Need help with a difficult Guinea pig

[Animal guy]

I have two female Guinea pigs and one is so calm and friendly. Nicest Guinea pig in the world. Got them both last year at this time. The other Guinea pig is not getting better after a year. It’s a nightmare. I hate it. I wish I could give it to someone.!
I’ve tried many times to put them together and it always is mean to the other one. Tried putting them in different cages, bigger cages.
The problem is that no matter what this one Guinea pig is on a destruction path. Rips and tears anything and everything. Like a vacuum and inhales grass and vegetables so fast and growls at the other one who eats slowly. Rips all and any bedding I try to put in and chews absolutely everything. Everything you can say I probably tried.
I found her at a strange pet store in the back of a hardware store. It was so strange. Like a little room with some animals and she was in this cage with just a stick on wire mesh floor and I wanted to save her because I didn’t like the conditions and she was 3 or 4 months old. I feel like this made her into survival mode or something and always wants to compete for food and scavange.
I’m so tired of cleaning up the cage in 10 mins from her shredding everything.

 

[Claire W]

Please don’t be too hard on her. It sounds like she’s had a terrible start in life

When you’ve tried introducing her to your other guinea pig, have you done so in neutral territory so somewhere neither has been before?

It’s normal for guinea pigs to eat a lot and she may just enjoy shredding things up. I bed my piggies on wood shavings and they like chewing them

 

[Piggies&buns]

Tell us a bit more about their relationship.
Are they living in the same cage now? If so -
You say she is mean to the other one - what exactly is happening? Chasing, mounting, rumbling are dominance behaviours and while to us they may look mean, to them it is normal.

Anything other than that - ie excessive dominance behaviours to the point the submissive piggy is depressed, losing weight through not be able to eat enough, fights and injuries occurring - means they do not have a compatible bond and they should not live in the same cage.

Is the other piggy gaining weight well?

What have you got her bedded on?
Is there plenty of hay?

Chewing is an entirely normal behaviour, and some piggies will do it more than others.

 

[Animal guy]

Tell us a bit more about their relationship.
Are they living in the same cage now? If so -
You say she is mean to the other one - what exactly is happening? Chasing, mounting, rumbling are dominance behaviours and while to us they may look mean, to them it is normal.

Anything other than that - ie excessive dominance behaviours to the point the submissive piggy is depressed, losing weight through not be able to eat enough, fights and injuries occurring - means they do not have a compatible bond and they should not live in the same cage.

Is the other piggy gaining weight well?

What have you got her bedded on?
Is there plenty of hay?

Chewing is an entirely normal behaviour, and some piggies will do it more than others.

I know about those behaviours and in the beginning I tried to let it play out. The bad one is named marbles. And she got increasingly more aggressive to (squeeky). Squeeky never tried to fight back ever and submitted to marbles. But marbles continues to chase and bite her and rumble and growl at her all day. Even when squeeky is far away and eating her own food marbles is trying to eat her food super fast because she worried squeeky will eat all the food and growls as she eats if she sees squeeky walk near any food like hay or vegetables. I put mountains of hay every day and marbles is so greedy. I’m fact I’m worried about squeeky. She got so skinny and I can feel her bones and she doesn’t eat as much. Even know I put a wall in the cage so they get their own sides and marbles growls on the other side and squeeky nibbles food. She cries all the time and squeeking. She runs into my arms to get away from marbles. Yet she always misses marbles and wants to go say hi and it doesn’t work out. Marbles destroys all kinds of bedding. I’m thinking of going to saw dust. But it’s not great for bedding.

 

[Swissgreys]

Guinea pig relationships can be complex.
Not all piggies get on with each other and it does sound like your girls are not going to bond.

Are they currently in separate (or divided) cages?
If one is loosing weight this a sign that the relationship is detrimental, and they should be separated permanently.
It is important to keep an eye on this and weigh both of them weekly.

Some piggies can get on fine through a divider, and this allows for important social interaction while giving both pigs their own safe space.

How big are the cages they are in?
Marbles sounds like a very active piggy who requires a lot of stimulation and enrichment.
You say she destroys bedding - what do you mean by this and what bedding have you tried?
Maybe offer her lots of cardboard boxes, hay piles, willow chew balls, etc to help keep her occupied.

 

[Piggies&buns]

It doesn’t sound as if they can live together. Please do separate them and keep them in separate cages.
It can sometimes be a good idea to cover the divide between the cages with a blanket temporarily to let them calm down. It may you can be you can remove the covering blanket at a few days, but they won’t be able to live in the same cage again.
Make sure each piggy has a cage measuring a minimum of 120x60cm.

