For the holiday break I volunteered to take home the piggie that we have in our animal lab at school (not like a testing lab lol, teaching animal husbandry haha). Anyways, my piggie does notttt like this one. They’re both girls. The one from school was abused so I’ve been giving her lots of attention, but also giving my piggie just as much attention as I normally would. My piggie is trying to fight the new ones like putting their faces up together and biting and chatting teeth. It’s almost like she’s instigating the fights, too. We have another week of this. I’d love for them to get to know each other and play because my pig hasn’t had a friend in so long and needs more exercise, because her sister passed last year (she was mean to that one too, but they played and exercised together.) anything you recommend? Currently bopping my piggie on the nose and telling her that it isn’t nice to bite others lol
Pet Sitting Another Guinea Pig...my Pig Doesn’t Like Her?
- Thread starter mads
- Start date
Firstly Please don’t punish your own piggy in any way. Bopping her on the nose is no way to treat your piggy, pliggies respond far better to praise for good behaviour. Bopping her in the nose will only affect your relationship,with her.
Secondly, I’m not sure why you have these 2 piggies interacting. When 2 piggies are introduced they have to work out the hierarchy. This is only a good idea if you are going to be keeping the second one and trying to bond them together. If this is just a temporary arrangement then please keep them separate at all times.
Even If they did enjoy the interaction then think how sad your piggy will be when you take the othe one away.
Secondly, I’m not sure why you have these 2 piggies interacting. When 2 piggies are introduced they have to work out the hierarchy. This is only a good idea if you are going to be keeping the second one and trying to bond them together. If this is just a temporary arrangement then please keep them separate at all times.
Even If they did enjoy the interaction then think how sad your piggy will be when you take the othe one away.
Hi!
Please do not mix and then separate guinea pigs just for short stints. For guinea pigs, every meeting is not play time but a full bonding session with everything that comes with it. Piggies do not like to have their territory invaded. It is also much more cruel for them to rip them apart again if they have bonded.
PLEASE do NOT punish your piggy for something that doesn't make sense for her and do NOT punish her for any dominance behaviour that is at the core of any guinea pig society.
It is like telling you stop behaving like a human and being given a box around your ears for not acting like a guinea pig without any explanation of what is expected from a guinea pig! How would you react in that situation? It only makes your piggy confused and very hurt about the way you suddenly treat her - and it won't make her like any intruder any more, I guarantee you that!
It would be much better if you found a new permanent friend for your own bereaved girl.
Sow Behaviour
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Ok first off, “bopping her on the nose” was a joke. No reason to be worried, or...something. The only thing i have to do to tell my piggy no is tell her NO. Y’all are acting like I'm abusing her. She lives a great life, and with the way she treats other guinea pigs, there’d be no reason to get her another friend because she’s been doing just fine on her own and really doesn’t like other piggies.
Thanks, I didn’t know I should keep them away from each other. Now I do.
Thanks, I didn’t know I should keep them away from each other. Now I do.
Thanks for not persevering. Piggies do not feel any less deeply, but their social life follows different rules. They are either part of a group or not; that is their main identity. Whenever they meet, they have to work out whether the newbie can be part of the same group. If you just plonk a strange piggy into a cage, then it is seen as an intruder (and the plonked piggy will be very much on the defensive and rather fear-aggressive).
Sorry if you feel upset, but we DO get posts from teenagers that actually do punish and slap their piggies for 'misbehaviours'. And we feel very strongly about that!
Pigs don't understand play dates, when they meet another pig they immediately have to get to work figuring out whether they are going to be part of a group and they have to settle the hierarchy (who will be the boss and where each pig will rank below the boss.) It sounds like you are seeing normal dominance behaviors with teeth chattering, but the biting indicates that they are unlikely to accept one another. Given that it's just a short holiday, I would bother trying to introduce pigs that aren't fond of each other (and even if they liked each other, it would be hard to introduce for a couple of weeks and then separate them.) In these circumstances, I would just enjoy them separately and not let them interact!