Beeves
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi all!
Patrick came out of his surgery just fine in the end. We had an abcess, but it has since healed, and now we're just working on gaining all our weight back! He's been cleared to be in the same cage as Casper, so they have been introduced!
For my setup, I have two midwest enclosures. They've had their cages bar-to-bar next to each other for about 6 months before meeting, and they already had (closely monitored!) floor and cuddle times together.
In that time period, Patrick has always rumbled at her, and she makes very quiet chatting sounds that are definitely different than her chitter of distress. He is cuddly and likes to climb under her belly and head. She tolerates cuddles when held or fresh after a bath, but most times she does not like him touching her. She reacts by turning around and nips and chin-offs. She has humped him, and he seems to have accepted his position with rumbles, but no strutting. Despite being no-touchy, she likes to stay near Patrick.
This seemed pretty straightforward to me. She was alright with him being near except on her terms. She was dominant, he was slightly less so, and they appeared to agree with this.
Because they already were familiar with one another, I connected their two cages by removing a wall from each cage and adding a ramp in it's place. Initially they did not have their pigloos, but the other tunnels, hideys, beds, etc were still there. They each have a water bottle, food bowls, pellets, and a hay source in their own cages, in their usual places.
They began by ignoring one another and claiming each other's food and water. Patrick began to rumblestrut at Casper, she would chin-off and nip. After she does these dominant displays though, she'll popcorn around (I haven't seen that happen as often as it does now!). She will trot up to him as if to engage in some interaction, he rumbles and now she'll rumble back as well as display the other dominance behaviors I mentioned. She lays in his hay to sleep (?) And sleeps in his bed as well, and now he has claimed her bed.
They have slept peacefully apart, so I let them have their pigloos and I haven't seen any issues. Casper occasionally tries to kick Patrick out, but it doesn't work out for her.
Less common behaviors, but still things I've seen are Casper humping Patrick. Casper grooming Patrick gently, Casper pulling his ear (?), eating dinner together, Patrick grooming Casper and Casper denying that with nips, mutual rumble-offs...
They don't cuddle together like other pigs, but they do show...affection, I think. What do I make of this?
It has been about a week since they've been together and this behavior is consistent.
Patrick came out of his surgery just fine in the end. We had an abcess, but it has since healed, and now we're just working on gaining all our weight back! He's been cleared to be in the same cage as Casper, so they have been introduced!
For my setup, I have two midwest enclosures. They've had their cages bar-to-bar next to each other for about 6 months before meeting, and they already had (closely monitored!) floor and cuddle times together.
In that time period, Patrick has always rumbled at her, and she makes very quiet chatting sounds that are definitely different than her chitter of distress. He is cuddly and likes to climb under her belly and head. She tolerates cuddles when held or fresh after a bath, but most times she does not like him touching her. She reacts by turning around and nips and chin-offs. She has humped him, and he seems to have accepted his position with rumbles, but no strutting. Despite being no-touchy, she likes to stay near Patrick.
This seemed pretty straightforward to me. She was alright with him being near except on her terms. She was dominant, he was slightly less so, and they appeared to agree with this.
Because they already were familiar with one another, I connected their two cages by removing a wall from each cage and adding a ramp in it's place. Initially they did not have their pigloos, but the other tunnels, hideys, beds, etc were still there. They each have a water bottle, food bowls, pellets, and a hay source in their own cages, in their usual places.
They began by ignoring one another and claiming each other's food and water. Patrick began to rumblestrut at Casper, she would chin-off and nip. After she does these dominant displays though, she'll popcorn around (I haven't seen that happen as often as it does now!). She will trot up to him as if to engage in some interaction, he rumbles and now she'll rumble back as well as display the other dominance behaviors I mentioned. She lays in his hay to sleep (?) And sleeps in his bed as well, and now he has claimed her bed.
They have slept peacefully apart, so I let them have their pigloos and I haven't seen any issues. Casper occasionally tries to kick Patrick out, but it doesn't work out for her.
Less common behaviors, but still things I've seen are Casper humping Patrick. Casper grooming Patrick gently, Casper pulling his ear (?), eating dinner together, Patrick grooming Casper and Casper denying that with nips, mutual rumble-offs...
They don't cuddle together like other pigs, but they do show...affection, I think. What do I make of this?
It has been about a week since they've been together and this behavior is consistent.