Perhaps you could use hay as bedding (my boys are bedded on hay), as there is then nothing for her to destroy. Hay is their main food source so she can eat as much of it as she likes and it’ll only be doing her good.
Woodshavings are fine to use as a bedding provided they are dust free and ideally larger pieces. You could use wood shavings and then cover them all with hay
Lots of enrichment in the cage can also help - things which can she chew on harmlessly - boxes, willow balls as mentioned by swissgreys.

 

[Animal guy]

Guinea pig relationships can be complex.
Not all piggies get on with each other and it does sound like your girls are not going to bond.

Are they currently in separate (or divided) cages?
If one is loosing weight this a sign that the relationship is detrimental, and they should be separated permanently.
It is important to keep an eye on this and weigh both of them weekly.

Some piggies can get on fine through a divider, and this allows for important social interaction while giving both pigs their own safe space.

How big are the cages they are in?
Marbles sounds like a very active piggy who requires a lot of stimulation and enrichment.
You say she destroys bedding - what do you mean by this and what bedding have you tried?
Maybe offer her lots of cardboard boxes, hay piles, willow chew balls, etc to help keep her occupied.

I’ve gone back and forth putting them in one cage and separate cages. Squeeky doesn’t move much as she’s more timid and likes having a hiding spot and only comes out and jumps happily when I bring food. She bounces like a bunny and even sounds like purring or happy sound. She loves being scratched and pet as well. Comes over and lays down for attention and rolls onto her side. She acts like a puppy sometimes.
Marbles needs more space. More active and climbs everything. Sits on top of anything she can climb. I’ve tried making anything I can find on internet for ideas to entertain her. Boxes with hay and paper to play in. Cardboard to bite. Built wooden homes for them to hide and chew. But she just breaks everything so quickly. She rips and eats pee sheets, and anything else that goes on the floor.!
Actually I put a divider between them in hopes it would get them used to being together.

 

[Animal guy]

It doesn’t sound as if they can live together. Please do separate them and keep them in separate cages.
It can sometimes be a good idea to cover the divide between the cages with a blanket temporarily to let them calm down. It may you can be you can remove the covering blanket at a few days, but they won’t be able to live in the same cage again.
Make sure each piggy has a cage measuring a minimum of 120x60cm.

Perhaps you could use hay as bedding (my boys are bedded on hay), as there is then nothing for her to destroy. Hay is their main food source so she can eat as much of it as she likes and it’ll only be doing her good.
Woodshavings are fine to use as a bedding provided they are dust free and ideally larger pieces. You could use wood shavings and then cover them all with hay
Lots of enrichment in the cage can also help - things which can she chew on harmlessly - boxes, willow balls as mentioned by swissgreys.

I tried hay as bedding but the problem is that she pees and poops on it and after it gets dirty the next day she just won’t touch it. And starts being more destructive squeeking for more food. Then I have to throw it away. She also poops and pees 10 times more then the other one. It’s insane.
Marbles cage stinks and is so dirty like a few hours after cleaning it.
Squeeky’s cage is not so bad and she’ll eat the hay on the ground. Just marbles is a monster.

 

[Piggies&buns]

You cannot continually put piggies together and separate them, this isn’t how it works for them. Two piggies are either compatible and can form a bond and live in the same cage, or they can’t and must live separately.
Yours do not sound to be compatible and will need to be kept in separate cages for their rest of their lives

Pooping and peeing in hay is entirely normal and to be expected. This isn’t a problem at all and is simply a normal part of piggy keeping.
You will need to remove wet hay and poops every day, even a couple of times a day. And they do need to be given fresh hay a few times a day.

How big is the each cage?

She isn’t a monster, she sounds to be a normal piggy. She simply isn’t compatible with your other piggy but this is always a risk when buying piggies on spec

Have you checked the sexes of each piggy yourself and know for definite they are both female?

 

[Freela]

If they are actually separated (i.e. Marbles isn't getting all the food because Squeeky has her own food that Marbles can't reach), I would get Squeeky vet checked for weight loss. It may be having a next-door neighbour who is intimidating, but I would check out medical causes first... weight loss is a general symptom of a lot of guinea pig ailments. The fact that she is pooping a lot less than her neighbour makes me worry that she is perhaps not eating well.

