Cadaverous
Junior Guinea Pig
I want to start this post by saying, the boys (Mousse and Butter) are okay and getting along much better now 
Buuuut, I think I just need to vent. The past few weeks have been sooooo difficult, for them and for me. It started a few weeks ago, Butter (the youngest, approx 7 months) started to push his luck with Mousse. Now, Mousse is an amazingly chilled out piggie, he cares about nothing except veggies. You can do anything with him handling wise and he just loves to hang out with you, watching telly or just cuddling. He is quite quiet and very gentle, despite occasionally nibbling
Butter has always been more reserved, he took a long time to bond with me and was so skittish as a baby, I honestly think he was probably nearer 3 weeks old than 6 when I got him (he was supposed to be 6 but he was so tiny and obviously hadnāt been handled at all). Consequently, weāve been working hard on getting a bone between us and Iāve had to use some piggie techniques to get him to settle and, you know, not try and take chunks out of my hands when we have laptime! About 4-6 weeks ago we started to make real progress. I always made sure Mousse got handled just as much as Butter and got just as much laptime.
Two weeks ago I went away for a week, and my friends looked after the boys with my sister also coming round to check on them for me. My friends got on famously with the boys, and I could tell by the pics that Butter was loving āhanging with the boysā while Mousse was very much saying āMuuummmmyy
ā!
Anyway, my friends said the first couple of days the boys were nose-butting each other, and my sister reported a lot of chasing. This kind of simmered along all week with lots of chattering, more nose-butting and some rumble strutting. Nothing major but still had me worried and thinking maybe I should upgrade their cage? (They were in a 8-9sq ft cage at this point)
Came home, boys okay, little stroppy and Mousse was very upset with me. Weighed them and Moo has lost a little weight while Butter had continued to gain as usual. Then Butter really ramped up his posturing, he was chattering, chasing and yawning at Mousse a lot. Mousse just walked away. But Butter kept pushing it further and further, until eventually a couple of days ago I had put them back in their cage and Butter flipped and pounced on Mousse. No injuries, because Mousse is at least 70% fluff but it was very scary
I moved them from their cage into the run to give them a bit more room and decided a cage upgrade was needed ASAP! Cue mad dash to Wickes and my sisters for correx and grids to make a custom C&C cage, took me about four hours to source and construct the cage, which is a giant l-shaped beast of 16 sq ft. My mum wasnāt very impressed as itās in the living room but hey 
Needs must!
Since going into the piggie palace the boys have been better. Butter tried it on to start with by following Mousse and yawning but eventually (finally!) Mousse yawned back...and Butter squealed and ran away because Mousseās teeth were bigger than his
since then, Mousse has assertively but gently asserted his authority over Butter, whilst also intermittently cleaning his ears and bottom. Butter has done nothing but squeak back and stay very still. He was very down the first 24 hours but he is picking up now, he is eating and moving around more though Mousse will still give him a quick look and strut from time to time.
Iām really hoping they settle down now that Iām back and that they have the palace to explore. Previous to this they were very close and would snuggle together, I hope they get back to that at some point. But right now Iām pleased that theyāre both comfortable and relaxed enough to eat, sleep and toilet normally.
Boys are so stressful! But they are both utterly gorgeous in their own way. Here they are in the palace:
Buuuut, I think I just need to vent. The past few weeks have been sooooo difficult, for them and for me. It started a few weeks ago, Butter (the youngest, approx 7 months) started to push his luck with Mousse. Now, Mousse is an amazingly chilled out piggie, he cares about nothing except veggies. You can do anything with him handling wise and he just loves to hang out with you, watching telly or just cuddling. He is quite quiet and very gentle, despite occasionally nibbling
Butter has always been more reserved, he took a long time to bond with me and was so skittish as a baby, I honestly think he was probably nearer 3 weeks old than 6 when I got him (he was supposed to be 6 but he was so tiny and obviously hadnāt been handled at all). Consequently, weāve been working hard on getting a bone between us and Iāve had to use some piggie techniques to get him to settle and, you know, not try and take chunks out of my hands when we have laptime! About 4-6 weeks ago we started to make real progress. I always made sure Mousse got handled just as much as Butter and got just as much laptime.
Two weeks ago I went away for a week, and my friends looked after the boys with my sister also coming round to check on them for me. My friends got on famously with the boys, and I could tell by the pics that Butter was loving āhanging with the boysā while Mousse was very much saying āMuuummmmyy
ā! Anyway, my friends said the first couple of days the boys were nose-butting each other, and my sister reported a lot of chasing. This kind of simmered along all week with lots of chattering, more nose-butting and some rumble strutting. Nothing major but still had me worried and thinking maybe I should upgrade their cage? (They were in a 8-9sq ft cage at this point)
Came home, boys okay, little stroppy and Mousse was very upset with me. Weighed them and Moo has lost a little weight while Butter had continued to gain as usual. Then Butter really ramped up his posturing, he was chattering, chasing and yawning at Mousse a lot. Mousse just walked away. But Butter kept pushing it further and further, until eventually a couple of days ago I had put them back in their cage and Butter flipped and pounced on Mousse. No injuries, because Mousse is at least 70% fluff but it was very scary
I moved them from their cage into the run to give them a bit more room and decided a cage upgrade was needed ASAP! Cue mad dash to Wickes and my sisters for correx and grids to make a custom C&C cage, took me about four hours to source and construct the cage, which is a giant l-shaped beast of 16 sq ft. My mum wasnāt very impressed as itās in the living room but hey Needs must! Since going into the piggie palace the boys have been better. Butter tried it on to start with by following Mousse and yawning but eventually (finally!) Mousse yawned back...and Butter squealed and ran away because Mousseās teeth were bigger than his
since then, Mousse has assertively but gently asserted his authority over Butter, whilst also intermittently cleaning his ears and bottom. Butter has done nothing but squeak back and stay very still. He was very down the first 24 hours but he is picking up now, he is eating and moving around more though Mousse will still give him a quick look and strut from time to time. Iām really hoping they settle down now that Iām back and that they have the palace to explore. Previous to this they were very close and would snuggle together, I hope they get back to that at some point. But right now Iām pleased that theyāre both comfortable and relaxed enough to eat, sleep and toilet normally.
Boys are so stressful! But they are both utterly gorgeous in their own way. Here they are in the palace:
