hallie2985
Junior Guinea Pig
Rose and Bumble are both out of quarantine (Rose has finished her antibiotics, and Bumble came out early on account of the fact that she has worked out how to escape the quarantine cage and I have nowhere else to put her).
They went throught the standard rigmarole to determine dominance (Bumble was a cheeky baby and gave as good as she got), and I tried them in the cage together. Bumble was horribly mean to Rose, so I've split the cage down the middle as a temporary measure in the hope that a softly softly approach will work better.
Anyway, all four girls are having floor time today as I am giving their cage a good steam clean. I left them to it for a bit, and then Rosie was huddled in the corner with her hackles up, so I picked her up for a cuddle and noticed blood up her fur. My first thought was that she was bleeding from her lady parts, but further investigation has revealed a TINY cut around her anus.
Thing is, I don't know if Bumble is responsible for the damage. Everything that I've read has suggested that once they draw blood they aren't going to bond, but although they're still posturing, they don't seem to hate each other - in fact, they have moments of great harmony.
Rose has her hackles up pretty much constantly at the moment, though; again, my thoughts were that this is normal behaviour, and it's certainly not stopping her from bullying Sooty and Sweep.
Meanwhile, Bumble seems quite taken with Sweep and indifferent to Sooty. Problem is, Sooty and Sweep are well and truly bonded, and it would not be fair to split them up. They're four years old, near enough, and have been together since birth except for a brief period of separation when Sweep was gaining strength when they were babies. These girls wash each other, so splitting them is not an option.
I have a two tier 120 cage, which was the biggest I could fit in my kitchen. The two levels are completely separate as Rose could not be trusted with the older girls. I don't really have space for another cage, and splitting one level up is only a temporary solution - there's really not enough space for it to work long term.
So, can Rose and Bumble live together? I'm not talking about right now this minute - obviously the introduction period is probably going to be longer rather than shorter. I was feeling qutie positive until the blood situation, but now I'm not sure if in pursuing the match with the two of them I am being unfair to Rose. If they can't be paired then can Bumble go in with Sooty and Sweep? I wouldn't have thought there was enough space for the three of them on the one level?
Should I turn the cage into a two tier cage with a ramp? This is going to require some DIY on my part as the ramp it came with is too steep and has no sides (plus it means there's a HUGE hole in the middle of the top tier - I have an extra base which is inside of this so it's not an issue at the moment).
Any advice gratefully received!
(This is their cage: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/guinea_pig_cages/120_cm_cages/137393 )
They went throught the standard rigmarole to determine dominance (Bumble was a cheeky baby and gave as good as she got), and I tried them in the cage together. Bumble was horribly mean to Rose, so I've split the cage down the middle as a temporary measure in the hope that a softly softly approach will work better.
Anyway, all four girls are having floor time today as I am giving their cage a good steam clean. I left them to it for a bit, and then Rosie was huddled in the corner with her hackles up, so I picked her up for a cuddle and noticed blood up her fur. My first thought was that she was bleeding from her lady parts, but further investigation has revealed a TINY cut around her anus.
Thing is, I don't know if Bumble is responsible for the damage. Everything that I've read has suggested that once they draw blood they aren't going to bond, but although they're still posturing, they don't seem to hate each other - in fact, they have moments of great harmony.
Rose has her hackles up pretty much constantly at the moment, though; again, my thoughts were that this is normal behaviour, and it's certainly not stopping her from bullying Sooty and Sweep.
Meanwhile, Bumble seems quite taken with Sweep and indifferent to Sooty. Problem is, Sooty and Sweep are well and truly bonded, and it would not be fair to split them up. They're four years old, near enough, and have been together since birth except for a brief period of separation when Sweep was gaining strength when they were babies. These girls wash each other, so splitting them is not an option.
I have a two tier 120 cage, which was the biggest I could fit in my kitchen. The two levels are completely separate as Rose could not be trusted with the older girls. I don't really have space for another cage, and splitting one level up is only a temporary solution - there's really not enough space for it to work long term.
So, can Rose and Bumble live together? I'm not talking about right now this minute - obviously the introduction period is probably going to be longer rather than shorter. I was feeling qutie positive until the blood situation, but now I'm not sure if in pursuing the match with the two of them I am being unfair to Rose. If they can't be paired then can Bumble go in with Sooty and Sweep? I wouldn't have thought there was enough space for the three of them on the one level?
Should I turn the cage into a two tier cage with a ramp? This is going to require some DIY on my part as the ramp it came with is too steep and has no sides (plus it means there's a HUGE hole in the middle of the top tier - I have an extra base which is inside of this so it's not an issue at the moment).
Any advice gratefully received!
(This is their cage: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/guinea_pig_cages/120_cm_cages/137393 )