Otherwise, I would probably try to temper your expectations a little bit because it may make you feel more positive. Guinea pigs can have wildly varying personalities. Some are very meek and others are... a lot. It sounds like Marbles has a lot of personality and maybe isn't what you were expecting, but it doesn't make her a bad pig per se. We have one gentle pig and one wild child currently too... but there's nothing wrong with the wild child, she keeps us entertained. She may still settle if you've only had her for a year... I do find that some of our more hyper ones have calmed down a bit after 2 years or so.

 

[weepweeps]

Marbles sounds like a lovely active piggy to me. I hope Squeeky is ok and not losing weight due to a medical issue.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes, if she is still not eating enough hay and losing weight despite living separately, then she definitely needs to see a vet to find out if the issue is medical.
Switch to daily weight checks and you may need to step in and syringe feed her if she is not eating properly

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum.
I can only echo the advice you’ve been given.
I hope you can find a way for Marbles to settle.
My girl Priscilla has a wobbly start and was a piggy with ATTITUDE when she first came to me.
It too, a long time for her to lose the attitude but she’s still a bit of a diva.
Marbles sounds as if she has a big character

 

[Free Ranger]

I can only echo the above and tell you to keep them apart - permanently. Try them as neighbours so they can see and sniff each other through bars. If they both feel confident that they have their own space and are safe they might settle better. Then it's tempting to think "Oh, I might just try one more time..." but it won't work! Don't disturb their peace. If you have space you could always consider getting another girl for Squeeky. I do suggest that you rethink your set-up for two/three... don't just halve your cage unless it was really big to start with.

I would say you are almost certainly right that the pet store situation you found Marbles in (which sounds terrifying) has made her the pig she is today. You have done her a massive favour... she has likely not been socialised with other older piggies when she was a baby and you are doing the best for her. It's not her fault. When I had feisty Zara I found it hard to bond with her at first because she fought my gentle boar and prevented him from living with her and cage mate Louise (love at first sight) and he ended up on his own with the girls next door and Zara bristling at him. Then Flora arrived and we had two settled pairs. But as I got to know fighty, bitey Zara (mind those fingers!) I saw how it was her reaction to being frightened and unsure that made her aggressive. They are a prey animal - it's fear/aggression. She was never aggressive to Louise - who was only slightly more devastated than me when we lost our feisty girl.

You might consider something wooden for Marbles to chew at? We have these bendy tunnels (below). Sometimes the teeth can bother them and they like to have a chew at something with a bit of resistance. I don't mean that there's anything wrong with her teeth - I just know that if mine were growing all the time I'd want to have a go at something! Sometimes they chew when they're uncomfortable. My pigs have one area of the cage where it's newspaper and if we've any little problem like transient gritty wee or impaction in my older male I can tell something is amiss when I find the shredded paper. Sometimes it's just stress - like when we went away for 2 nights and a neighbour was feeding them I returned to a nest of paper! Replaced it and the next day - nothing. Worth thinking about perhaps?

 

[Animal guy]

The ks

I can only echo the above and tell you to keep them apart - permanently. Try them as neighbours so they can see and sniff each other through bars. If they both feel confident that they have their own space and are safe they might settle better. Then it's tempting to think "Oh, I might just try one more time..." but it won't work! Don't disturb their peace. If you have space you could always consider getting another girl for Squeeky. I do suggest that you rethink your set-up for two/three... don't just halve your cage unless it was really big to start with.

I would say you are almost certainly right that the pet store situation you found Marbles in (which sounds terrifying) has made her the pig she is today. You have done her a massive favour... she has likely not been socialised with other older piggies when she was a baby and you are doing the best for her. It's not her fault. When I had feisty Zara I found it hard to bond with her at first because she fought my gentle boar and prevented him from living with her and cage mate Louise (love at first sight) and he ended up on his own with the girls next door and Zara bristling at him. Then Flora arrived and we had two settled pairs. But as I got to know fighty, bitey Zara (mind those fingers!) I saw how it was her reaction to being frightened and unsure that made her aggressive. They are a prey animal - it's fear/aggression. She was never aggressive to Louise - who was only slightly more devastated than me when we lost our feisty girl.

You might consider something wooden for Marbles to chew at? We have these bendy tunnels (below). Sometimes the teeth can bother them and they like to have a chew at something with a bit of resistance. I don't mean that there's anything wrong with her teeth - I just know that if mine were growing all the time I'd want to have a go at something! Sometimes they chew when they're uncomfortable. My pigs have one area of the cage where it's newspaper and if we've any little problem like transient gritty wee or impaction in my older male I can tell something is amiss when I find the shredded paper. Sometimes it's just stress - like when we went away for 2 nights and a neighbour was feeding them I returned to a nest of paper! Replaced it and the next day - nothing. Worth thinking about perhaps?

