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PIGGIES FOREVER

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Hello everyone.

I would really appreciate your advice, I have four females in a 2x6 cage but my one year old female boss guinea pig is taking things a bit to far and causeing stress to my younger ones.
I not really sure what to do, do I get a young male or older male to stop her or do I get a older female than her. I would really appreciate the advice of everyone.
 
Hello, I’ve got four girls in a 6x2 c and c too, with a pretty dominant boss pig. Tbh I am not sure trying to add an additional male or female pig would work as any successful bonding is personality dependent anyway and if she’s anything like my dominant girl she will want to be the boss regardless of who she is introduced to!

My best suggestion would be to add some lofts to your c and c, if you can. I know these don’t technically add to ground roaming space but I have found them invaluable to give my girls the space to just have a bit of time out - either for my two younger pigs from the older two or vice versa (my two baby girls are very much at the ‘run round being very fast and dramatic’ stage and the older two get a bit fed up at times).

There just seems to be something about being able to be on a different level to the main cage, if they want to, that really helps my little gang.

I have a 1x2 loft at one end of my c and c, and a 2 x 2 loft at the other, both covered with fleece so the pigs feel secure, and they use them all the time. Interestingly they are noticeably calmer when in their hutch than when they have floor time - and I think that could be because the floor time playpen is all one central space - less room to get away from each other.
 
What is she doing to cause stress? How old are they? How long have they been together?
We need to have a bit more information on the background.

Is she coming into season - that can cause some issues from time to time.

You could try increasing their cage size but I absolutely would not add any more guinea pigs into the mix - it simply won’t help. If there are problems occurring in their relationship, then adding more pigs isn’t going to solve that.
 
Piggies&buns said:
What is she doing to cause stress? How old are they? How long have they been together?
We need to have a bit more information on the background.

Is she coming into season - that can cause some issues from time to time.

You could try increasing their cage size but I absolutely would not add any more guinea pigs into the mix - it simply won’t help. If there are problems occurring in their relationship, then adding more pigs isn’t going to solve that.
Click to expand...
She's be very dominant as she's the pig in charge of the others.

My oldest problem pig is 1 year 1 mouth old
I have two pigs of 10 mouths old they are sisters and a 6 months old guinea pig.

They have been together since September.

I don't think any of them are in season.
She's been like this pretty much all the time.

I can't make the cage any bigger really.
 
LunaPig72 said:
Hello, I’ve got four girls in a 6x2 c and c too, with a pretty dominant boss pig. Tbh I am not sure trying to add an additional male or female pig would work as any successful bonding is personality dependent anyway and if she’s anything like my dominant girl she will want to be the boss regardless of who she is introduced to!

My best suggestion would be to add some lofts to your c and c, if you can. I know these don’t technically add to ground roaming space but I have found them invaluable to give my girls the space to just have a bit of time out - either for my two younger pigs from the older two or vice versa (my two baby girls are very much at the ‘run round being very fast and dramatic’ stage and the older two get a bit fed up at times).

There just seems to be something about being able to be on a different level to the main cage, if they want to, that really helps my little gang.

I have a 1x2 loft at one end of my c and c, and a 2 x 2 loft at the other, both covered with fleece so the pigs feel secure, and they use them all the time. Interestingly they are noticeably calmer when in their hutch than when they have floor time - and I think that could be because the floor time playpen is all one central space - less room to get away from each other.
Click to expand...
Thank you.

Lots of things to think of, maybe I could put a loft in, if they will use it that is.
 
PIGGIES FOREVER said:
She's be very dominant as she's the pig in charge of the others.

My oldest problem pig is 1 year 1 mouth old
I have two pigs of 10 mouths old they are sisters and a 6 months old guinea pig.

They have been together since September.
I don't think any of them are in season.
She's been like this pretty much all the time.

I can't make the cage any bigger really.
Click to expand...

So you’ve got four teenage piggies and one who is exerting her dominance as the dominant piggy - What is she actually doing - remembering that chasing, teeth chattering etc is normal dominant behaviour. Is she over-exerting to the point the others are suffering ie losing weight, too scared to come out of hides etc?

Did you bond them yourself, or were they already bonded when you got them?

i know it’s a lot of questions, but we need to build up a background of behaviour to work out why this might be happening and to understand the extent of the issue. It is easy to misinterpret normal behaviours and piggies can make if all look very dramatic to us but actually it’s normal to them.

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
Piggies&buns said:
So you’ve got four teenage piggies and one who is exerting her dominance as the dominant piggy - What is she actually doing - remembering that chasing, teeth chattering etc is normal dominant behaviour. Is she over-exerting to the point the others are suffering ie losing weight, too scared to come out of hides etc?

Did you bond them yourself, or were they already bonded when you got them?

i know it’s a lot of questions, but we need to build up a background of behaviour to work out why this might be happening and to understand the extent of the issue. It is easy to misinterpret normal behaviours and piggies can make if all look very dramatic to us but actually it’s normal to them.

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Click to expand...
Yes I did bound them myself.
No guinea pigs are losing weight, their is no blocking in hides.

Some chasing like when she wants to go in the hides etc... And yes some teeth chattering even at me when I try to catch her. She gets near the others and they make a wimpy noise, like don't hurt me and rumbles and does her hip swinging. I'm sure she is causing some stress to one of my guinea pigs as she is losing hair with lumps of skin on the ends.
 
The behaviour you describe sounds like normal dominance but maybe a bit of fear aggression (remembering guinea pigs don’t like being picked up). The noise is usually a submissive sound - saying I accept you’re the boss.

If there is tension in the relationship, there are usually clear signs - them not wanting to eat and losing weight, being chased away from food and hides. Do you have more hides than piggies? For four piggies, I’d have about six or seven hides in the cage so that there is no risk of bed hogging.

It’s possible stress may be linked to the hair loss in one of the piggies, but she should be checked by a vet - there may be a medical reason (not directly connected to stress, although stress can make some medical conditions come to light) for the hair loss.
 
Piggies&buns said:
The behaviour you describe sounds like normal dominance but maybe a bit of fear aggression (remembering guinea pigs don’t like being picked up). The noise is usually a submissive sound - saying I accept you’re the boss.

If there is tension in the relationship, there are usually clear signs - them not wanting to eat and losing weight, being chased away from food and hides. Do you have more hides than piggies? For four piggies, I’d have about six or seven hides in the cage so that there is no risk of bed hogging.

It’s possible stress may be linked to the hair loss in one of the piggies, but she should be checked by a vet - there may be a medical reason (not directly connected to stress, although stress can make some medical conditions come to light) for the hair loss.
Click to expand...
I only have two House hides , but sometimes include tunnels etc... When I clean out the cage.

Thanks for your help.
 
PIGGIES FOREVER said:
I only have two House hides , but sometimes include tunnels etc... When I clean out the cage.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

That may be part of the problem then, you need to add some more permanent hides to the cage - at least one for each piggy all the time. Four food bowls, four water bottles etc. You need to do all you can to minimise the risk of them having something to argue over
I have six hides between my two boys to ensure there is no bickering and arguing over the best bed!
 
Piggies&buns said:
That may be part of the problem then, you need to add some more permanent hides to the cage - at least one for each piggy all the time. Four food bowls, four water bottles etc. You need to do all you can to minimise the risk of them having something to argue over
I have six hides between my two boys to ensure there is no bickering and arguing over the best bed!
Click to expand...
Thanks for your help. I will try this.🐾
 
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