David&Carly
New Born Pup
Hi all,
So as some of you may know about 3 weeks ago we lost Neville because of pneumonia. This left behind little Bertie who at first seemed quite forlorn and withdrawn. We added a little guinea pig toy and some big fluffy socks and immediately his mood improved a lot. He always ate (nothing stops him eating) and was soon back to squeaking when he heard rustling packets etc.
We thought lots about getting a second pig for Bert. We didn't want to upset him but ultimately we felt it was cruel to allow him to live on without a friend. We were booked in to take Bert to a piggy rescue where he was going to stay the night but the weather was unbearably hot that day and within 15 minutes of being in the car we had to turn around and come back home. I think we were actually lucky he survived the trip. A car without AC is not great.
Rather than wait a third week we decided to go to Pets at Home and choose a piggy from there. His name is Wilbur and he's incredibly cute and full of energy. He charges around the cage whilst Bert just looks at him. After a lengthy introduction involving lots of chasing from Bert and attempted humping this soon dissipated and the two piggies were eating together and cleaning themselves. We then decided to put them in their cage. Since then there's been lots of rumble strutting and teeth chattering from both pigs including some small nips to each other's chin and mouth areas. Nothing serious as far as we're concerned but something to keep an eye on.
We came home the other day to find Bertie was eating with his head tilted to one side. On closer inspection we realised his ear has been ripped quite badly with some blood over his fur and face. We presume Wilbur did this but obviously not sure on the context and whether they were full on fighting etc. We've given Bert some Metacam and Baytril and today he looks much better (he even let me take a closer look at his ear).
They are due to be moved into their new cage at the weekend after I've put the ramps in and the paint has had a decent time to dry. They will have more space and more hideys and we're going to get a second bowl and water bottle to hopefully calm things down. We're hoping that Wilbur is just going through his testosterone phase and that he'll calm down in the next month or so, we're not sure.
What would you guys do in this situation? There is a lot of information on here regarding biting but this seems to just cover smaller nips and bites. Is there anything else we can do apart from monitor them? Worst case scenario we split their new cage up through the middle but I really don't want to have to do that. It seems a shame on Wilbur if all he think he's doing is playing.
Thanks for your help
David & Carly
So as some of you may know about 3 weeks ago we lost Neville because of pneumonia. This left behind little Bertie who at first seemed quite forlorn and withdrawn. We added a little guinea pig toy and some big fluffy socks and immediately his mood improved a lot. He always ate (nothing stops him eating) and was soon back to squeaking when he heard rustling packets etc.
We thought lots about getting a second pig for Bert. We didn't want to upset him but ultimately we felt it was cruel to allow him to live on without a friend. We were booked in to take Bert to a piggy rescue where he was going to stay the night but the weather was unbearably hot that day and within 15 minutes of being in the car we had to turn around and come back home. I think we were actually lucky he survived the trip. A car without AC is not great.
Rather than wait a third week we decided to go to Pets at Home and choose a piggy from there. His name is Wilbur and he's incredibly cute and full of energy. He charges around the cage whilst Bert just looks at him. After a lengthy introduction involving lots of chasing from Bert and attempted humping this soon dissipated and the two piggies were eating together and cleaning themselves. We then decided to put them in their cage. Since then there's been lots of rumble strutting and teeth chattering from both pigs including some small nips to each other's chin and mouth areas. Nothing serious as far as we're concerned but something to keep an eye on.
We came home the other day to find Bertie was eating with his head tilted to one side. On closer inspection we realised his ear has been ripped quite badly with some blood over his fur and face. We presume Wilbur did this but obviously not sure on the context and whether they were full on fighting etc. We've given Bert some Metacam and Baytril and today he looks much better (he even let me take a closer look at his ear).
They are due to be moved into their new cage at the weekend after I've put the ramps in and the paint has had a decent time to dry. They will have more space and more hideys and we're going to get a second bowl and water bottle to hopefully calm things down. We're hoping that Wilbur is just going through his testosterone phase and that he'll calm down in the next month or so, we're not sure.
What would you guys do in this situation? There is a lot of information on here regarding biting but this seems to just cover smaller nips and bites. Is there anything else we can do apart from monitor them? Worst case scenario we split their new cage up through the middle but I really don't want to have to do that. It seems a shame on Wilbur if all he think he's doing is playing.
Thanks for your help
David & Carly
it is healing well though and he'll probably let us tend to it tonight.
