FondueKid
Junior Guinea Pig
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2012
- Messages
- 33
- Reaction score
- 9
- Points
- 145
We were in P@H and there was a little piggie in the adoption centre who we got "that feeling" about. His name is Mickey and the woman told us that he had been bought with a friend and they had both been returned, one with an abscess and Mickey with a limp, and they had apparently been fighting (which is unsurprising as they're about 4 months and were probably in a small cage). I think this is really awful, I cannot imagine returning an animal because they needed veterinary treatment, and asking for a replacement grrrr ?/ I think it's disgusting.
They told us that the vet had guessed that it might be weak bones that he could grow out of, and that he'd stopped limping quickly after he came into the shop. We took him home, and after a week introed him to our two 4 year old boys. A couple of weeks later his friend, Cookie, had finished treatment for his abscess and was out for adoption. So we brought him home as well.
To begin with one of the older boars, Lionel, was obviously feeling rather threatened and would get grumpy and chatter at the little boys and chase them, but he has settled down now and only occassionally chases the little boys if they rumble at him. They are all happy together other than some chasing between the little boys, which is to be expected at their age.
I think the bonding was successful because they have lots of room - they have one 120x65cm cage, one 100x60cm cage and a cat toilet plus 100x200cm spare room and 600x100cm hall to free range in. They are now also at the stage together when I'm happy to shut them into the big cage together while I'm cleaning the room (at first I split them into pairs when they were in smaller areas) ^) But I think that had they been shut into a small area straight away there would have been serious fighting which would have scared them all past any hope of getting relaxed around each other, as they now are.
Initial bonding with Mickey and Daniel (who is extremely laid back, puts up with being humped by everyone else, and is always available for snuggles with anyone who feels like it)
Then I added Lionel, who for some time seemed rather lost as to what to do and how to be boss pig - he actually got quite stressed about it and seemed unsettled for a while, especially by how fast the little boys move!
After Cookie arrived - group snuggles
They moved from the carrier to a bigger intro cage but weren't really interacting with each other, so they spent some time in the bath
They told us that the vet had guessed that it might be weak bones that he could grow out of, and that he'd stopped limping quickly after he came into the shop. We took him home, and after a week introed him to our two 4 year old boys. A couple of weeks later his friend, Cookie, had finished treatment for his abscess and was out for adoption. So we brought him home as well.
To begin with one of the older boars, Lionel, was obviously feeling rather threatened and would get grumpy and chatter at the little boys and chase them, but he has settled down now and only occassionally chases the little boys if they rumble at him. They are all happy together other than some chasing between the little boys, which is to be expected at their age.
I think the bonding was successful because they have lots of room - they have one 120x65cm cage, one 100x60cm cage and a cat toilet plus 100x200cm spare room and 600x100cm hall to free range in. They are now also at the stage together when I'm happy to shut them into the big cage together while I'm cleaning the room (at first I split them into pairs when they were in smaller areas) ^) But I think that had they been shut into a small area straight away there would have been serious fighting which would have scared them all past any hope of getting relaxed around each other, as they now are.
Initial bonding with Mickey and Daniel (who is extremely laid back, puts up with being humped by everyone else, and is always available for snuggles with anyone who feels like it)
Then I added Lionel, who for some time seemed rather lost as to what to do and how to be boss pig - he actually got quite stressed about it and seemed unsettled for a while, especially by how fast the little boys move!
After Cookie arrived - group snuggles
They moved from the carrier to a bigger intro cage but weren't really interacting with each other, so they spent some time in the bath
I wouldn't want to make them swim with their little legs...