Advice On The Way Forward For Our Piggies

[katew]

Hi

I would really appreciate some advice.

Unfortunately our beautiful oldest girl has just passed due to kidney problems. This has left us with an oldish neutered male and an aggressive one year old female.

Our boy, Mikey, was very attached to the pig who has just died and, as he still has company, I was going to let him grieve for a while before thinking about getting another pig. However, we have just found a big lump under his chin (vet tomorrow - I am hoping it is just an abcess). This has made me think about the problems we are facing in the future.

Our little girl is a problem pig. She is very nervy and when she was younger she bit a lot - us not the other pigs. She bites so hard that she has drawn blood from everyone in the family. I blame myself - we got her from a breeder, so I am not sure she was handled much, and then I put her in with a very well bonded older pair. Something has really traumatised her.

I got very good advice from the Forum and we have done lots of guinea pig whispering. She is definitely getting better, but will still go 'bitey' after about 5 minutes laptime. She has also had a very thorough going over from the vet who found some dental issues which are under control now - however, she bit everyone at the vets in the process!

I always wanted to keep a group of three going forward but don't see how I can do this now. If I get another male, I will upset Mikey who is a lovely laid back 'dude' of a piggie. He was a rescue pig and had been bullied - don't want to risk that again. If I get a female, I am really worried that our girl will get very aggressive because of dominance issues - and the risk is that she will bite badly.

I know I don't have to make any decisions now, but any suggestions would be gratefully received.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

I would really appreciate some advice.

Unfortunately our beautiful oldest girl has just passed due to kidney problems. This has left us with an oldish neutered male and an aggressive one year old female.

Our boy, Mikey, was very attached to the pig who has just died and, as he still has company, I was going to let him grieve for a while before thinking about getting another pig. However, we have just found a big lump under his chin (vet tomorrow - I am hoping it is just an abcess). This has made me think about the problems we are facing in the future.

Our little girl is a problem pig. She is [you]very[/you] nervy and when she was younger she bit a lot - us not the other pigs. She bites so hard that she has drawn blood from everyone in the family. I blame myself - we got her from a breeder, so I am not sure she was handled much, and then I put her in with a very well bonded older pair. Something has really traumatised her.

I got very good advice from the Forum and we have done lots of guinea pig whispering. She is definitely getting better, but will still go 'bitey' after about 5 minutes laptime. She has also had a very thorough going over from the vet who found some dental issues which are under control now - however, she bit everyone at the vets in the process!

I always wanted to keep a group of three going forward but don't see how I can do this now. If I get another male, I will upset Mikey who is a lovely laid back 'dude' of a piggie. He was a rescue pig and had been bullied - don't want to risk that again. If I get a female, I am really worried that our girl will get very aggressive because of dominance issues - and the risk is that she will bite badly.

I know I don't have to make any decisions now, but any suggestions would be gratefully received.

I am very sorry for your loss - and how tough to get some more bad news for Mikey right on the heels of that!
You are welcome to post a tribute to your old lady in our Rainbow Bridge section if or whenever it feels right for you.

I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed that it is "only" an abscess. The loss of a beloved mate can unfortunately weaken the immune system, so any underlying problem can suddenly pop up.

It is takes to settle down a very skittish baby that has been born to a mum under massive stress during pregnancy and the nursing period. They will always keep apart from humans unless they are very ill. But you can still have a relationship with them. Just be patient and persist. We are talking years here - but even those piggies will come round. I have several myself, so I feel for you.

The best way forward for the longer term would be to look for a pair of rescue-born baby girls or a very young mum-daughter pair where mum is on the submissive side - they have to be younger and smaller than your "Biter". You will find that she is perfectly fine when you build a sow group around her with her as the unchallenged top lady. That is what I usually do with tricky sows of mine. Take the time to find some suitable rescue piggies - it is worth it!
Sadly, your closest rescue, the Blue Cross in Burford does not offer rescue dating. For that, you'd likely have to go as far as Bristol as Windwhistle Warren near Cheltenham only does rabbits now. Hazelcroft in St. Albans prefers to rehome fairly locally, but it may be worth asking her.
Guinea Pig Rescue Centre Locator

 

[katew]

Thank you. We will be so gutted if anything happens to Mikey especially just after we lost Attie - he is such an adorable boy - but these things happen. The lump feels quite 'loose' so I am hoping it is just an infection, but it is in a slightly unusual place - I am worried about thyroid / salivary gland issues. Fingers crossed for tomorrow and at least he is eating well.

I think it was you who gave me all the advice about pig whispering for our baby and it really did help - but she really is a complicated little thing. All I can say is that I will only get rescue pigs from now on, if at all possible.

I was wondering if we needed submissive females as the way ahead. It's just quite difficult to know who is top pig until you get them all together. We got Mikey from Burford so I may give them a ring and see what they can suggest. If they cannot help, I will contact the others you mentioned.

Thank you so much

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you. We will be so gutted if anything happens to Mikey especially just after we lost Attie - he is such an adorable boy - but these things happen. The lump feels quite 'loose' so I am hoping it is just an infection, but it is in a slightly unusual place - I am worried about thyroid / salivary gland issues. Fingers crossed for tomorrow and at least he is eating well.

I think it was you who gave me all the advice about pig whispering for our baby and it really did help - but she really is a complicated little thing. All I can say is that I will only get rescue pigs from now on, if at all possible.

I was wondering if we needed submissive females as the way ahead. It's just quite difficult to know who is top pig until you get them all together. We got Mikey from Burford so I may give them a ring and see what they can suggest. If they cannot help, I will contact the others you mentioned.

Thank you so much

You can tweak the hierarchy in that you look for a a) a couple of sows, so your nervous girl is becoming head of a group with different dynamics to a couple or trio and b) choose a couple of sows that are simply physically not able to challenge for the top spot because they are much younger. Please don't panic and make sure that you have got the right kind of girls - it pays to wait for the right ones to come along.

You are likely to see some over the top behaviour from your girl during bonding, but it should settle down.
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics

 

[katew]

Thank you - we will take our time and look for the right solution.

 

[Tiamolly123]

I'm so sorry for the loss of Attie.
Sleep tight little man

 

[Flutterby]

I'm so sorry you lost Attie! Sleep tight little one.