bullying or pecking order

[Karen]

Can someone tell me if my Snuggles is a bully or is she just the boss?

She is not displaying any of the teeth chattering or fluffing up but she keeps hoicking out Smudge from her cage.

They at present live in two separate cages but have floor time together.

Snuggles occasionally prevents Smudge from having any of the nice fresh treats.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Karen.

 

[michellemuffin]

sounds like a bully to me unless smudge has accepted her as boss pig and she is just putting her in her place , my girls never teeth chatter, I can honestly say my girls are quite boring in that they have so much room that boss pig just does'nt seem to work, over the past 3 years I have had 3 boss girls Ruby Squeak and cuddles they took over from each other but i have no outright boss since cuddles died a few months ago, they just seem to muddle along apart from the noccasional nudge thats all they do

 

[Karen]

I'm hoping that when we move them into a bigger cage and they can have their own beds as opposed to having their own cage Snuggles will settle down.

She is funny cos when Smudge is in her own cage, Smuggles seems to call her!

We have only had them for 4 weeks so perhaps all will get better!

 

[cavykind]

I don't think we can call Snuggles a bully as she is after all a guinea pig, and it's only humans who deliberately inflict bullying for the sake of inflicting misery

I think she is simply the more dominant guinea pig and as such thinks that she is entitled to the best food, sleeping area, whatever she wants and whenever she wants it...period ;D This is behaviour that we would likely see is displayed in the wild to some extent and by most animals.

They are really fascinating little creatures to watch aren't they