Bonding Issues And Possibly Pregnant?

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Carrotchopcavy

Carrotchopcavy

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Hello everyone! This is the first thread I have ever made as I am new to this forum...

So I was wondering what you thought about my sow's behaviors. This is kind of a two in one thread also..

Ok, to start off, one of my guinea pigs died in the end of October so I had one lone piggy. One of my friends had a lone pig that she needed a home for. ( Kiwi ) So I took her in. Kiwi and my previous guinea pig Jennifer got along great until about a week and a half to two weeks ago when Jennifer started to get very dominant. I separated them for a day then tried again. I have had to seperate them a couple times then decided to just let them work it out but they are still fighting! I don't know what to do... Help!


So then the second part of this is about Jennifer again. Jennifer has been gaining weight rapidly. A couple days after she started being dominant I noticed bulges on either side of her so I weighed her. She weighed 2lbs 8.9oz her normal weight is about 2lbs 3 or 4z. The next day she weighed 2lbs 7.9oz. Then two days later she weighs 2lbs 9.6 oz. She has been very irritable and been very dominant over her new piggy friend who we got 5 weeks ago. This pig is a female(almost positive). She has also been squeaking when ever I pick her up. And has been sneezing today and scratching her self a lot.. I have not been able to feel any kicking from the babies so I'm not sure... If anyone has any thoughts on if she is pregnant that would be appreciated! Also, if she is, what advice do I need.. (She is over 1 year old..)
 
Hi!

Sows can have stronger seasons and can be very dominant/bullish during that time. Anytime you re-introduce (preferably on neutral ground), you will see dominance behaviour as they establish their hierarchy. Please make sure that you are not separating simply because of that.

How long have you had Jennifer for and has she at any stage been with a boar? A pregnancy lasts 9-10 weeks; you'll see signs of growing babies usually only during the last 2-3 weeks and they are usually accompanied by more indicators.
Sows on a rich diet usually develop hard fat balls on their sides at around her age, so if the balls don't move and grow any further, then it is most likely fat balls. it is impossible for me to judge without more backgrund information. Are you sure that Jennifer is not hogging most of Kiwi's food? I would strongly recommend to feed smaller portions in two bowls at least a body length apart, and that includes pellets.

It would also help us a lot if you please added at least your country or state or - for the UK - your county to your details. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location.

Many members are not aware that US weights and British pounds and ounces are not quite the same. We are therefore asking our members to please use metric measurements in order to avoid misunderstandings. Please be aware that the daily variance between a fully/empty tummy and bladder can be around 30g/1 oz. We recommend to always weigh your piggies at the same time of the day. Weigh healthy piggies weekly and only ill piggies daily for more comparable results.

If you are worried about a pregnancy, please open thread a in our pregnancy section for ongoing support. Please provide any necessary background information like age, how long have you had the piggy in question and when she could have last been with a boar.

You may find these threads here helpful:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sow-behaviour.38561/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/pregnancy-guide.109375/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/pregnancy-and-nursing-diet.109377/

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...or-a-balanced-general-guinea-pig-diet.116460/
 
Carrotchopcavy said:
UPDATE: I tried giving the guinea pigs a buddy bath and it worked great! I think kiwi has excepted that Jennifer is the boss and gives her some space :)

http://www.cavyhouse.org/Buddy_Bath.html
Click to expand...



I am glad that your two girls are happily back together.

We recommend a buddy bath only when re-introducing fallen-out or nearly fallen-out boars that are covered in testosterone laden pee; otherwise it is does actually not make a lot of difference in my experience of 40 plus bondings - I have tried it both ways. Your two girls had already come to the end of their dominance and the aggressive behaviour was most likely due to a strong season; if they hadn't had a well established bond, the same old issues would have cropped up again during the re-intro. ;)
 
Wiebke said:
I am glad that your two girls are happily back together.

We recommend a buddy bath only when re-introducing fallen-out or nearly fallen-out boars that are covered in testosterone laden pee; otherwise it is does actually not make a lot of difference in my experience of 40 plus bondings - I have tried it both ways. Your two girls had already come to the end of their dominance and the aggressive behaviour was most likely due to a strong season; if they hadn't had a well established bond, the same old issues would have cropped up again during the re-intro. ;)
Click to expand...
Oh ok :)
 
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