell into a working trio with Merlin would have been plan B+ for me. However in order to make a trio work for the long term, Sulwen and Mella would have had to make friends with each other first to avoid an ousider situation in the longer term. I am now on plan B - just Merlin himself.

I lost 4 piggies in just over three weeks in August 2021 but found that none of the four widowed companions would accept any of the others so I had to adopt another 4 piggies (or rather 5 as one of them is a mother/daughter pair and the other three were/are widowed piggies themselves); one of the latter was young Melangell who'd just lost her old dental sanctuary companion at TEAS. It took me about a month to match them all up but in the end I did.
It's just working out who goes best with who for the long term since that depends entirely on the dynamics between different personalities - and with adults, you are dealing with two fully developed personalities which makes it trickier but very fascinating and totally satisfying when it works out.

Anyway, what Sulwen is most definitely not anymore is being depressed and pining - anything but. :)
 
Wiebke said:
Sulwen 'Bright Sun'/Sisu is unfortunately turning out to be a rather tricky customer. She is at heart a rather fearful and insecure piggy who over-compensates with confrontational and overly dominant behaviour ('fear-aggression').

She had a week of living next to Llelo's similarly aged widow Melangell 'Sweet Angel' in a divided run. Mella is the only piggy slightly larger than Sulwen and the only Tribe piggy who Sulwen hasn't pulled her dominance dance through the bars against. Sulwen very much picked her cues from Melangell during the last week and there was no hostile behaviour across the divider.
Mella would have liked her as a new mate by signalling it with some ostentious piggy washing but Sulwen unfortunately didn't. The bonding sadly didn't last a quarter of an hour before it started to escalate with some mutual 'stay our of my personal sphere' lunging, started by Sulwen. :(

Picture from the initial intro to see whether it would be worth taking this further by living alongside each other for some days. There was no hostile territorial behaviour, so I put in the necessary furniture.
View attachment 246787

Picture from the start of the bonding proper
View attachment 246786


Sulwen has now taken Mella's cage next to Merlin where she has got a couple of months' time to make friends with my smallest and least dominant boar. I am taking this one very slowly to help her work through her fear-aggression issues gradually. I have spotted her piggy washing next to Merlin so I am keeping my fingers crossed that friendship will grow and that she will behave once face to face. At the moment, there is still a fair bit of territorial behaviour mixed in.
Should the bonding fail, Melangell has already become best of friends through the bars with Merlin so he is assured a lady who loves him in any case. It would have been nice if Sulwen and Melangell would have made friends to live both with Merlin but piggies and best laid plans don't work out all that often...

Sulwen and Merlin
View attachment 246788

The joys of fickle ladies!

PS: Mella is currently denned next to the big group to hopefully bond with them one she has had a little time to get over her disappointment and to interact with them through the bars.
She is a friendly, rather laid back and not very dominant lady who was living with Brathlys and Llelo but has sadly lost them just half a year apart. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether she is going to live with Brangwyn or Merlin, just that she does with one of the Cornish boys.

@Little Ones
@Bradshaw Piggies
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ohh look at them! :wub: We really miss little Merlin. I hope they both behave and can be bonded. I hope Merlin is on his best behaviour! He was always really easy to bond with my boys (but they were much older boars, so they were quite happy to tolerate him). Thank you so much for doing such a wonderful job of taking care of him @Wiebke
 
Bradshaw Piggies said:
ohh look at them! :wub: We really miss little Merlin. I hope they both behave and can be bonded. I hope Merlin is on his best behaviour! He was always really easy to bond with my boys (but they were much older boars, so they were quite happy to tolerate him). Thank you so much for doing such a wonderful job of taking care of him @Wiebke
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Merlin is busy trying to impress and woo his new neighbour. :)

I am pretty sure that he is able to melt Sulwen's heart just as he has Melangell's. Patience often wins out but Merlin is guaranteed a lady who is only just about a year older than him one way or other.

Ultimately I want to ensure that all my Cornish boars have a younger lady in their life for the longer term to grow as old with as possible in a stable relationship. It's just working out who goes best with who after a spate of unexpected deaths, including two of my non-Cornish husboars just a few weeks apart which has thrown some things in the air.
 
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