worried

Piggypiggy96

Junior Guinea Pig
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Apr 18, 2022
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Hi I’m stressed about my new boy I’ve just noticed that my black girl has been quiet since yesterday so I’ve been watching them closely the last few hours and I think he’s bullying her. She won’t let him hump her and he really went for her and bit her back just then. I got scared and just put the extra grids back on to seperate the girls. I'm worried now is this sort of normal or no? The white girl lets him hump her and he doesn’t seem to start on her. Thanks
 
Hi, did he draw blood when he bit her or was it just a nip? If he drew blood, it’s an unsuccessful bond and they need to be separated. If it was just a nip, this is normal. It often looks worse to us than it actually is. Are you bonding them in neutral territory ie somewhere none of them have been before?
 
Ive just looked back on your other post and it seems they’ve been together only a few days. Did you do the bonding yourself? I know you had a new cage so Presumably you put them all in it together, so the cage also added as their neutral territory bonding pen.

Is your black girl the dominant one of your two sows?
Its normal for a dominant sow to not let a boar mount her until she is in season. A submissive sows will usually let the mount them whether they are in season of not

But, it is possible the bond is not a successful one.
It might be a case that they need to remain separate for a couple of days and then try a neutral territory reintroduction (outside of the cage)
 
I got him Sunday and I put him and my pigs in the cage at the same time but I did seperate them with extra grids in the middle for a few hours. They sniffed each other through the bars and looked like they were getting on, so I opened the gates and I saw normal dominance things like him growling. Thought all this was normal and then Monday was the same he was still growling and humping my white pig didn’t see any biting. I wasn’t in most of the day Tuesday and Wednesday but my mum fed them lots. I had the camera on their cage on armed so it kept sending me clips and I thought my girls were a bit quiet but it was really hot and when I got in they seemed fine. Anyway today I’ve been at home a lot and he’s just being really nasty and my black girl just looked depressed. She is my life and I’m mega devastated and crying my eyes out because I’m watching all the videos fully with the sound on and she’s absolutely terrified and screeching and I wasn’t there. Omg I’m going to have to send the Rspca lady the videos and I’m going to have to give him back she will understand she was very nice. I’m beyond gutted I wanted a happy trio and I really love him but not as much as my baby girl. Yes black girl is most dominant usually.
 
The cage was entirely new and no piggy had been in it before you put the three of them in it on Sunday, if I remember it rightly. If so and therefore, the cage was the neutral territory bonding pen. That part is fine.
What you should not have done is put them all in the cage together, then put grids in and separated them, then removed the grids.
Once you’ve put them together then you should not separate them. Doing so interrupts their bonding. It takes two weeks of permanently being together for a relationship to fully form.
If you do separate them during bonding for any significant length of time, then you can’t just remove dividers as they will have begun to set up their own territory in their half of the cage. Thereby simply removing dividers and allowing them to wander back through the whole cage can be seen as a territory invasion. After a separation, any rebonding needs to be done somewhere other than the cage.
Hopefully you didn’t separate them long enough on Sunday for this to be the issue though.

You need to establish whether you are seeing normal dominance - nipping, submission squealing etc - which may seem rough to us, but to them it’s very normal and does not mean a bond is failing.
Or
Whether they are in fact not compatible and can’t remain together
 
I’ve stopped having a meltdown but I just don’t know what to do he’s so cute and I really want my little trio of pigs. Yes the cage was completely new to all pigs and I did put the grids in before putting any pigs in I kept Percy in his carrier and put him in his bit then got my pigs from their old cage and put them in their new bit. But honestly I was just winging it hoping they’d get on I thought because he had been neutered he would be sort of calm and not humping a lot. I don’t mind that he’s not calm but I just don’t want him bullying my girl. Right now I’ve got the grids back on with cable ties and a towel over it which he’s used to make a little tent he’s so funny but I don’t know where to go from here. I’ve never heard my girl make that scared noise she’s always been confident and cheeky.
 
Neutering does not calm them down at all - all it does is prevent pregnancy.
If this is his first time with ladies he is going to be overwhelmed and quite frankly he won’t be thinking with his brain!

Have they ever been with a boar before?
How old are they all?

Are you sure this isn’t just dominance - her noises may well have been submission not being scared.
Did the bite draw blood?

Unless they have drawn blood, then you should not separate them.
You’ve got to be certain the bond is failing before you separate them, and not separate unnecessarily. Separation will mean that their bonding has been interrupted so If you choose to reintroduce then they will be starting from the beginning again.
Youve also got to be careful not to out human emotion on what, for them, may well be normal behaviour.
Is she still eating?

From your cage picture, you are using fleece single exit hides - single exit hides should not be used because of the risk of one piggy trapping another inside. All hides should be two exit.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
Bonds In Trouble
 
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Black girl has just turned 4 I don’t think she’s been around males I got her at 12 weeks from p@h and white girl is around 2 I’m not too sure I didn’t get her as a baby but I know she has had babies in the past. There was no blood but she was terrified and I sent the videos and the Rspca lady has agreed it’s bullying. She wasn’t out as much because he was getting in her face everytime she came out I noticed today. It’s a awful situation. I have them separated still because I don’t know what to do. Thanks
 
It doesn't always work out. Gentle George met a pig called Rosie during lockdown and took an instant dislike - poor Rosie went back pretty sharpish to her old home so it would just have been an unpleasant interlude to her. He was stressed and bristling - he's getting on and she was bouncing around everywhere! Then I got a pair of females hoping for a trio and the dominant girl Zara absolutely hated him and hunted him mercilessly round the bonding pen until she bit him hard on the rump and he ran squealing in circles. They were neighbours through the bars for a while but then fate brought us little Flora who gets on very well with George. Although it was more work I very much enjoyed having 2 pairs for that time. It's something to think about...?
 
Can I add videos on here? he’s was getting in her face and then chasing her into a corner and she was screaming scared. I feel so guilty. I’ve disturbed my babies happy life by getting another pig just because I wanted to. I’ve decided I’m going to have to give him back to the Rspca and just have 2 pigs. I don’t do this lightly I never thought I’d give up on a animal but it’s just not working. I’m going to be devastated handing him back over but I have to put my baby girl first. I’m so sad I didn’t think this would happen I thought he would be happy to have 2 friends. Thank you for your help everyone
 
You can add video but you have to upload it to youtube first and then post a link to it here.

I'm sorry it’s not worked out.
 
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