Guinea pig sow stopping the other from going in the bed area

[Jcarlene21]

I’ve had my guinea pigs sow for about a month they are fairly small and I was told they are babies. I’ve seen dominants behaviour in one especially when I first put them in the run together but nothing out of what I’d read was normal for piggies. But today I noticed that one of them only ever sits outside the bedding area and when ever she tries to run in the other one chases her straight out. I really don’t want to deprecate th without giving them a good chance to work out their relationship. There’s been no blood and the submissive one always squeels very loudly and will often warn her off by weeing at her. I try to put them in their run as much as possible as it’s bigger than their cage so they are getting bigger space I put up towel areas and they do tend to sit serparetely. They share food which is good. And squeak if away from each other. I’m just wondering as they are being kept outdoors that in the winter I’m worried if they will not share a bedding space that one will be cold. Any advice will be gladly received.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

None of my pigs will share a bedding area, I think hutches are a bad design for that reason. It’s normal for the dominant pig to kick the sub piggy out of the bed and not share. That’s why you always need 2 of everything and every area, which sadly hutches don’t.

I definitely wouldn’t separate them as this is normal behaviour, you may have to rethink their living arrangements though. I had to get rid of my hutch and ended up keeping mine indoors. Unfortunately we’ve all been there, had to readjust things when fairly new to piggy slavery

 

[Betsy]

My hutch has just one bedding area but I make sure there are more than enough warm hideys for all my piggies. I have snuggle pouches (Double and single), warm snuggle tunnels, warm pigloos and snugglesafes that I pop in the microwave that stay warm all night. Off course then there is loads of hay that they can snuggle into as well. I have an insulated cover on my hutch with a thermal waterproof cover over that and in the winter I put a blanket on top of that and cover the front up to keep out the worst of the cold. Unfortunately I don't have a shed or a garage that I can keep the hutch in. When it snowed I brought them in and kept them in the Conservatory for a week as this was the coldest room and was around 5-10 degrees so when they went back in the hutch (they were very pleased to be back home) the temperature change wasn't too much for them.

If you are keeping your pigs outside for the winter, make sure you acclimatise them properly. Mine are outside all year. You can't just put new piggies that are used to being inside out in the cold weather. They need to grow their nice warm under coat so that they don't freeze. They start to grow this as the weather turns a bit cooler at night. I read a lot on the forum about the coldest weather piggies can handle once they have become acclimatised to the cold. Most members said around -2 to -3.

 

[Dindypig]

It's always good practice to have beds for each piggy. Some pigs like to sleep alone. You will find that they will swap around where they sleep.

 

[Jcarlene21]

I have made them beds the only way to explain is large fleece/quilted tubes. They are large enough to fit both in and they were sharing it at one point but have now made another one. When I first got them I was putting in the heat disk at night but now the weather is warm I haven’t been. I have a car port that would help a little but intend on making sure the cage is well insulted when it gets to autumn/winter.
Yesterday I cut a large piece of cardboard with a door to separate the bedding area and at first the dominant one allowed the other to sit on the other side of this. But this morning again it seems she’s been kicked out to the main area again. Worth a try but that will be coming out this morning I was worried in case the dominant one corner the other In there there would not be much room for it to run away. I watched them for quite sometime and this seemed to be a solution but alas hasn’t worked.
I didn’t know if it would be worth taking the bedding panel down altogether? Or best they stay separate. The cage actually has a ramp down to a bottom level but they are both scared of this and stay upstairs unfortunately. I thought when I bought the cage this would give them more space.

 

[Merab]

Mine don’t share beds.
There are enough snuggle pouches, tunnels and hideys for each of them.
They all have a favourite but will still play ‘musical beds’ .

It’s a rare occasion to see 2 of them in the same bed.

 

[Betsy]

Piggies follow scent spores so if you can take the ramp out, block the hole between top and bottom temporarily and pop the ramp in the top and let them walk over it for at least a week . If there is not enough space or you can't take out your ramp leave a hidey in the run until it is really horrible and def overdue a wash , turn it inside out and rub it all up and down the ramp a few times. Also putting some hay from the top to the bottom will help. Piggies use smell a lot more than eyesight.

Do you have anything on the ramp to help with grip? Some people use off cuts of carpet stuck down with double sided tape so it can be changed from time to time. Some people a use smoothish sandpaper but I should think this would be a bit rough on the feet. You can also buy ramp tunnels. Does the ramp have sides? If not you need to put some sides about 3" deep either side so your piggies can't fall off and hurt themselves. Can't think of any more suggestions at the mo.

 

[Jcarlene21]

Piggies follow scent spores so if you can take the ramp out, block the hole between top and bottom temporarily and pop the ramp in the top and let them walk over it for at least a week . If there is not enough space or you can't take out your ramp leave a hidey in the run until it is really horrible and def overdue a wash , turn it inside out and rub it all up and down the ramp a few times. Also putting some hay from the top to the bottom will help. Piggies use smell a lot more than eyesight.

Do you have anything on the ramp to help with grip? Some people use off cuts of carpet stuck down with double sided tape so it can be changed from time to time. Some people a use smoothish sandpaper but I should think this would be a bit rough on the feet. You can also buy ramp tunnels. Does the ramp have sides? If not you need to put some sides about 3" deep either side so your piggies can't fall off and hurt themselves. Can't think of any more suggestions at the mo.

That’s great advice thankyou peeps! I’ll give the ramp thing a go. You’re right it doesn’t have side but does have grips. I always put them back in their cage via the bottom run area and did shut the trap door one afternoon so they spent a few hours down there would that be enough to leave their scent? They seem their bravest when I put them in their large separate run It’s good to know that it is common for them not to want to share the bed area I was concerned I may have to separate them.

 

[Betsy]

If your ramp doesn't have sides it might be better to get a couple of ramp tunnels then and leave that in the top part of the hutch for a week or so so that they scent mark it before putting it on your ramp. You can get them from a few places online. Tunnels, Ramp Tunnels & Hanging Tunnels « Cosy Cavies do some. I have not had the need for a ramp tunnel but have got a few things from Cosy Cavies before and they are all very good quality and well made.

 

[Jcarlene21]

If your ramp doesn't have sides it might be better to get a couple of ramp tunnels then and leave that in the top part of the hutch for a week or so so that they scent mark it before putting it on your ramp. You can get them from a few places online. Tunnels, Ramp Tunnels & Hanging Tunnels « Cosy Cavies do some. I have not had the need for a ramp tunnel but have got a few things from Cosy Cavies before and they are all very good quality and well made.

Followed your advice on putting their snuggle tunnels in the bottom half and left ramp open all day and one spent the afternoon in it of their own free will! Also gave the other piggy a little rest from the dominant one they seemed happy having some alone time! She seems to able to manage ramp quite well it has the same material on it as the Roos and also wooden steps as such they tend to stay close to the wall when they go up it. I’ll keep an eye one then and if there are any problems I’ll get something sorted to put on the side. Its also on top of a brick so there’s less on an incline for them

 

[Betsy]

Pleased it worked for you.

Mine like "time out" too. It used to be Dennis and Betsy upstairs and Velvet, Meg and Christian downstairs in the morning. Now they dynamics have changed a bit and now usually we have Betsy, Christian and Meg upstairs and Dennis and Velvet downstairs. Occasionally Betsy is upstairs on her own. I think it's important for piggies to be able to get away from each other if they wish to.