Does anyone else have piggies with massive separation anxiety?

[h.h.lovecraft]

Whenever I take only one piggy out, the other still in the cage will start to look for the piggy that has been brought out. I've realized at this point, I either have to get both out or I can only hold one as long as the other doesn't realize they are gone. They usually realize something is "off" within five minutes though and start squeaking very loudly. My one pig, Witchfinder, is much more dramatic about this and will squeak her little ears off if Hexi is not in the cage. I usually sit less than three feet away from the cage on my sofa while holding a pig so I almost never take them far from each other either. I had to get them out individually to give medicine for a while which is when I would see a lot of this behavior.

The day before yesterday, Hexi got a piece of hay in her eye. Luckily it wasn't stuck in her actual eye, but rather the corner (tear duct area?) I was able to get it out with tweezers and she was really good about it as I've been getting stray hairs out of her eye since she was a baby (she's a texel with curly hairs around her eyes.) I do also think she realized I was trying to help her, which was really nice. The piece that was actually stuck in her was quite large and I figured I'd check on her the next day. Our living room is very dark so I took Hexi out into the sunroom so that I could see her eye better (side note, her eye was totally ok, no swelling or anything, I think I caught it very fast.) I probably spent 10 minutes out there alone with her at most. I knew Witchfinder was certainly looking for her by this point, so I took her back inside. When I got inside, Witchfinder was not squeaking, but chirping! I couldn't believe it. I felt really horrible about it, I had no idea she would get that stressed.

Does anyone else have piggies with massive separation anxiety? I am already concerned about the future and what will happen when they pass. I think Witchfinder is going to have such a hard time if Hexi passes away first, and I am nervous that she will as she has always been more fragile and had more health issues since she was a baby. Their behavior is a bit funny because at first glance, they don't seem that attached to each other. They refuse to share anything, they don't cuddle, lunge at each other when stressed (always a drama when going to the vet), and love to rumble at each other all day. Usually when I put Hexi back due to Witchfinder starting to look for her, the first thing she does is rumblestrut at her, which then makes Hexi rumble back, and then it turns into a whole drama It's kind of an odd dynamic, but overall they seem very happy and, despite what it may seem, enjoy each others company.

 

[Wiebke]

Whenever I take only one piggy out, the other still in the cage will start to look for the piggy that has been brought out. I've realized at this point, I either have to get both out or I can only hold one as long as the other doesn't realize they are gone. They usually realize something is "off" within five minutes though and start squeaking very loudly. My one pig, Witchfinder, is much more dramatic about this and will squeak her little ears off if Hexi is not in the cage. I usually sit less than three feet away from the cage on my sofa while holding a pig so I almost never take them far from each other either. I had to get them out individually to give medicine for a while which is when I would see a lot of this behavior.

The day before yesterday, Hexi got a piece of hay in her eye. Luckily it wasn't stuck in her actual eye, but rather the corner (tear duct area?) I was able to get it out with tweezers and she was really good about it as I've been getting stray hairs out of her eye since she was a baby (she's a texel with curly hairs around her eyes.) I do also think she realized I was trying to help her, which was really nice. The piece that was actually stuck in her was quite large and I figured I'd check on her the next day. Our living room is very dark so I took Hexi out into the sunroom so that I could see her eye better (side note, her eye was totally ok, no swelling or anything, I think I caught it very fast.) I probably spent 10 minutes out there alone with her at most. I knew Witchfinder was certainly looking for her by this point, so I took her back inside. When I got inside, Witchfinder was not squeaking, but chirping! I couldn't believe it. I felt really horrible about it, I had no idea she would get that stressed.

Does anyone else have piggies with massive separation anxiety? I am already concerned about the future and what will happen when they pass. I think Witchfinder is going to have such a hard time if Hexi passes away first, and I am nervous that she will as she has always been more fragile and had more health issues since she was a baby. Their behavior is a bit funny because at first glance, they don't seem that attached to each other. They refuse to share anything, they don't cuddle, lunge at each other when stressed (always a drama when going to the vet), and love to rumble at each other all day. Usually when I put Hexi back due to Witchfinder starting to look for her, the first thing she does is rumblestrut at her, which then makes Hexi rumble back, and then it turns into a whole drama It's kind of an odd dynamic, but overall they seem very happy and, despite what it may seem, enjoy each others company.

Hi!

Some guinea pigs can have massive issues, depending on their background. It is normal for youngsters under 4 months that massively rely on the guidance of a more experienced 'guardian' piggy to take them under their wing and teach them, and they can feel very lost when that emotional support is taken away. Once piggies reach teenage, they should have mastered their environment and should be able to be on their own for stretches of time.
However, in some piggies, this issue can carry on into adult age.

As you are in Germany, would you consider dating your girls at a good guinea pig rescue that offers this service with a suitable neutered boar (Vergesellshaftung) to make sure that you bring only home a boar that has been accepted and is getting on? Seeing the social issues that your problem girl has, it has to be either a boar higher ranked than the top lady or lower ranked that your problem girl (baby castrate) in order to avoid a direct hierarchy clash with her. But it all depends on the personalities involved; that is why rescue dating with difficult piggies is important and well worth going the extra mile for. This would be the way I would take (and have taken) in a comparable situation to minimise longer term problems if possible with those piggies of mine that cannot hack being alone and that have other social interaction issues well into adulthood.

Here is a list of German rescues; unfortunately, it is just a list of rescues but it doesn't say anything of how good they are. However, any rescues that are officially registered as charity underlie very strict conditions and welfare control.
Notstationen und Pflegestellen für Meerschweinchen - Neue Heimat

 

[PigglePuggle]

Whenever I take only one piggy out, the other still in the cage will start to look for the piggy that has been brought out. I've realized at this point, I either have to get both out or I can only hold one as long as the other doesn't realize they are gone. They usually realize something is "off" within five minutes though and start squeaking very loudly. My one pig, Witchfinder, is much more dramatic about this and will squeak her little ears off if Hexi is not in the cage. I usually sit less than three feet away from the cage on my sofa while holding a pig so I almost never take them far from each other either. I had to get them out individually to give medicine for a while which is when I would see a lot of this behavior.

The day before yesterday, Hexi got a piece of hay in her eye. Luckily it wasn't stuck in her actual eye, but rather the corner (tear duct area?) I was able to get it out with tweezers and she was really good about it as I've been getting stray hairs out of her eye since she was a baby (she's a texel with curly hairs around her eyes.) I do also think she realized I was trying to help her, which was really nice. The piece that was actually stuck in her was quite large and I figured I'd check on her the next day. Our living room is very dark so I took Hexi out into the sunroom so that I could see her eye better (side note, her eye was totally ok, no swelling or anything, I think I caught it very fast.) I probably spent 10 minutes out there alone with her at most. I knew Witchfinder was certainly looking for her by this point, so I took her back inside. When I got inside, Witchfinder was not squeaking, but chirping! I couldn't believe it. I felt really horrible about it, I had no idea she would get that stressed.

Does anyone else have piggies with massive separation anxiety? I am already concerned about the future and what will happen when they pass. I think Witchfinder is going to have such a hard time if Hexi passes away first, and I am nervous that she will as she has always been more fragile and had more health issues since she was a baby. Their behavior is a bit funny because at first glance, they don't seem that attached to each other. They refuse to share anything, they don't cuddle, lunge at each other when stressed (always a drama when going to the vet), and love to rumble at each other all day. Usually when I put Hexi back due to Witchfinder starting to look for her, the first thing she does is rumblestrut at her, which then makes Hexi rumble back, and then it turns into a whole drama It's kind of an odd dynamic, but overall they seem very happy and, despite what it may seem, enjoy each others company.

