J
Jonti+Kris
Hey folks,
First post here (so please be gentle!) - and the reason we signed up here in the first place! We've got a strange situation with our new young sows, and can't really find anything helpful on the net - so figured it best to come here and ask those who know their stuff!
Firstly - the background. Kris has owned guinea pigs for about 4 years now -- Cake and Carrot were rescues, who always got on fairly well. When Carrot died (after anaesthetic problems for a small operation), we gave Cake time to grieve, then rescued Gino, a neutered boar. After a couple of weeks to get each other from separate cages, and time together in the run under our supervision, their cages went together, and both were really, really happy.
Unfortunately, just over a month ago, Gino passed away in his sleep, so Cake was alone again. Once more, we gave her some time to grieve, and then went to our local pets at home, and a week ago bought ourselves two gorgeous young sows -- Maia and Mudra. Again, we separated our two cages, but left them together, so that Maia and Mudra could settle in and get to know Cake through smell and chatting before introducing them properly.
After a few days, they're much much braver, running around and exploring their cage. Maia especially spends a fair bit of time running around, popcorning, and making lots and lots of happy noise. We've introduced them to Cake (who's about 4 years old, and easily twice their size), and they've got along well -- although Cake has asserted her dominence a couple of times, they've been really sweet together, and all three have made really happy noises and cuddled up together.
However, we've noticed both Maia and Mudra have quite badly chewed ears -- rather than being smooth, they're missing chunks here and there. Now, normally, that would seem to be a really bad sign, I'd've thought, but they happily cuddle up in their house together, and we've never heard any unhappy noises from their cage (which is in our living room with us, so we're with them most of the time). In fact, the only noises we ever hear are happy ones -- particularly when they're running around their cage and exploring.
So, we had assumed that their ears had been like that when we got them (maybe there'd been a cage bully when they were at pets at home)... but this evening, we noticed the ears seemed a little worse (more ragged and uneven) - just after they'd been in the run meeting Cake again. In fact, Maia actually had a little cut on her ear, and for the first time, there was some blood. But, while they'd been in the run, we hadn't seen any misbehaviour (Cake was having a sniff at Maia's bottom a couple of times, and got one indignant squeek from her, but otherwise, they were fine -- all three making gentle chirruping happy noises, exploring, and generally being really sweet) - so we're at a loss.
First - given that as best we can tell, they're all really happy together, is this as bad as we're worrying? Is it bad if our two little ones have been biting each others ears? They were housed together at Pets at Home, and always seem to get along really well, so it seems odd that they might be hurting each other when we're not around.
Second - should we separate Maia and Mudra? It seems pretty much certain that Cake isn't the cause of the bitten ears (although the one this evening could have been her, since they were all in together) - so if we separate them, should we move one in with her?
One thing that did occur having seen a few things on the net -- a few months ago we had Cake treated because she'd been itching and had picked up a mite problem from somewhere. That appears to have cleared up, but we did see that mites could make young piggies a bit stroppy/aggressive.
Really hope you can help us! As I say, the piggies generally seem really happy -- lots of popcorning from the little ones, they're eating all their food (in fact, we've never seen piggies eat so much, to be honest!), and other than for their ears, they seem really settled and to get on very well - so we don't know what to do!
Thanks loads in advance,
Jonti + Kris
First post here (so please be gentle!) - and the reason we signed up here in the first place! We've got a strange situation with our new young sows, and can't really find anything helpful on the net - so figured it best to come here and ask those who know their stuff!
Firstly - the background. Kris has owned guinea pigs for about 4 years now -- Cake and Carrot were rescues, who always got on fairly well. When Carrot died (after anaesthetic problems for a small operation), we gave Cake time to grieve, then rescued Gino, a neutered boar. After a couple of weeks to get each other from separate cages, and time together in the run under our supervision, their cages went together, and both were really, really happy.
Unfortunately, just over a month ago, Gino passed away in his sleep, so Cake was alone again. Once more, we gave her some time to grieve, and then went to our local pets at home, and a week ago bought ourselves two gorgeous young sows -- Maia and Mudra. Again, we separated our two cages, but left them together, so that Maia and Mudra could settle in and get to know Cake through smell and chatting before introducing them properly.
After a few days, they're much much braver, running around and exploring their cage. Maia especially spends a fair bit of time running around, popcorning, and making lots and lots of happy noise. We've introduced them to Cake (who's about 4 years old, and easily twice their size), and they've got along well -- although Cake has asserted her dominence a couple of times, they've been really sweet together, and all three have made really happy noises and cuddled up together.
However, we've noticed both Maia and Mudra have quite badly chewed ears -- rather than being smooth, they're missing chunks here and there. Now, normally, that would seem to be a really bad sign, I'd've thought, but they happily cuddle up in their house together, and we've never heard any unhappy noises from their cage (which is in our living room with us, so we're with them most of the time). In fact, the only noises we ever hear are happy ones -- particularly when they're running around their cage and exploring.
So, we had assumed that their ears had been like that when we got them (maybe there'd been a cage bully when they were at pets at home)... but this evening, we noticed the ears seemed a little worse (more ragged and uneven) - just after they'd been in the run meeting Cake again. In fact, Maia actually had a little cut on her ear, and for the first time, there was some blood. But, while they'd been in the run, we hadn't seen any misbehaviour (Cake was having a sniff at Maia's bottom a couple of times, and got one indignant squeek from her, but otherwise, they were fine -- all three making gentle chirruping happy noises, exploring, and generally being really sweet) - so we're at a loss.
First - given that as best we can tell, they're all really happy together, is this as bad as we're worrying? Is it bad if our two little ones have been biting each others ears? They were housed together at Pets at Home, and always seem to get along really well, so it seems odd that they might be hurting each other when we're not around.
Second - should we separate Maia and Mudra? It seems pretty much certain that Cake isn't the cause of the bitten ears (although the one this evening could have been her, since they were all in together) - so if we separate them, should we move one in with her?
One thing that did occur having seen a few things on the net -- a few months ago we had Cake treated because she'd been itching and had picked up a mite problem from somewhere. That appears to have cleared up, but we did see that mites could make young piggies a bit stroppy/aggressive.
Really hope you can help us! As I say, the piggies generally seem really happy -- lots of popcorning from the little ones, they're eating all their food (in fact, we've never seen piggies eat so much, to be honest!), and other than for their ears, they seem really settled and to get on very well - so we don't know what to do!
Thanks loads in advance,
Jonti + Kris
