Jellybean And Snickers Not Getting Along.

[Adrianne88]

So both Snickers and jellybean got a clean bill of health from their vet and are finally able to meet each other. However it didnt go very well. The younger one Snickers seems to be showing more dominate behavior but jellybean is also showing she wants to be dominate. Jellybean won't nip or anything, all she does is raise her head at Snickers. But Snickers is starting face offs and is biting jellybean pretty hard. Jellybean is wheeking out very loudly and Snickers refuses to let her have any food. I put them in a neutral area with food and water resources but it didn't help. I separated them both into separate cages now until I can figure out what to do. I'm not comfortable putting them in the same cage if jellybean wont be able to eat or even feel comfortable. I fear introduction was ruined.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Have you got 2 of everything spaced out so they don't have to fight over food and water etc?

 

[Adrianne88]

Have you got 2 of everything spaced out so they don't have to fight over food and water etc?

Yes I did two of everything, but when Snickers sees jellybean trying to get food or water she runs right over and stops her and then starts a face off. Snickers is about 2 and a half months old, maybe 3 months. Jellybean is 3 years old. And both are females.

 

[Adrianne88]

Here's a photo. They did have a couple of good moments together but for the most part it was bad. Was really hoping they would bond. Jellybean is being very accepting, shes a very sweet guinea pig and won't even nip at Snickers.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Snickers is probably quite hormonal, is she drawing blood when she bites? It sounds like a normal dominance display, possibly coinciding with seasons.

My 4 girls have moments like this occasionally too but it doesn't last too long.

 

[Adrianne88]

Snickers is probably quite hormonal, is she drawing blood when she bites? It sounds like a normal dominance display, possibly coinciding with seasons.

My 4 girls have moments like this occasionally too but it doesn't last too long.

Snickers bit her lip pretty hard, so I took Jellybean out to check to see if she did and I didn't see any blood anywhere but Jellybean was very scared. Her heart was racing so I separated them after that. She seemed incredibly uncomfortable after that. She didn't even want to play anymore.
Perhaps it is hormonal since shes so young.
I think it might just take some time. I heard its a good idea to let them cool off for a couple days so they forget and then to try it again.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

You can do, they don't forget but I wouldn't have separated them personally, if there's no real aggression going on and/or blood then it's likely to be a dominance thing.

My pigs' hearts are always racing for one reason of another

She may not be playing any more as she's on her own.

Try introducing again in a nice big run tomorrow or something

 

[Adrianne88]

You can do, they don't forget but I wouldn't have separated them personally, if there's no real aggression going on and/or blood then it's likely to be a dominance thing.

My pigs' hearts are always racing for one reason of another

She may not be playing any more as she's on her own.

Try introducing again in a nice big run tomorrow or something

I tried again twice and both times it went really bad. Jellybean is accepting, but Snickers was stomping, lunging and bit Jellybean hard enough to draw blood both times. They were in a very big area with 2 of everything but it seems more like bullying and aggression to me. So I think I'm just going to keep them separated permanately. I feel so bad that it happened this way. But I also don't want Jellybean being seriously injured or bullied.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Bathe Jellybeans wounds in a saline solution and see how bad they are, they may need vet treatment if they're that bad. Post a pic maybe? My girls occasionally nip hard enough to create a little scab but it's an accident.

Otherwise you could give it a few days of living side by side to cool off and try introducing again? I don't know what else to suggest, it just seems sad to me that they'll be on their own.

Perhaps someone else could shed a bit of light too? @Wiebke sorry to bother you, any ideas?

 

[Adrianne88]

Bathe Jellybeans wounds in a saline solution and see how bad they are, they may need vet treatment if they're that bad. Post a pic maybe? My girls occasionally nip hard enough to create a little scab but it's an accident.

Otherwise you could give it a few days of living side by side to cool off and try introducing again? I don't know what else to suggest, it just seems sad to me that they'll be on their own.

Perhaps someone else could shed a bit of light too? @Wiebke sorry to bother you, any ideas?

The cuts are very minor. I already took a good look at them, but Jellybean didn't eat her dinner tonight and almost looks depressed now. She wasn't like that before. And Snickers is now crying out and climbing her cage to get to Jellybean. They are side by side right now. Breaks my heart to have them separated. But as far as I knew, if there was stomping, lunging or drawing blood, they should be separated immediately. I'm just not sure what else to do at this point. There's plenty of room, plenty of food, plenty of places to sleep. But Snickers still wouldn't even allow Jellybean to eat without lunging and she keeps going for her ears and she got dangerously close to her eye too.

