My new pig... Help please

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miss_piggy

miss_piggy

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I now have a 1 year old (approx) sow. I have only had my other one for a couple of months so this is all new to me. I have a couple of weird questions for you!

1) Her poo is about half as long as Spikes! After a couple of days the colour is the same which doesn't surprise me as there are eating the same but hers are about half the size. Is this something that is different between sows and boars?

2) Do female pigs have a cycle? like girl dogs are in season (if that makes sense)

3) She's a rex so does she need to be groomed more regularly

4) Are rex's fatter than other breeds because she is a chubby little think compared to Spike?

I'm sure there were other things to ask but can't remember now. She is very nervous in her cage so stays in her pigloo a lot but as soon as you hold her she is so placid. She hasn't made much noise yet but do you think that's because she has been moved from a lot of pigs t being next to only one?

Sorry for all the questions!
 
1. Firstly I guess all guinea pigs make different size poos, if the sow is eating well this is nothing to worry about I'm sure.

2. Yes female guinea pigs have a cycle (although it's not really similar to that of a female dog), it lasts 16 days but the period in which the female is receptive to the male only lasts about 8 hours. You probably wont even know when she's in heat or not.

3. Rex guinea pigs do require grooming, try a soft bristled brush on your sow.

4. As far as I am aware rexes are not a bigger breed (but I do not have one so am not totally clued up on them), your sow could look bigger due to her fuzzy hair though. But like humans guinea pigs will naturally come in different shapes and sizes.

As for hiding and being nervous, I've had some of my pigs a couple of years now and even they have been reluctant to come over to me when I go up to their cage until recently. If she's not making much noise you might want to count yourself lucky - mine are like a choir! Anyways congratulations on getting your new sow, I'm sure she's lovely. Hope some of my answers might have helped a little, I'm sure others on here will give their input too. :)
 
My girls do much smaller poops than the boys, so think that's a girl thing?

Yup, you wont really notice if a girl is on heat/in season, although some do get a bit nippy and produce a little discharge :)

I'm not sure on the grooming, not owning a rex :) The same with the overall breed I don't know.
 
I used to have several hamsters and when girls were in heat if I stroke their back, they froze with their rear raised to accept male... My one of girl piggies does exact the same thing. She stops moving, holds her rear up high. I am not sure if this is a typical behavior of sows in heat, though. :embarassed:
 
kellyandpiggies said:

Yup, you wont really notice if a girl is on heat/in season, although some do get a bit nippy and produce a little discharge :)
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Unless you have a neutered male in the same cage, then all hell breaks loose! chasing, rumbling, shrieking ;D
 
He's neutered so hopefully that won't happen! The only female animal I've ever had have been cats and they were always spayed.
 
Yes mine are neutered too! doesn't stop the urges though ;D theres still all manner of rumbling and chasing when their girls are in season :)
 
Ah I see what you mean. They aren't together yet but last night after I had held Buffy I held Spike and he was more difficult to hold than usual. He must have been able to smell her and I'm sure he started to vibrate. Would this be rumbling?
 
Yes boar talk :) :) It depends tho on what you mean by rumbling, can you describe it a bit more? Sometimes a vibrate can mean that he's purring :smitten: you will get to know each one of your piggies the longer you have them. Love there names :-* :-*
 
He's a wriggly fella anyways but he just went mad! I don't think it was a purr as his bottom half seemed to really shake. Maybe he was just really scared but he seemed to be reacting to my jumper more than anything! When I put him back in his cage he manically ran around wheeking and putting his head in the air.
 
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