Please help, my girlies keep fighting :(

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XnicolaX

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I have witnessed a few times bubble nipping squeak, particularly over food eg a lettuce leaf, even if there's loads of lettuce bubble insists on taking it off squeak.

A few days ago squeak had a cut on her nose, which I think must have been caused by bubble, I've kept it clean and it wasn't deep so it looks a lot better now. However I've just had squeak in again and she has another cut on her face! Again not deep but it's bled again.

I've not seen them really go at each other and they seem happy most of the time, but bubble feels the need to assert her dominance all the time. I thought this was rare for girls?
They are my first piggies so new at this, I don't know what to do? Any advice?
Nicola x
 
I'm not an expert on dominance behaviour but I think the general rule of thumb is that if blood has been drawn then it's best if you split them up and try to bond them with another pig.

Hopefully you'll have someone more experienced come along soon to clarify this x
 
Piggies can often sustain facial injuries whilst running away. One of my boy scares easily and has ran straight into his pigloo resulting in small cuts on the nose. Piggies can take a while to establish dominance, just try and keep an eye on them and see if there is actual biting. Ive luckily never had piggies bite each other, however I got bites whilst seperating two boys about to go for each other and I still have the scars of my hands and thighs to this date. Hope it goes okay and that they settle down. have they each got seperate areas they can go to, to chill out away from each other?
 
Are you sure it is infact a cut, and not a small patch of fungal that she may have cut while scratching herself? Sorry, that might seem obvious but piggies from pet shops often come with skin complaints so its worth exploring the possibility. If its not a skin complaint, then youve already had some good advice :)
 
Hi there and welcome to the forum

First thing to do is check out the suggestions above. Anything that looks suspicious - ie dusty, scabby, scaly etc and trot off to the vet for diagnosis. Don't try and self diagnose. We can recommend a cavy savvy vet if you tell us where you are based (probably in the UK anyway). Bear in mind that not all vets know piggies, and some do not see them very often at all, so it is best to hunt out a good exotics vet with specialist piggie experience.

Second thing to do, although this is a more common problem with boars, is to check out that the size of cage you have is big enough. Most sows live together quite happily, but I would suspect that if you bought then you might have been told that a 100 or even a 80 so called starter cage was enough. It isn't - two sows need a minimum of 120 cm, and larger if you can.

If all else fails, you might like to approach a rescue to see if they can help. If the pigs genuinely have fallen out, you might need to rebond them with expert help, or if that fails, separate them and get them new friends. If you haven't got room for two cages etc, then one of the new pairs can be rehomed through the rescue, and one can come back with you.

HTH - let us know how you get on!
 
Thanks all, I'm going to seek out a vet first I think, I've done nothing but worry since I got them and then read all the negative comments about p@h. I live in Bridgend in south Wales if anyone knows of a good vet?

I will be keeping an eye on them until then and if te are still fighting I will probably have to go to a rescue as I can't afford to keep them separately, I will be so sad to loose one of them though :(

Thanks for all your help x
 
Would anyone recommend ringing p@h and seeing what they say? X
 
I would definatly not be ringing pets at home. Its very likely they will want you to return the piggies and simply swap them. And its unlikely that if they are poorly they will recieve vet treatment.

Have you had a search through the recomended vets sticky at the top of our health and illness section? If you cant find anything just post again and I will get in contact with suzy who is in wales to see if she knows anyone. :)

Also, if they are infact fighting cage size will be a real issue and as its an easy one to check out, might be worth looking into. If pets at home have sold you a cage thats too small - go back, complain and try to get your money back for the cage :) 120cms by 60cms is the RSPCA minimum requirements for a pair.
 
I've rung p@h and they offered to swap like you said! I'm taking them down for re-sexing and to get their 'opinion' on squeaks nose (I'm worried it may be a condition she's scratching at as mentioned earlier) then I will see a vet and they will pay for any treatment. If they continue to fight I'm going to look at a rescue centre and see if I can swap for two bonded girls. I will however be very very sad to give them up :(

But I won't be leaving them with p@h as god knows what would happen to them :/

My cage is over the minimum dimensions thankfully and they have lots of room to be separate, although the majority of the time they like to be together
 
Please look for an independent vet, preferably a piggy savvy exotics vets; forum members have had bad experiences when handing piggies back to p@h.

Ringworm/fungal is one of those complaints that can spread very quickly amongst stressed animals and it can look like scratches on the nose initially. Fall outs and fights are rather rarer amongst girls than mismatched boys, especially at that young age.

Another question - how big is their cage/hutch?
 
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I've found a vet on the list in cardiff, it's about a half hour drive so unless anyone knows a closer one then I'll give them a ring.

P@h were less than helpful, gave me tea tree oil for squeak and told me to keep an eye on them!
If the vet diagnoses anything like ringworm I'll be taking the receipt to p@h!
 
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