View attachment 197889

Thanks. I make wooden house for them and they chew them so much. I’m very worried about their teeth and check often. I had a rabbit that didn’t eat as much hay as it should have because once it tried vegetables it just refused hay and begged for veggies. It’s teeth ended up growing through its face and killed it. It was the worst experience. I couldn’t force my rabbit to eat hay. So I’m always checking they have hay and things to chew to keep their teeth in check.
I understand a lot of people here are super positive about the situations because they have a good heart for taking care of animals. I’ve had more animals then I can count.
Yeah the situation she was in was horrible. Squeeky was in a nice pet store with another Guinea pig. It was her brother. So she was super timid and scared. The most scared Guinea pig ever saw. Any hands came near and she squeeled. Took her months to get her to love people.
I heard that the pet store said marbles was already 4 months old and getting difficult to sell. People like small ones. It looked like she was in a chicken cage with no hay and wire floor and one wooden stick that looked like many animals chewed on before. I thought I could give her a better home. Marbles is not stressed, not nervous, not scared. She comes to be pet and is always at the door begging for food, she is more adventurous and will run anywhere in the house. She sits calmly with people. But she will eat and chew up absolutely everything. Squeeky can run freely and will only go to her food to eat.
Yes. I’m a bit worried about squeeky’s weight. Marbles is chubby.

 

[Julesie]

She sounds like a perfectly normal guinea pig to me. Some just love having a good chew on things. I've had to cover up a lot of stuff because in the past I've had naughty piggies who enjoy destruction. They were usually the most fun, naughty piggies I've owned.

Yugi my current female is a bit of a character herself. She used to scream dramatically if you wanted to pick her up (didn't even touch her most of the time) and chatter her teeth so much I was terrified she'd bite me (she never has), but loved being held and stroked, she'd randomly climb on high items she shouldn't be able to get up and to this day still hates if I touch her without her say in it.

But that's just her personality. She's a super sweet girl in other areas.

Sometimes some pigs just have a lot of spunk and personality.

Chewing and destruction is not uncommon for piggies as they have to chew a lot.

Your other girl sounds absolutely lovely and just like my girl Sakurai - complete opposite to Yugi. She was ever so quiet and sweet and had big doe eyes. I loved them both equally

 

[Freela]

The ks

Thanks. I make wooden house for them and they chew them so much. I’m very worried about their teeth and check often. I had a rabbit that didn’t eat as much hay as it should have because once it tried vegetables it just refused hay and begged for veggies. It’s teeth ended up growing through its face and killed it. It was the worst experience. I couldn’t force my rabbit to eat hay. So I’m always checking they have hay and things to chew to keep their teeth in check.
I understand a lot of people here are super positive about the situations because they have a good heart for taking care of animals. I’ve had more animals then I can count.
Yeah the situation she was in was horrible. Squeeky was in a nice pet store with another Guinea pig. It was her brother. So she was super timid and scared. The most scared Guinea pig ever saw. Any hands came near and she squeeled. Took her months to get her to love people.
I heard that the pet store said marbles was already 4 months old and getting difficult to sell. People like small ones. It looked like she was in a chicken cage with no hay and wire floor and one wooden stick that looked like many animals chewed on before. I thought I could give her a better home. Marbles is not stressed, not nervous, not scared. She comes to be pet and is always at the door begging for food, she is more adventurous and will run anywhere in the house. She sits calmly with people. But she will eat and chew up absolutely everything. Squeeky can run freely and will only go to her food to eat.
Yes. I’m a bit worried about squeeky’s weight. Marbles is chubby.

Some pigs are, for lack of a better word, destructive. Rodents have an inborn need to chew on things... unfortunately for some of my pigs "things" included drywall, doorframes, furniture, laundry... pretty much anything that they could reach. It sounds like Marbles is very happy with you guys and is just one of those bold pigs who doesn't mind tearing the place up (we have one of those right now, Tomie. She's a handful!) I think sometimes it's challenging when you have different personalities. We got Tomie the wild child after Hadley, our elderly 'lap pet' pig passed away. It was a bit of a shock to go from a pig who just sat to a pig who was always trying to climb our arms, fling herself off the couch, etc. They really are all different. I do feel many mellow with time and she will hopefully get some of the appetite for destruction out of her system at some point!

