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DaninMI
Howdy Folks!
A little background...My wife and I purchased our oldest piggy Spaghetti (abysinian/peruvian mix ) a year and a half ago and instantly fell in love. We were not new to the world of piggies so we knew a fair amount going in. We thought that Spaghetti seemed a little lonely and we REALLY felt bad for purchasing a "designer pig" from a pet shop so we resolved to adopt a rescue pig friend for him. Well long story short we adopted Lupin and Beans, two brothers (English) who were the agros in their herd but had come from a really bad situation where someone got in way over their head with a breeder pair.
It became quickly evident that we could not make these three pigs into a herd but we loved all three so they each got their own big cages. Spaghetti, as it turned out, really just loved OUR attention, and by now was so massive (not overweight mind, he's just BIG) that we couldn't imagine putting another piggy in with him. Lupin was so aggressive that we didn't think it would be a good idea to put another pig in with him. But Beans was always an affectionate one, DYING for attention and always curious as to what we or the other piggies were doing. We also had all three boys fixed just to make things a little easier.
Earlier this month we stopped by our favorite shop to get some oxbow and say hello to the breeder Peruvians they have that I think are gorgeous. Imagine my surprise when we see the little female that had been born a month before (on my birthday no less) was still available! When the clerk told us that she was to be the last baby born from my favorite pig who was now retired, we knew we had to get her! We brought her home, isolated her for a little over a week and then started introducing her to Beans. He did the normal boar thing...strutting, chutting, etc, but after only about ten minutes they were sitting quietly with each other. After several repeat performances we decided it was time for them to move in together. Beans has become very protective of our new pig (Snickerdoodle) and they seem to be getting along just fine.
The one big problem is that Beans now ADORES Snickerdoodle's food and will eat it all up! She's just shy of 2 months old and eats the young guinea pig food from Oxbow. Beans is likely 10 months or so old and we put him on the adult stuff around November. Should we worry that he's eating her food, should we worry more that she's eating his?! Should we mix the food together so they get an even mix, or do we have to start feeding them separately? Any advice you can give will be appreciated!
Dan in Michigan
PS: Here is a shot of the two of them about fifteen minutes into their first meeting!
A little background...My wife and I purchased our oldest piggy Spaghetti (abysinian/peruvian mix ) a year and a half ago and instantly fell in love. We were not new to the world of piggies so we knew a fair amount going in. We thought that Spaghetti seemed a little lonely and we REALLY felt bad for purchasing a "designer pig" from a pet shop so we resolved to adopt a rescue pig friend for him. Well long story short we adopted Lupin and Beans, two brothers (English) who were the agros in their herd but had come from a really bad situation where someone got in way over their head with a breeder pair.
It became quickly evident that we could not make these three pigs into a herd but we loved all three so they each got their own big cages. Spaghetti, as it turned out, really just loved OUR attention, and by now was so massive (not overweight mind, he's just BIG) that we couldn't imagine putting another piggy in with him. Lupin was so aggressive that we didn't think it would be a good idea to put another pig in with him. But Beans was always an affectionate one, DYING for attention and always curious as to what we or the other piggies were doing. We also had all three boys fixed just to make things a little easier.
Earlier this month we stopped by our favorite shop to get some oxbow and say hello to the breeder Peruvians they have that I think are gorgeous. Imagine my surprise when we see the little female that had been born a month before (on my birthday no less) was still available! When the clerk told us that she was to be the last baby born from my favorite pig who was now retired, we knew we had to get her! We brought her home, isolated her for a little over a week and then started introducing her to Beans. He did the normal boar thing...strutting, chutting, etc, but after only about ten minutes they were sitting quietly with each other. After several repeat performances we decided it was time for them to move in together. Beans has become very protective of our new pig (Snickerdoodle) and they seem to be getting along just fine.
The one big problem is that Beans now ADORES Snickerdoodle's food and will eat it all up! She's just shy of 2 months old and eats the young guinea pig food from Oxbow. Beans is likely 10 months or so old and we put him on the adult stuff around November. Should we worry that he's eating her food, should we worry more that she's eating his?! Should we mix the food together so they get an even mix, or do we have to start feeding them separately? Any advice you can give will be appreciated!
Dan in Michigan
PS: Here is a shot of the two of them about fifteen minutes into their first meeting!
