I have a problem :(

[Fudge and Rainbow :)]

Petal is scared of Lily all of a sudden. Everytime Lily goes near her she squeaks in distress like she's frightened. :0 I watched and Lily is bullying her. She keeps chasing Petal and nipping her. Not hard but poor Petal is scared! I thought everything was fine and they were getting along great but now this! They don't sleep in the same bed part either. Lily is all snuggled up in the hay and Petal sits in the pink house....

 

[Romily]

It will take time for them to settle, as long as no blood has been drawn you will just need to be patient. Make sure that there are two of everything so they don't fight.

 

[Claire W]

Just give it time. It sounds as though Lily wants to be the dominant pig. So long as blood hasn't been drawn and Lily is allowing Petal to eat nd drink, there shouldn't be a problem.

When Erin was first introduced to Eleanor and Eiza, she would be chased and nipped. Then when Ena joined the group, the 3 girls slept in the sleeping area of the hutch and Ena slept in the living area by herself.

Some of the scenes I witnessed upset me but I now have a happy group of 4 girls xx>>>

Please remember that guinea pig dominance behaviour looks far worse to us than it is for the guinea pigs x

 

[Wiebke]

Let them get on with it - it is totally normal dominance behaviour.

The screaming is not really pain but submission. Petal is making clear that she is not contesting Lily's claim to be top sow. That is all there is to it and both sows see it as such. Usually the screaming gets worse towards the end of the dominance sort out when the new underpiggy is defining how far it lets itself be pushed by screaming whenever the top piggy is even coming near.

What is happening now does not affect the bond itself, but only the form their relationship will take, i.e. how dominant the hierarchy will be. They will still end up as best of friends once they have finished working through the "fine print".

 

[Fudge and Rainbow :)]

Thanks everyone. So it's perfectly normal then? No blood is being drawn, mainly Lily nipping and chasing Petal. I was told when I adopted Lily that she was the boss and always has been so yes she is the dominant piggy!

I was just worried that they would start to fight and have to be split up, but by what is being said, it seems normal, so that's a relief! She's a bossy little devil! Can't help but love her though. x)

 

[Bailey]

When I first put Coco in with Amber, Amber would keep nipping at Coco's ear letting her know she was the boss in the pairing x

 

[helen105281]

Am going through the same thing with Honey at the moment too. As soon as any of them nip at her she screeches the place down. I didn't realise it was her being submissive. Just feel so sorry for her, she still goes back straight after and tries to sniff them or lick their bums though.

Hope Lily and Petal sort their pecking order out soon. I understand how stressful it is.