 

[Deleted member 145660]

Your marbles sounds a lot like my Cookie he was completely horrible, tore things up, aggressive teeth chattering at me and other pigs, fought with two of the other pigs I tried to bond him with so I moved him to his own cage and allowed him his own playtime in the play area. There was such a change in his behavior after that it was amazing. If he gets enough exercise/free range time (like 2+ hours a day) he’s a perfect little angel! Marbles sounds like she needs the same I’m sure she is so grateful that you came along and gave her a much better life sometimes these piggies just have huge personalities and like to redesign their houses to matchyou aren’t the only one with a unexpectedly crazy pig and I'm sure everybody is more than happy to help you figure your girl out! Best of luck with your girls don’t give up on marbles yet

 

[Animal guy]

Your marbles sounds a lot like my Cookie he was completely horrible, tore things up, aggressive teeth chattering at me and other pigs, fought with two of the other pigs I tried to bond him with so I moved him to his own cage and allowed him his own playtime in the play area. There was such a change in his behavior after that it was amazing. If he gets enough exercise/free range time (like 2+ hours a day) he’s a perfect little angel! Marbles sounds like she needs the same I’m sure she is so grateful that you came along and gave her a much better life sometimes these piggies just have huge personalities and like to redesign their houses to matchyou aren’t the only one with a unexpectedly crazy pig and I'm sure everybody is more than happy to help you figure your girl out! Best of luck with your girls don’t give up on marbles yet

You guys are super positive. This year I want to take them to a park and let them roam and eat grass. But I’m not sure if I can catch marbles. Might be risky with her.
If I separate them then they cry and squeeky at each other and try to get out of their cages to each other and now their trying to break the divider to go to each other. They seem to want each other. When I put them together they do well for a bit and huddle together and popcorn jump together and stuff. Just soon marbles starts showing off controlling behavior. Maybe I should put a hedgehog in their so marbles can see she can’t bully everyone lol.

 

[Piggies&buns]

You guys are super positive. This year I want to take them to a park and let them roam and eat grass. But I’m not sure if I can catch marbles. Might be risky with her.
If I separate them then they cry and squeeky at each other and try to get out of their cages to each other and now their trying to break the divider to go to each other. They seem to want each other. When I put them together they do well for a bit and huddle together and popcorn jump together and stuff. Just soon marbles starts showing off controlling behavior. Maybe I should put a hedgehog in their so marbles can see she can’t bully everyone lol.

It’s not safe to allow them to free roam in a park. They could run away, plus if there is dog pee on the grass then it is toxic to piggies.

You need to work out if their relationship is functioning or not and the stick to the decision.
If their relationship is not functioning, then they need to remain separated

Bonds In Trouble
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour

 

[Lady Kelly]

You guys are super positive. This year I want to take them to a park and let them roam and eat grass. But I’m not sure if I can catch marbles. Might be risky with her.
If I separate them then they cry and squeeky at each other and try to get out of their cages to each other and now their trying to break the divider to go to each other. They seem to want each other. When I put them together they do well for a bit and huddle together and popcorn jump together and stuff. Just soon marbles starts showing off controlling behavior. Maybe I should put a hedgehog in their so marbles can see she can’t bully everyone lol.

Do you actually own guinea pigs? Or are you here just to try and satisfy your own boredom by trying to get a rise out of people online?

 

[Animal guy]

It’s not safe to allow them to free roam in a park. They could run away, plus if there is dog pee on the grass then it is toxic to piggies.

You need to work out if their relationship is functioning or not and the stick to the decision.
If their relationship is not functioning, then they need to remain separated

Bonds In Trouble
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour

I’ve taken every animal I owned in nature from when I was small and ever had a problem. Don’t worry about what’s good for them to eat outside.

 

[Deleted member 145660]

I’ve taken every animal I owned in nature from when I was small and ever had a problem. Don’t worry about what’s good for them to eat outside.

I’m not so sure it’s such a good idea for guinea pigs though. Sure it’s fine for a dog or even a cat. But obviously piggies are quite different So many things are harmful for piggies that might not be for other animals. Maybe consider getting a raised garden with a protective top and grow your own clean grass for your pigs please don’t take them to the park it’s really not safe

 

[Lady Kelly]

I’ve taken every animal I owned in nature from when I was small and ever had a problem. Don’t worry about what’s good for them to eat outside.

Good for you. Perhaps you would like to answer my question above?