 

[Adrianne88]

And just a little bit of background info, Jellybean has a neurological disorder. She has a permanent head tilt, it has gotten better over the years but it's still quite noticeable. Her disorder also causes her to run around in circles and she's very uncoordinated. So I'm wondering if maybe Snickers is picking up on that and bullying her because of that. When Jellybean did try to play with Snickers, she would continuously block her from running around and then bite her or corner her. Then Jellybean would freeze and just completely stop doing anything after that.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

It sounds like a very tricky one, without seeing the behaviours myself it's very hard to judge. If they're minor nips there could be a possibility that it's not the end of their friendship. Let them chill for a bit, absence may make the heart grow fonder.

I didn't realise that about Jellybean, I have a piggy who was born with an eye problem who is often the one who gets it from the girls when they're in season but it's occasional and she's the bottom piggy. When I first bonded them there was often a little scab on someone or other's bum area but it's likely if it's small it's just a misjudged nip. When trying to bond a previous pair to my older two they made it quite clear that they weren't going to live together with yawning, shaking etc so unless you're seeing those behaviours I wouldn't give up on them just yet.

How long have they been together? And what do you mean by stomping? It's always difficult to know what's best for them x

 

[Wiebke]

I tried again twice and both times it went really bad. Jellybean is accepting, but Snickers was stomping, lunging and bit Jellybean hard enough to draw blood both times. They were in a very big area with 2 of everything but it seems more like bullying and aggression to me. So I think I'm just going to keep them separated permanately. I feel so bad that it happened this way. But I also don't want Jellybean being seriously injured or bullied.

it is always gutting when a bond doesn't work out, but I agree that keeping them separated is better, as long as they have mutual interaction and stimulation through the bars.
Nipping is normal dominance behaviour; it is a carefully judged gesture of power where the teeth just graze the skin, but do not break it.

Is it possible for you to contact Piggie Poo Guinea Pig Rescue in Phoenix to find a more compatible friend for Jellybean?
Arizona's Piggie Poo Rescue, Inc. (contacts on the right side)

 

[Adrianne88]

It sounds like a very tricky one, without seeing the behaviours myself it's very hard to judge. If they're minor nips there could be a possibility that it's not the end of their friendship. Let them chill for a bit, absence may make the heart grow fonder.

I didn't realise that about Jellybean, I have a piggy who was born with an eye problem who is often the one who gets it from the girls when they're in season but it's occasional and she's the bottom piggy. When I first bonded them there was often a little scab on someone or other's bum area but it's likely if it's small it's just a misjudged nip. When trying to bond a previous pair to my older two they made it quite clear that they weren't going to live together with yawning, shaking etc so unless you're seeing those behaviours I wouldn't give up on them just yet.

How long have they been together? And what do you mean by stomping? It's always difficult to know what's best for them x

It's literally breaking my heart that they are now both alone. And I feel bad because I feel like I failed. And I really dislike giving up. So both cages are side by side so they can see and hear each other.
I adopted Snickers at the beginning of March and she had to be quarantined for almost a month in a half. Up until I posted this thread, they were separated because Snickers was very sick. I thought she was going to die. She had lice, ringworm and a respiratory infection and was severely underweight. Someone dumped her and her siblings at the local animal control in a box and since I volunteer there quite frequently I decided to adopt her. I wanted to take them all but I just couldn't unfortunately. So now that she received a clean bill of health from her vet, I was hoping she would be a good companion for Jellybean. Jellybean was another rescue pig with a sad story that makes me cry every time I think about it. She was dropped as a pup which is what caused the disorder she now has. I didn't expect her to even make it past 6 months but she did. Shes now 3 years old and so incredibly sweet. She had a cage mate awhile back but that piggy had heart problems and died of heart failure. So I gave Jellybean and myself time to recover and get over the loss of her before adopting Snickers.


And the foot stomping that Snickers does, is bizarre. I've never seen that behavior before. She lifts her front foot and then places it back down repeatedly. Then her hair around her neck sticks up and she then lunges at Jellybean. And she did this over and over again.

