I was hoping to get some advice about my girls.
I originally had two pet shop piggies from my boyfriend (he meant well and had never had pets before so he didnt think to look at re-homing first!), both females and it turned out one was pregnant when we got her. She had 3 beautiful babies, two girls and a boy and we kept the boy separate until he was old enough and then had him neutered.
Rush (the Mum) was always the dominant boss pig! even when BJ (her son) was introduced he started to boss the others around but she never let him get away with it with her, so they sort of ruled together. Next in line was Rampage who is one of Rush's daughters. She is a strong and feisty piggy and was never bothered by the other two leaders.
When it came time for me to have to re-home them recently, and I was lucky enough that Jools (PiggiePooh) could take them for me, I thought the best thing to do would be to send these 3 dominant strong piggies to live with her lot, as my other two are easily pushed around. (it worked out ok for Jools although it turned out my 3 were a bit too dominant trying to attack her piggies so she is now keeping them separately).
Anyway, so I thought I will keep the two who are pushed around and they will love it without the others! The other two are Ace, who came from the pet shop with Rush and has always bickered with Rush on and off but always ended up backing down. She was also the main one who BJ liked to chase around and if he even sat next to her to eat she would squeal...she just didnt like him so she kept her distance! The other piggy is Liddell. She was Rush's other daughter and was the "runt" of the litter. She is still by far the smallest of all five of them and everyone would take food off her, and very occasionally she would bicker with her sister, Rampage, but it was never anything too bad.
Since Saturday when we dropped the guineas off with Jools, the other two's behaviour seems to have completely changed. Ace has been constantly chasing Liddel and gnashing her teeth at her, I know this is normal dominant behaviour but is it normal for it to carry on for 5 days (so far!) ? Liddel seems really scared, she literally freezes after she has been chased by Ace. Liddel soon forgets about it though and goes to find Ace because I think she likes company but she soon gets chased off again. Liddel has been eating much less Hay and drinking less and I think it is because she used to follow the others around and do what they did!
Last night at 3.30am I heard lots of squealing and ended up putting a temporary partition between them! today before I went to work i decided to put a proper partition in whilst I'm at work, when Ace went up to it and saw it (Its only grids so they can still see and smell each other) and she started popcorning! and she hardly ever does that! Liddel seemed a bit happier too she was eating and drinking although she did start chewing on the bars before i left and seemed like she was looking for a way to get through!
Did I do the right thing? Should I just leave them together and wait until they work it out? or should I keep them separate? If I do that does it mean they will never be able to go back together if I keep them separate for a while?
Thank you, sorry this is So long! and sorry for all the questions!
I originally had two pet shop piggies from my boyfriend (he meant well and had never had pets before so he didnt think to look at re-homing first!), both females and it turned out one was pregnant when we got her. She had 3 beautiful babies, two girls and a boy and we kept the boy separate until he was old enough and then had him neutered.
Rush (the Mum) was always the dominant boss pig! even when BJ (her son) was introduced he started to boss the others around but she never let him get away with it with her, so they sort of ruled together. Next in line was Rampage who is one of Rush's daughters. She is a strong and feisty piggy and was never bothered by the other two leaders.
When it came time for me to have to re-home them recently, and I was lucky enough that Jools (PiggiePooh) could take them for me, I thought the best thing to do would be to send these 3 dominant strong piggies to live with her lot, as my other two are easily pushed around. (it worked out ok for Jools although it turned out my 3 were a bit too dominant trying to attack her piggies so she is now keeping them separately).
Anyway, so I thought I will keep the two who are pushed around and they will love it without the others! The other two are Ace, who came from the pet shop with Rush and has always bickered with Rush on and off but always ended up backing down. She was also the main one who BJ liked to chase around and if he even sat next to her to eat she would squeal...she just didnt like him so she kept her distance! The other piggy is Liddell. She was Rush's other daughter and was the "runt" of the litter. She is still by far the smallest of all five of them and everyone would take food off her, and very occasionally she would bicker with her sister, Rampage, but it was never anything too bad.
Since Saturday when we dropped the guineas off with Jools, the other two's behaviour seems to have completely changed. Ace has been constantly chasing Liddel and gnashing her teeth at her, I know this is normal dominant behaviour but is it normal for it to carry on for 5 days (so far!) ? Liddel seems really scared, she literally freezes after she has been chased by Ace. Liddel soon forgets about it though and goes to find Ace because I think she likes company but she soon gets chased off again. Liddel has been eating much less Hay and drinking less and I think it is because she used to follow the others around and do what they did!
Last night at 3.30am I heard lots of squealing and ended up putting a temporary partition between them! today before I went to work i decided to put a proper partition in whilst I'm at work, when Ace went up to it and saw it (Its only grids so they can still see and smell each other) and she started popcorning! and she hardly ever does that! Liddel seemed a bit happier too she was eating and drinking although she did start chewing on the bars before i left and seemed like she was looking for a way to get through!
Did I do the right thing? Should I just leave them together and wait until they work it out? or should I keep them separate? If I do that does it mean they will never be able to go back together if I keep them separate for a while?
Thank you, sorry this is So long! and sorry for all the questions!
