Chubbywolf
Junior Guinea Pig
Hello all, new Guinea Pig owners here. We picked up two Guinea Pigs and brought them home yesterday. They are two male guinea pigs, and they were with a foster family for about 3 months before being adopted. They are both roughly 1 year old, as the birthdate is unknown. Reese, who is thought to be the dominant one, and Chunk, who was thought to be more submissive. Before the foster family returned them to be adopted by the shelter, I guess Reese nipped Chunk the night before and made a little mark on the nose.
When we got them home and moved them from the carrier to the cage, there was really no way to reach Reese first before pulling Chunk out, and after reading up, I have seen that you are supposed to kinda cater to the dominant one first. Once they were in the cage, which was already fully ready, they went and hid in a castle, which makes sense. We kinda left them alone for the most part, with Chunk kinda exploring very quickly, even going up to the upper level to look around at first, and Reese being very skittish. They did get some alone time since we went out and got more hides with 2 exits. We had some in there with only one exit.
Today we cleaned the cage, changing the hay and bedding, and giving them their pellets. We had to pull the castle out so we could clean the cage, and a short time after, there was some teeth chattering, which we assume was from Reese. We put the castle back into the cage, and Reese went to the castle and went inside the underpart, and nipped it looked like Chunk when he tried to follow in/go in as well. Now they are both back by the castle with Reese inside of it, and Chunk is kinda staying at one exit, almost looking like he might want in also.
We have had the Rumble Strutting, Teeth Chattering. Reese has been seeming to take Chunk's food at times.
I might have missed some points and things overall with just so many details happening, but for the most part, this is the situation. I have attached pictures of the cage below, and was looking for some advice on the cage and possible changes that could be made. These two, from what we understand, have been boned together basically, as we had to get both of the pigs. We assume they were born together and then were bonded and kept together before being surrendered to the shelter. I think there is just a lot of concern for us over a tornado, as obviously, we don't want to separate them or need to give them back. We do have a bath towel nearby as a precaution. So what should we do from here?
Some notes on the images:
When we got them home and moved them from the carrier to the cage, there was really no way to reach Reese first before pulling Chunk out, and after reading up, I have seen that you are supposed to kinda cater to the dominant one first. Once they were in the cage, which was already fully ready, they went and hid in a castle, which makes sense. We kinda left them alone for the most part, with Chunk kinda exploring very quickly, even going up to the upper level to look around at first, and Reese being very skittish. They did get some alone time since we went out and got more hides with 2 exits. We had some in there with only one exit.
Today we cleaned the cage, changing the hay and bedding, and giving them their pellets. We had to pull the castle out so we could clean the cage, and a short time after, there was some teeth chattering, which we assume was from Reese. We put the castle back into the cage, and Reese went to the castle and went inside the underpart, and nipped it looked like Chunk when he tried to follow in/go in as well. Now they are both back by the castle with Reese inside of it, and Chunk is kinda staying at one exit, almost looking like he might want in also.
We have had the Rumble Strutting, Teeth Chattering. Reese has been seeming to take Chunk's food at times.
I might have missed some points and things overall with just so many details happening, but for the most part, this is the situation. I have attached pictures of the cage below, and was looking for some advice on the cage and possible changes that could be made. These two, from what we understand, have been boned together basically, as we had to get both of the pigs. We assume they were born together and then were bonded and kept together before being surrendered to the shelter. I think there is just a lot of concern for us over a tornado, as obviously, we don't want to separate them or need to give them back. We do have a bath towel nearby as a precaution. So what should we do from here?
Some notes on the images:
- The grey hideaways, which have a single entrance/exit, are not in use. They were in there at the start, but saw only one entrance and exit, so we pulled them and replaced them with the two tunnels instead, which are seen in the bigger cage pictures.
- The Castle - This has an upper level and a lower level. On each of the front sides of the ramp, there is an entrance/exit. The castle is back under the upper loft behind the tunnel at the moment.
- The cage size is a 2x5 lower portion with an upper loft part as well.
