An Interesting Problem

[fawnree]

I got my first guinea pig about a year ago and after months of explaining and telling my mother that they need to have a friend and her claiming it to be an internet hoax I finally got a baby guinea pig to bond with my first one since its easier to bond babies to adults. The baby guinea pig (Penelope) immediately bonded to my first guinea pig (Charlotte.) She followed her around, burrowed and hid under her at any noise and screamed when Charlotte was taken out for nail clippings or hair cuts.

Flash forward to about a month ago, I found a guinea pig (Honey) abandoned at a pet store while I was picking up food supplies for my cat. She was free because she wasn't technically "merchandise" and I figured she'd make an excellent addition to the heard especially since I had just upgraded to a 18 square feet enclosure. I had them separated for two weeks and they would meet up in new territory. They were doing fine! They loved their new friend. After awhile I thought it would be safe to move them into the same enclosure but with a divider so they could smell each other but not reach each other. I thought wrong. Penelope has been smashing the barrier and fighting Honey, usually biting her mouth and today, her ear. Honey doesn't fight back and instead hides.

I made it so they couldn't see each other but they'd still yell at her. I was originally going to re-home Honey for her own safety and well being but I came home today to Penelope in Honey's enclosure (big no-no) and Honey cowering with a gash on her ear. Charlotte was still on her side and she had a bite on her lip (Penelope's signature).

Charlotte and Honey get along okay (they're still learning and Charlotte is a little protective of Penelope so she's wary of Honey). Recently, Penelope has been doing dominance fights with Charlotte so I wouldn't be surprised if her injuries were from Penelope trying to show dominance.

I don't know if this is because she's still an adolescent and since shes getting older she's trying to demonstrate her dominance or something else. I don't know if I should re-home Penelope because since she is bonded to Charlotte... I don't know how that would go? But she's also been hurting Charlotte...

It's a big mess.

Charlotte and Honey are the sweetest pigs in the world, they rush to meet me and seeing them hurt breaks my heart. I don't know if it would be wise to re-home Penelope since she's been reacting so negatively to Honey.

It doesn't help that Charlotte has some health problems and is slightly frail so I mother hen her to the extreme.

TL;DR: One of my guinea pigs is bonded to another one that doesn't care a whole lot about her and is, in fact, a bit annoyed by her. She has been attacking my other pig ( a third pig) and breaking past barriers to get to her. Today she attacked the one that she is bonded to.

I don't know if I should get rid of the one thats doing the attacking or the one thats the victim most often. I don't want to get rid of Honey just to have Penelope continue her rampage against Charlotte and end up with Charlotte being completely alone.

I could try keeping Honey in another room for a week and see if Penelope stops her behavior... but I don't know how that would go

This is stressing me out so much and is honestly a problem I never thought I would have.

It's complicated and stressful and I feel so horrible about it all.

 

[Betsy]

Never had this experience personally but can understand it's very stressful just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you and someone will be along soon to advise.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Oh no sorry to hear of your predicament. Sows go through hormonal stages too just not normally as extreme as boars. Is there any tension between Penelope and Charlotte at the minute? Unfortunately the act of placing them together on neutral territory and then separating them has probably done more harm than good as they will be trying to sort out different hierarchys 24/7 which as you can see has caused tension with your bonded pair. I would move honey for a couple of days and let Penelope and Charlotte have some time on neutral ground. While they are doing that scrub their current cage well to neutralise the odours and see if they settle

 

[Wiebke]

I got my first guinea pig about a year ago and after months of explaining and telling my mother that they need to have a friend and her claiming it to be an internet hoax I finally got a baby guinea pig to bond with my first one since its easier to bond babies to adults. The baby guinea pig (Penelope) immediately bonded to my first guinea pig (Charlotte.) She followed her around, burrowed and hid under her at any noise and screamed when Charlotte was taken out for nail clippings or hair cuts.

Flash forward to about a month ago, I found a guinea pig (Honey) abandoned at a pet store while I was picking up food supplies for my cat. She was free because she wasn't technically "merchandise" and I figured she'd make an excellent addition to the heard especially since I had just upgraded to a 18 square feet enclosure. I had them separated for two weeks and they would meet up in new territory. They were doing fine! They loved their new friend. After awhile I thought it would be safe to move them into the same enclosure but with a divider so they could smell each other but not reach each other. I thought wrong. Penelope has been smashing the barrier and fighting Honey, usually biting her mouth and today, her ear. Honey doesn't fight back and instead hides.

I made it so they couldn't see each other but they'd still yell at her. I was originally going to re-home Honey for her own safety and well being but I came home today to Penelope in Honey's enclosure (big no-no) and Honey cowering with a gash on her ear. Charlotte was still on her side and she had a bite on her lip (Penelope's signature).

Charlotte and Honey get along okay (they're still learning and Charlotte is a little protective of Penelope so she's wary of Honey). Recently, Penelope has been doing dominance fights with Charlotte so I wouldn't be surprised if her injuries were from Penelope trying to show dominance.