My loved up mixed sex pair Ollie and Tallulah are inseperable, they literally cannot be more than 6ft apart before Tallulah starts wheeking and chirping in extreme distress then Ollie goes on high alert and starts searching for his wife!
Tallulah had to have several courses of eyedrops and we had to keep them apart for an hour afterwards to stop Ollie licking the eyedrops off and it was painful to have to do, even with Tallulah sitting in a laundry basket just outside the cage so they could touch noses through the bars, and with lots of treat veg as a distraction, they were both so upset... its very sweet how much they are in love still even after over 2 years of marriage, but long term its a worry because they have been completely inseperable since the day they met, an hour of bonding then they came home in the same carrier, couldnt get them apart even at that early stage- not sure how either would cope without the other...

 

[ThatPurpleB]

We took in our pair in March. Nova would scream and look for Luna if we separated them, seemed quite distressed.

The last few weeks this has improved, hoping Nova has learnt to trust that I will bring Luna back to her.

Luna has had eye drops on and off since we brought her home so they have been regularly separated to stop Nova licking the drops straight back out.

I too had thesame concerns if Luna died I was scared Nova wouldnt cope.

 

[h.h.lovecraft]

Hi!

Some guinea pigs can have massive issues, depending on their background. It is normal for youngsters under 4 months that massively rely on the guidance of a more experienced 'guardian' piggy to take them under their wing and teach them, and they can feel very lost when that emotional support is taken away. Once piggies reach teenage, they should have mastered their environment and should be able to be on their own for stretches of time.
However, in some piggies, this issue can carry on into adult age.

As you are in Germany, would you consider dating your girls at a good guinea pig rescue that offers this service with a suitable neutered boar (Vergesellshaftung) to make sure that you bring only home a boar that has been accepted and is getting on? Seeing the social issues that your problem girl has, it has to be either a boar higher ranked than the top lady or lower ranked that your problem girl (baby castrate) in order to avoid a direct hierarchy clash with her. But it all depends on the personalities involved; that is why rescue dating with difficult piggies is important and well worth going the extra mile for. This would be the way I would take (and have taken) in a comparable situation to minimise longer term problems if possible with those piggies of mine that cannot hack being alone and that have other social interaction issues well into adulthood.

Here is a list of German rescues; unfortunately, it is just a list of rescues but it doesn't say anything of how good they are. However, any rescues that are officially registered as charity underlie very strict conditions and welfare control.
Notstationen und Pflegestellen für Meerschweinchen - Neue Heimat

Thank you for the link!

They are still rather young so hopefully they will learn to cope a bit better as they age. It would be difficult due to space issues right now, but I would absolutely consider adopting a third pig. I think for now I will just monitor the situation to see if their behavior changes at all as they have recently entered their teenage months. Adopting another piggy will be inevitable at some point however as I definitely don't want one of my current pigs to be alone when the other passes in the future.

 

[Julesie]

Hello, I just wanted to add that I have an extremely chilled oap piggie (sleeps eyes shut) who adores chirping and does it all the time. No one knows exactly what the sound means but considering she’s never stressed out when doing it and has taught her younger cage mate to do it I’m not sure if your piggie was stressed or not. Please don’t worry

 

[Freela]

When I had two baby pigs at the same time, they would routinely squeak for each other when one was out of the cage. They grew out of it with time. Right now we have baby Tomie who will sometimes squeak if Leela is removed from a setting where she feels uncomfortable (i.e. when I put them outside at the cottage I have to bring Tomie inside first as she squeals for Leela if I take Leela in first. I can't carry one in each arm because Tomie enjoys ripping my arm to shreds with her baby nails and needs two hands!) In my experience it's an anxious youngster thing that most pigs will grow out of as they get older and more secure.

I did have one older (four-year-old) pig who squeaked for the humans to come back when she was left alone after her cagemate passed away... that was a whole other level of heartbreaking. We basically held her all the time until we got a new friend for her because she would cry if we put her in the cage along.