 

[Wiebke]

It's literally breaking my heart that they are now both alone. And I feel bad because I feel like I failed. And I really dislike giving up. So both cages are side by side so they can see and hear each other.
I adopted Snickers at the beginning of March and she had to be quarantined for almost a month in a half. Up until I posted this thread, they were separated because Snickers was very sick. I thought she was going to die. She had lice, ringworm and a respiratory infection and was severely underweight. Someone dumped her and her siblings at the local animal control in a box and since I volunteer there quite frequently I decided to adopt her. I wanted to take them all but I just couldn't unfortunately. So now that she received a clean bill of health from her vet, I was hoping she would be a good companion for Jellybean. Jellybean was another rescue pig with a sad story that makes me cry every time I think about it. She was dropped as a pup which is what caused the disorder she now has. I didn't expect her to even make it past 6 months but she did. Shes now 3 years old and so incredibly sweet. She had a cage mate awhile back but that piggy had heart problems and died of heart failure. So I gave Jellybean and myself time to recover and get over the loss of her before adopting Snickers.


And the foot stomping that Snickers does, is bizarre. I've never seen that behavior before. She lifts her front foot and then places it back down repeatedly. Then her hair around her neck sticks up and she then lunges at Jellybean. And she did this over and over again.

Lunging means that she emphatically wants Jellybean to stay away from her. I suspect that Snickers has her own demons to deal with. Sadly we cannot force guinea pigs to accept each other happily the way we would like them.

You are a wonderful and very caring piggy momma. But when looking after neglected second hand piggies, you have to accept that they can come with obvious and with hidden baggage.
From my own experiences I can tell you that it is not at all easy to find a good match for some piggies. I wish you had a good rescue within reach you could take Jellybean to in order to date her and make sure that acceptance happens and that dominance can be sorted. I would expect Snickers to be happier with being live-alongside sow with her own safe territory, but with interaction and stimulation through the bars.

 

[Adrianne88]

it is always gutting when a bond doesn't work out, but I agree that keeping them separated is better, as long as they have mutual interaction and stimulation through the bars.
Nipping is normal dominance behaviour; it is a carefully judged gesture of power where the teeth just graze the skin, but do not break it.

Is it possible for you to contact Piggie Poo Guinea Pig Rescue in Phoenix to find a more compatible friend for Jellybean?
Arizona's Piggie Poo Rescue, Inc. (contacts on the right side)

It's heartbreaking that it didn't work out. And I have actually tried adopting from them before and I was declined because of the breed of dog I own. She's Pitbull and Australian Cattle dog. I told them she's a senior dog, shes very sweet and has no interest in the piggies but they still didn't like it. And at the time, they were pretty overloaded with guinea pigs so they had to be adopted in groups of two. Which I would love to have a herd someday but for now I only have spacious room for 2 pigs in each cage. Both Jellybean and Snickers are in seperate 2×5 cages.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Sorry to hear it

 

[Adrianne88]

Lunging means that she emphatically wants Jellybean to stay away from her. I suspect that Snickers has her own demons to deal with. Sadly we cannot force guinea pigs to accept each other happily the way we would like them.

You are a wonderful and very caring piggy momma. But when looking after neglected second hand piggies, you have to accept that they can come with obvious and with hidden baggage.
From my own experiences I can tell you that it is not at all easy to find a good match for some piggies. I wish you had a good rescue within reach you could take Jellybean to in order to date her and make sure that acceptance happens and that dominance can be sorted. I would expect Snickers to be happier with being live-alongside sow with her own safe territory, but with interaction and stimulation through the bars.

Thank you so much for your kind words. I definitely don't want to force anything on Jellybean and make her depressed. And Snickers like you said seems like she just wants to be in her own personal space. They are both taken good care of. I just ordered them both strawberry hideaways which they both love to cuddle in. I really do wish there were more options for adopting where I live though. I would love to have Jellybean have a cage mate to play with a cuddle with. Shes very sweet and just likes to cuddle, eat and run around. I don't think she cares at all about being the dominant piggy. She just wants an excepting pal.

 

[Adrianne88]

Sorry to hear it

Thank you so much for your advice. I really do wish it would've worked out for them.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Thank you so much for your advice. I really do wish it would've worked out for them.

So do I! We do as much as we can for them but essentially they do what they want whether we like it or not!

I'm just watching my girls bicker and be cows to each other right now lol.