hi,
Really need some advice? I purchased 2 baby girl piggies (sisters) about a month ago now, they are now approx 8-10 weeks old.
When they first arrived they were fine, abit skittish but got on well together, about 10 days ago I noticed that Pebbles (smaller of the two) had a cut on her nose, initially I thought she caught herself while scratching but since then Caramel seems to be constantly picking on her, very loud chatting, head/chin raises and chases her, always pushing her out of whatever bed she’s in (trying to be dominant) but pebbles doesn’t seem to be putting up with it, so constant stand offs.
Is this normal, will one eventually allow the other to be the dominant one? When should I be worried?
Hi and welcome
Is this only happening for a few days every week or is this daily? You girls were freshly weaned babies when you got them and very dependent on the guidance of older companions. Since that has not been forthcoming, they are now in the process of establishing a hierarchy. Yours are obviously fairly closely matched. Dominance can be stronger if the new leader is taking the job on by default and not secure in their new role. Things tend to settle down more once she has found her feet.
You are however bound to see flare ups whenever your girls experience a stronger season, especially during the teenage months between 4-14 months, but hormonal spikes can always happen and ovarian cysts later in life can cause a sow to be constantly in a (strong) season.
A scratch on the nose comes from a mis-judged swipe with a back foot. It is not serious. Sows will generally stop short of fights with serious bites. Loud 'pain' wheeking is actually submission.
Teeth chattering is a very strongly worded 'stay away from me', chasing and nipping and general throwing of weight around by pushing the undersow off any cosy, hidey or bowl is par for the course when it comes to sow dominance.
Sow Behaviour
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
What would recommend is to follow the guidelines for boars re. only having hideys with two exits and at least one of each for either piggy. Open-sided children's stools are are ideal to use as hideys when tempers are running high.
Feed veg and pellets in small portions that can be eaten in one go in a bowl each (spaced at leas one body length apart) twice daily and remove the bowls in between meals. Over 80% of the daily food intake should be hay, so you are actually encouraging a good diet and not depriving them of anything! If the possessiveness is really bad, have a third bowl with a little extra at the ready. A bully can control two bowls, but they struggle with three!
How big is your cage? More space can also help.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diet
In my own experience, nearly all the sister pairs and the only set of triplets that I have had have been the most squabbling and argumentative of all my sows, especially during the teenage months. It comes in phases and they have at times been right at the limit where I have considered splitting them up to live in different groups.
I have permission from the rescue to split up another sister pair that is not best of friends, but although things have been touch and go at least twice, they have now started to settle down more at age 2 years.
My current pair of now 5 months old teenage sisters are at it now instead...
