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Clash of dominance

Bubble& Squeak

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Dec 20, 2019
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Location
Wolverhampton
So I recently took my lone bereaved sow Bubble over to Nevilles nest to spend 3 days dating with the handsome neutered boar called Bruce. Bruce had been living with a couple of girls beforehand but they passed away so he was returned to the rescue as a lone boy. They told me he was a very chilled out laid back boar which I thought would be perfect given Bubble can be a bit fiesty at times. (Bubble was always a submissive piggie when she was with Squeak until squeak got rather ill and not long before she passed Bubble pushed for dominance and pretty much got it and then the couple of months since she's had nobody to challenge her.

So after dropping Bubble off for the next 3 days the rescue were great and kept me updated frequently. Bubble was initially being very dominant towards Bruce with lots of teeth chattering and Bruce wasn't really reacting. No mounting, hardly any rumble strutting etc. They even sent me a photo of them both sitting next to each other on the ladies lap having snuggles. The next day they said they were both a bit grumpy in the morning but had been put in the outdoor run for a few hours as they found moving them around helped the bond and that they were back in the cage looking much more settled by the evening. Then the final day they seemed okay together but they warned me that there may very well be a backwards step once Bubble gets home and realises she's home.

The journey home they were both teeth chattering and scuffling a little bit with each other but I can understand they are both rather stressed at this point.

We didn't get home til in the evening so I didn't really want to put them in the indoor run just for a couple hours to only move them again so they went in Bubbles cage but obviously this was completely cleaned out and disinfected all over with F10 beforehand and the same for the food bowls and water bottles. They had a shed load of hay inside and an open tunnel and one of those corner fleece hideys where the strips of fleece dangle down so they can easily run in and out if needs be. (I'm now doubting whether doing this was a good idea)

This was Monday evening and it's now Wednesday evening and I genuinely cannot call it. They are SO up and down with each other it's crazy. Bruce as soon as he went in that cage has just turned into Mr dominant domly pants lol. He rumble struts pretty much constantly to the point where Bubble can be right up the other end of the cage completely out of sight and he'll rumble around the cage. There's been a lot of teeth chattering going on between the pair of them, chasing and a few scuffles leading to nips on the bum but no actual fights or blood drawn yet. But then they'll be other moments when they are sitting nearby happily munching on hay or sleeping about 5 or 6 inches away without a care in the world. I have noticed Bubble will sometimes approach Bruce with friendly noises but as soon as Bruce rumbles or reacts with a form of dominance it starts off the bickering again. But then earlier on he didn't react and they both just sat by each other for a couple of minutes acting normal.

I tried putting them in the indoor run with hay and nothing else last night for a few hours based on what the rescue said to see if that would possibly iron out any issues between them easier than in the cage and three was a lot of dominance shown from the two of them but then they both fell asleep near each other and when I put them back into the cage they seemed a bit more chilled until the middle of the night when the teeth chattering started again.

I know I've probably made a few mistakes throughout this but Bubble and Squeak bonded pretty much instantly so I get extremely lucky and don't have quite so much experience with challenging bonds like this. I'm genuinely so scared for Bruce because I don't want to have to return him but also Bubble because I don't want her to be alone.

What do you guys think? I know it can take a fair bit of time to establish a bond but I thought I may have seen some more positive signs by now unless my lack of patience is beginning to show lol.
 
It sounds like they’re still sorting out the dominance. It may be they both want to be top-pig. Though they also have calm moments where they’ll be next to each other. I would probably leave them to sort themselves out but keep an eye on them. It’s difficult when it’s in the grey area.
 
It sounds like they’re still sorting out the dominance. It may be they both want to be top-pig. Though they also have calm moments where they’ll be next to each other. I would probably leave them to sort themselves out but keep an eye on them. It’s difficult when it’s in the grey area.

Yeah I totally agree with you. I think neither of them really want to back down to be honest. Stubborn buggers! I'm lucky that they are in my bedroom and that I work from home so it's really easy to keep an eye on them atm. However they are really testing my nerves when they chatter and scuffle with each other. It's so hard knowing when to intervene or not.
 
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