RachelJordan
New Born Pup
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2020
- Messages
- 10
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- 34
- Points
- 175
Good evening, I’m curious if anyone has experience with this - my 3 year, 4 month old boar Rigby lost his buddy Sev 2 weeks ago this coming Sunday. We read we should show him Sev’s body so he knew his pal was gone and prevent any anxiety, to which Rigby didn’t really react. Just a few sniffs, nibbled Sev’s paw then went about his usual business.
The next few days, Rigby again was behaving normally until 5 days after Sev’s passing when he suddenly went in on himself. He was still eating, drinking & coming for his fresh veg. but sitting still for long periods of time & looking rather puffed up & lethargic. Rigby is normally a very mischievous dominant piggy, moving 100 miles per hour & always popcorning about the place. The change was noticeable with Rigby becoming a lot more docile, even letting me wrap him up in a towel on my lap & falling asleep (very unlike him). We’ve been weighing him daily as an extra precaution with no drastic changes in his weight. Having read our piggy will grieve just as deeply as us, we knew it was time to get him a new friend.
Over the weekend, we rang several local guinea pig rescues & some further afield to no avail as none had any older single boars at the time. As Rigby is usually quite a dominant piggy, the rescue told us it would be a good idea to bond him with a young boar so we came home with 8 week old Red Abyssinian, Otis.
Once we got home, we placed the pair on neural ground & it was lovely to see Rigby come to life around the baby pup, like he’s taking the little guy under his wing. We deep cleaned everything in the cage, put down brand new bedding & changed up the layout.
The pair have been together for 5 days now & seem to be getting on well. However, Rigby just still isn’t his usual chirpy self, almost like he’s doing everything in slow motion - he’s eating well (although chewing very slowly), maintaining a healthy weight but he’s just so lack lustre. We’ve also noticed his poops are a little smaller than normal & he’s definitely not pooping as much. Rigby is sitting in his hidey house a lot too, hiding out of the way & although he’s still coming for veg, usually he would be causing a ruckus trying to get in the fridge.
Sorry for the essay & thank you everyone who has read this far
(I’ll include a picture of Rigby napping & his new companion Otis to make it worthwhile). We’re wondering does anyone have knowledge of this as normal grieving behaviour or could it be worth a trip to the vet for any underlying issues?
Thanks again!
The next few days, Rigby again was behaving normally until 5 days after Sev’s passing when he suddenly went in on himself. He was still eating, drinking & coming for his fresh veg. but sitting still for long periods of time & looking rather puffed up & lethargic. Rigby is normally a very mischievous dominant piggy, moving 100 miles per hour & always popcorning about the place. The change was noticeable with Rigby becoming a lot more docile, even letting me wrap him up in a towel on my lap & falling asleep (very unlike him). We’ve been weighing him daily as an extra precaution with no drastic changes in his weight. Having read our piggy will grieve just as deeply as us, we knew it was time to get him a new friend.
Over the weekend, we rang several local guinea pig rescues & some further afield to no avail as none had any older single boars at the time. As Rigby is usually quite a dominant piggy, the rescue told us it would be a good idea to bond him with a young boar so we came home with 8 week old Red Abyssinian, Otis.
Once we got home, we placed the pair on neural ground & it was lovely to see Rigby come to life around the baby pup, like he’s taking the little guy under his wing. We deep cleaned everything in the cage, put down brand new bedding & changed up the layout.
The pair have been together for 5 days now & seem to be getting on well. However, Rigby just still isn’t his usual chirpy self, almost like he’s doing everything in slow motion - he’s eating well (although chewing very slowly), maintaining a healthy weight but he’s just so lack lustre. We’ve also noticed his poops are a little smaller than normal & he’s definitely not pooping as much. Rigby is sitting in his hidey house a lot too, hiding out of the way & although he’s still coming for veg, usually he would be causing a ruckus trying to get in the fridge.
Sorry for the essay & thank you everyone who has read this far
(I’ll include a picture of Rigby napping & his new companion Otis to make it worthwhile). We’re wondering does anyone have knowledge of this as normal grieving behaviour or could it be worth a trip to the vet for any underlying issues?Thanks again!
so sorry to hear about little Idris & I hope Crumble finds a new buddy soon! Best of luck with your search 
. Glad its all worked out. The most important thing is that your bonding efforts were a success and he has company. So pleased he's back to his normal self, it just takes time I guess. I felt guilty at times when bonding a super frisky baby with my older boy when he was grieving as he was jolted out of his misery through incessant humping but the distraction did the trick 
. Glad its all working out x
