Could Use Some Advice On This Behaviour, Fear/screaming.

Eriathwen

Eriathwen

Adult Guinea Pig
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It's worse when food is added, I take Cinnamon out for some of her veg so she gets a chance to eat and calm down.
They're 8-12 months, is this just normal overly dramatic young piggy behaviour? I'm assuming the fear is from having no leader as neither seems the dominant one, while Cinnamon screams, Treacle chatters her teeth and runs around. Cinnamon is actually the larger of the 2. She had babies 8 weeks ago so I'm assuming no longer being seen as a higher ranking important 'momma pig' in a herd could be contributing to this behaviour? Both have healed bites taken out of their ears so I'm wondering about previous bullying/overly dominant pig living with them in the past.

Just looking for reassurance really that adding these 2 to the herd i'll be bonding in a week or so will be beneficial to them, rather than make this worse.

Sorry the videos are dark, ive pulled the curtains to keep some of the heat in, its pretty cold here!

 
Oh bless her. What a scared little girl :( Made more vocal as she is younger I would think. Tagging @Wiebke into this as it needs the 'piggy whisperer' i think
 
Thankyou Sport_billy! Much appreciated. I forgot to say as well, this behaviour seems to only be towards Treacle.. when I take her out I will sit on the floor next to either Leonards cage, or the girls and she has said a very friendly hello to Daisy through the bars and watched her popcorn with great interest. She is absolutely in love with Leonard though and will creep up my knee, lay down and rest her nose on his bars to watch him, she's even stolen some of his hay through the bars while he ate some the other side. Part of me says wait, let them get on with it and see how they get along with the group...another part of me says separate them for now. I'm sure it sounds worse than it is but its such a pitiful noise to hear! :(
 
Eriathwen said:
It's worse when food is added, I take Cinnamon out for some of her veg so she gets a chance to eat and calm down.
They're 8-12 months, is this just normal overly dramatic young piggy behaviour? I'm assuming the fear is from having no leader as neither seems the dominant one, while Cinnamon screams, Treacle chatters her teeth and runs around. Cinnamon is actually the larger of the 2. She had babies 8 weeks ago so I'm assuming no longer being seen as a higher ranking important 'momma pig' in a herd could be contributing to this behaviour? Both have healed bites taken out of their ears so I'm wondering about previous bullying/overly dominant pig living with them in the past.

Just looking for reassurance really that adding these 2 to the herd i'll be bonding in a week or so will be beneficial to them, rather than make this worse.

Sorry the videos are dark, ive pulled the curtains to keep some of the heat in, its pretty cold here!

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You have a little drama queen there - it is a mixture of fear and submission that you often see from little ones. The screaming is preventative, a kind of 'don't be mean to me, I am no danger/rival for you' and as such it is pretty effective. It is usually the most submissive ones (and the most desperate for company) that do the screaming.
If they come with bites out of their ears then that points to a cramped, stressful situation. :(

Please use these tips here - the trick is to avoid any predatory behaviours (since guinea pigs are prey animals with intact instincts) and to use their own social behaviours to interact and make friends with them; that way they instinctively understand. These tips really work!
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig

Babies are usually desperate to belong and to have the safety and guidance of a group.
Unless they are from a place with a mandatory quarantine (like a good rescue), you may however consider whether you'd rather introduce babies straight away or whether you risk having to treat all piggies. With youngsters, it is always a weighing up between opposing needs whether you introduce straight away or wait two weeks. If they are already next to each other, you can introduce anytime, as you will have to treat them all if there is ringworm or mange mites.
Importance Of Quarantine

You may find our bonding guide helpful. It not only covers the whole bonding process until the end of the dominance phase, it also looks at different bondings and their dynamics, as well as the typical social behaviours that are connected to them. One of the scenarios is about introducing youngsters to a group.
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
 
Thankyou as always Wiebke! I will give those a read, I fully trust the source I got them from that they are healthy which is a plus, ive only been keeping them separate as I do not yet have the room to bond and house 6 together with enough space, until the 7x3ft pen for them arrives (which should be over 2 weeks since the girls arrived so hopefully any stress induced illnesses will have shown up and I can go from there, although like I say, I do believe they are healthy, thankfully)

Should I continue to separate at veg time so Cinnamon can get her share or should I try to get her used to eating with her cagemate around? I dont want to encourage the fear of eating near other pigs by doing this, if thats even possible..
 
Eriathwen said:
Thankyou as always Wiebke! I will give those a read, I fully trust the source I got them from that they are healthy which is a plus, ive only been keeping them separate as I do not yet have the room to bond and house 6 together with enough space, until the 7x3ft pen for them arrives (which should be over 2 weeks since the girls arrived so hopefully any stress induced illnesses will have shown up and I can go from there, although like I say, I do believe they are healthy, thankfully)

Should I continue to separate at veg time so Cinnamon can get her share or should I try to get her used to eating with her cagemate around? I dont want to encourage the fear of eating near other pigs by doing this, if thats even possible..
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Use your own judgement. You can also use scatter feeding with your pair/group where you sprinkle veg and pellets around a bit.
 
Great, thankyou! I usually scatter feed for everyone so thats no problem. I'm thinking I might split their veg into 2 meals, scatter one and take out to feed the second, just to be sure she's at least getting something and see how we get on with that.
 
She's finally eating in the cage! There has been some screaming but not as much as normal, although louder than normal because Treacle is taking all the good bits from her, but she is finally eating and is venturing over to Treacle in her own time and T isn't chattering her teeth anymore. Just the usually nose bumping 'go away sort of thing.
 
Eriathwen said:
She's finally eating in the cage! There has been some screaming but not as much as normal, although louder than normal because Treacle is taking all the good bits from her, but she is finally eating and is venturing over to Treacle in her own time and T isn't chattering her teeth anymore. Just the usually nose bumping 'go away sort of thing.
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it is just normal dominance/settling in behaviour. You are going to see more of it when you bond the girls into the big group. The screaming submission screaming and nothing to worry about.
Sow Behaviour
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
 
I think I must have been very spoilt with super easy pairings up until now :xd: other than Shelly, my part cuy when I try to pick her up, ive never had a screamer before! Frightened the life out of me. I've seen them actually sharing one of the cardboard boxes they have too so they're getting there.
I don't think it helps that we're stuck in the house with this weather, so if anything does happen I know I can't really do anything about it until Monday! And that's put me on edge.
 
Eriathwen said:
I think I must have been very spoilt with super easy pairings up until now :xd: other than Shelly, my part cuy when I try to pick her up, ive never had a screamer before! Frightened the life out of me. I've seen them actually sharing one of the cardboard boxes they have too so they're getting there.
I don't think it helps that we're stuck in the house with this weather, so if anything does happen I know I can't really do anything about it until Monday! And that's put me on edge.
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Take a deep breath! Everything is in the green zone. You are just not used to a dramatic baby.
 
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