I don't know if this is because she's still an adolescent and since shes getting older she's trying to demonstrate her dominance or something else. I don't know if I should re-home Penelope because since she is bonded to Charlotte... I don't know how that would go? But she's also been hurting Charlotte...

It's a big mess.

Charlotte and Honey are the sweetest pigs in the world, they rush to meet me and seeing them hurt breaks my heart. I don't know if it would be wise to re-home Penelope since she's been reacting so negatively to Honey.

It doesn't help that Charlotte has some health problems and is slightly frail so I mother hen her to the extreme.

TL;DR: One of my guinea pigs is bonded to another one that doesn't care a whole lot about her and is, in fact, a bit annoyed by her. She has been attacking my other pig ( a third pig) and breaking past barriers to get to her. Today she attacked the one that she is bonded to.

I don't know if I should get rid of the one thats doing the attacking or the one thats the victim most often. I don't want to get rid of Honey just to have Penelope continue her rampage against Charlotte and end up with Charlotte being completely alone.

I could try keeping Honey in another room for a week and see if Penelope stops her behavior... but I don't know how that would go

This is stressing me out so much and is honestly a problem I never thought I would have.

It's complicated and stressful and I feel so horrible about it all.

Hi! I am very sorry, but it seems that Penelope is very fear-aggressive - bites to the lips in sows happen generally when a piggy is on edge and feels cornered; it is in defence and not in aggression.
Please do not try any more jiggling around and see whether the original pair will settle down again or whether Charlotte won't have Penelope around.
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
" Biting" And What You Can Do

 

[fawnree]

Hi! I am very sorry, but it seems that Penelope is very fear-aggressive - bites to the lips in sows happen generally when a piggy is on edge and feels cornered; it is in defence and not in aggression.
Please do not try any more jiggling around and see whether the original pair will settle down again or whether Charlotte won't have Penelope around.
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
" Biting" And What You Can Do

I don't know if it's fear as she chases her down and does it to her while Honey run.

Can you clarify on "jiggling around?" do you mean that it's a lost cause for them to ever become used to each other? Not trying to be rude just asking for clarification!

Thank you.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Oh dear, it looks like Penelope and Honey will never be friends. This is quite normal I'm afraid and nothing either of them has done wrong. If Penelope is flat out wanting to kill Honey then it might be an idea to either move Honey to a different room and get her a friend of her own or look for another home for her who has another girl piggy to bond (rescues are very helpful!).

I wouldn't split Penelope and Charlotte as they have bonded, the odd scab when they're young is fairly standard and generally an accident during dominance behaviours. There's often an overly dominant piggy but that doesn't mean that the submissive one doesn't adore her, even with her mood swings!

 

[fawnree]

Oh dear, it looks like Penelope and Honey will never be friends. This is quite normal I'm afraid and nothing either of them has done wrong. If Penelope is flat out wanting to kill Honey then it might be an idea to either move Honey to a different room and get her a friend of her own or look for another home for her who has another girl piggy to bond (rescues are very helpful!).

I wouldn't split Penelope and Charlotte as they have bonded, the odd scab when they're young is fairly standard and generally an accident during dominance behaviours. There's often an overly dominant piggy but that doesn't mean that the submissive one doesn't adore her, even with her mood swings!

I have enough room in my room (if I adjust some things) that I could get Honey her own home, separate from Charlotte and Penelope (she's separate from them currently but can still interact/see them through the bars).She gets along just fine with Charlotte and I often have them both out so they can hang out and eat their veggies as they both love human attention (Penelope is shy and doesn't love being handled a ton so it works out well).

If I had Honey in her own home, separate from the others but she would still have every day interaction with another guinea pig and extra free roam time do you think she could live happily? While I have enough room for her to have her own home, there is not enough for another guinea pig.

*Edit* Its super late so this may be a bit confusing to read so to clarify: She'd be in the same room as them but they wouldn't be able to see each other or reach each other ever. I clean their cages twice a week completely with odor removing spray and lots of scrubbing so they don't smell a ton. I think this is my best shot at letting them all live happy, but separate, lives.

 

[Lady Kelly]

I wouldn't let honey interact with Charlotte as it's likely to carry on causing tension between Charlotte and Penelope. You would be better getting her her own friend to live with

 

[fawnree]

I wouldn't let honey interact with Charlotte as it's likely to carry on causing tension between Charlotte and Penelope. You would be better getting her her own friend to live with

That makes sense and I'll work my way towards it but first... the set up. Hopefully I can find a baby sow that needs a new home. I hope this isn't all just a sign that Honey is a lone wolf. I honestly have no idea how old she is just that she was alone at her previous home.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

That makes sense and I'll work my way towards it but first... the set up. Hopefully I can find a baby sow that needs a new home. I hope this isn't all just a sign that Honey is a lone wolf. I honestly have no idea how old she is just that she was alone at her previous home.

Thanks so much for your help!

Don't worry, piggies are very very rarely "lone wolves" even if shops say it all the time

My little boy Iggy fell out with his brother, has been really ill and he's been on his own a while previous to me getting him and he's currently bonding with my 4 girls so there's always hope!