Protective Pig: Am I Anthropomorphising?

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BlueBird

BlueBird

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Hi there,

This is not really a problem as such but I thought I'd ask your opinion.

So our original extremely tame pig Belle got paired with a friend yesterday. Yay! Belle had been alone for most of her life so was desperate for her new friend to like her. Grooming herself next to her immediately, licking the new pigs ears, bum sniffing etc. She won't leave her alone.

Now in a cage together I notice that Belle doesn't really leave her new friend alone for long. If sat on Top of a hide the new pig is inside, Belle would regularly jump down and glance at the new pig. It's almost as if she was checking that she is still there. If we go anywhere near the new pig, to offer her some food for example Belle starts chattering and maybe runs into the hide next to New Pig. My thoughts are that she is being protective of the new pig and is paranoid that we are going to take her new friend away. (Belle has taken the role of dominant pig btw). New Pig is extremely timid and isnt tame at all. Screaming when we pick her up level of timid.

Just wondered whether I was anthropomorphising or not. Your thoughts on what is going on here would be very interesting.
 
Scribbled28 said:
Hi there,

This is not really a problem as such but I thought I'd ask your opinion.

So our original extremely tame pig Belle got paired with a friend yesterday. Yay! Belle had been alone for most of her life so was desperate for her new friend to like her. Grooming herself next to her immediately, licking the new pigs ears, bum sniffing etc. She won't leave her alone.

Now in a cage together I notice that Belle doesn't really leave her new friend alone for long. If sat on Top of a hide the new pig is inside, Belle would regularly jump down and glance at the new pig. It's almost as if she was checking that she is still there. If we go anywhere near the new pig, to offer her some food for example Belle starts chattering and maybe runs into the hide next to New Pig. My thoughts are that she is being protective of the new pig and is paranoid that we are going to take her new friend away. (Belle has taken the role of dominant pig btw). New Pig is extremely timid and isnt tame at all. Screaming when we pick her up level of timid.

Just wondered whether I was anthropomorphising or not. Your thoughts on what is going on here would be very interesting.
Click to expand...

Belle has made it very clear that she loves having a new companion - see the bonding behaviours in this guide here: Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Sow Behaviour

But it is all still a bit frightening for the new piggy, so I would recommend to only have hideys with two exits in the cage, but to place a towel over the top etc (see our guide for more tips), so that the newbie feels more protected and the girls can continue to bond and work out the hierarchy. Belle is certainly afraid that you are taking her new friend away. Just leave them be and let them get on with it at the moment. Your new companion piggy is hopefully going to take it cues from Belle and is going to come round much more quickly that it would otherwise. You can use the same behaviours that you have observed with Belle to calm down and make friends with your newbie once it has got its bearings.
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig

Some piggies can be quite possessive about a new companion; my Dizzy was that with her rescue dated "toy boy" husboar Llewelyn, who later became the founder and patriarch of my Tribe.
 
Wiebke said:
Belle has made it very clear that she loves having a new companion - see the bonding behaviours in this guide here: Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Sow Behaviour

But it is all still a bit frightening for the new piggy, so I would recommend to only have hideys with two exits in the cage, but to place a towel over the top etc (see our guide for more tips), so that the newbie feels more protected and the girls can continue to bond and work out the hierarchy. Belle is certainly afraid that you are taking her new friend away. Just leave them be and let them get on with it at the moment. Your new companion piggy is hopefully going to take it cues from Belle and is going to come round much more quickly that it would otherwise. You can use the same behaviours that you have observed with Belle to calm down and make friends with your newbie once it has got its bearings.
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig

Some piggies can be quite possessive about a new companion; my Dizzy was that with her rescue dated "toy boy" husboar Llewelyn, who later became the founder and patriarch of my Tribe.
Click to expand...

Yeah poor New Pig is a bit nervous. We haven't touched her since we moved her from the carry case home. The screaming was when I caught her in the meet and greet area at the rescue. I felt so bad! :'( I think I did it a bit too quickly for her.

Thanks for the tip about covering the cage. It's now 4/5th covered Belle was immediately out sniffing the duvet cover I've used and she now loves the kitchen which is now completely covered. It took the New pig all of a minute to come out of hiding! Now if we wander past the cage she wanders calmly back to a hidey rather than disappears in a puff of shavings! :)
 
It's a shame really. I knew Belle was liked to be lonely. She was certainly very bored! But I didn't know how lonely she was until we've got New Pig and how desperate she is for her to like her and how protective of her she seems. What a shame!

The vet that told her original owners not to get her a friend because they would fight needs shot!
 
Scribbled28 said:
It's a shame really. I knew Belle was liked to be lonely. She was certainly very bored! But I didn't know how lonely she was until we've got New Pig and how desperate she is for her to like her and how protective of her she seems. What a shame!

The vet that told her original owners not to get her a friend because they would fight needs shot!
Click to expand...

Glad that you have been able to make Belle happy; you now know yourself why were are so pushy about not keeping guinea pigs single and without any interaction with their own kind. It is really make SUCH a big difference! ;)
 
Awwww how sweet that Belle is happy with her new friend. Covering the cage seems to have done wonders. I covered one end of Mistletoe and Jingle's cage and they are soooo delighted.
 
Yeah it's really nice to see. Especially seeing her looking over towards New Pig and then popcorning.

I have a lot of conflicting feelings about it though. Although I have only had Belle for 3 weeks (two of which were spent searching for a friend for her), I do feel bad that she was THAT lonely and I subjected her to those weeks alone. As I say, at piggy dating she was desperate for New Pig to like her. I guess I feel a bit guilty.

But I guess I can't take all the credit. When I picked her up from the original owners one of the first things I said to them was we'll get her a friend when she was settled, but they suddenly got really worried and said that we should be careful because the vet had told them not to. I'm a crazy over preparation kind of person who researches literally everything about an animal I'm considering adopting but they weren't sadly. They just assumed that the vet knew what they were talking about. That's small rural village vets practises for you I guess.

The worst thing about getting her was watching the kids. They had bought her and her original friend for their children who are all under 8. When the family realised that she really needed to find a different home they didn't want to send her to a rescue because they thought their kids would get upset and they didn't want them to go to someone who wouldn't look after her. But mainly they wanted the option to come and visit her if they needed. The reality was the kids couldn't care less that she was getting left at our house. They had to be told to say goodbye. All that suffering to entertain children that were really too young to understand how wonderful they are and how interesting they can be. :'(
 
Don't feel guilty you have gave Belle a wonderful gift of a friend.

Belle and new pig have such a wonderful caring home with you. You should be proud of yourself
 
You have nothing to feel guilty about. Once Belle joined you her life changed immeasurably for the better. And the joy of all that is that you have witnessed her happiness. You can't change the past but you have changed the future forever for her and that is wonderful.
 
I'm glad that she is liking having a friend... good for you for giving her a fresh start!
 
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