Sudden change in behaviour... ptsd?

[Veggiepiggies]

Hi I’m quite new to this but I needed some advice on my guinea pigs. So bit of a backstory, I had two pigs but one sadly passed away, and a few months after I got another baby one. This baby one (now nearly 1) and my older (about 3 and a half) used to get on really well, until last week. Loca (the younger one) somehow in the middle of the night at some point got out of the hutch and got caught up in tarpaulin (we use it to cover them up at night when it’s cold). She couldn’t get out because we tuck it under their hutch. I don’t know how long she was under there until we found her at about 6am. Nothing like this has happened before so we thought the best course of action was to just comfort her as best we could and not add anymore stress by moving her places (on to the grass, upstairs for cuddles) for a few days.

(She was absolutely fine, legs working well and no visible cuts/knocks)

She’s eating a little bit less but not enough to be worried about, and I think she’s drinking okay, but I can’t be sure. The most noticeable change however, is her aggression. She is biting Lamb (the older one) and what I can only assume to be ripping out her fur. She squeals non stop whenever Lamb is around, but immediately goes quiet when I take her away. But then she complains later and I have to reunite them. I’m very confused as to what to do. The worst thing is, Lamb is blind so she uses Loca as a sort of guide I assume, and she loves being close to her and cuddling her. So I watch as Lamb tries to be affectionate, only to be bitten aggressively and squealed at! What should I do?
I can’t afford to take her to the vets for them to only say she’s fine - it’s so expensive just to go and see them

 

[Wiebke]

Hi I’m quite new to this but I needed some advice on my guinea pigs. So bit of a backstory, I had two pigs but one sadly passed away, and a few months after I got another baby one. This baby one (now nearly 1) and my older (about 3 and a half) used to get on really well, until last week. Loca (the younger one) somehow in the middle of the night at some point got out of the hutch and got caught up in tarpaulin (we use it to cover them up at night when it’s cold). She couldn’t get out because we tuck it under their hutch. I don’t know how long she was under there until we found her at about 6am. Nothing like this has happened before so we thought the best course of action was to just comfort her as best we could and not add anymore stress by moving her places (on to the grass, upstairs for cuddles) for a few days.

(She was absolutely fine, legs working well and no visible cuts/knocks)

She’s eating a little bit less but not enough to be worried about, and I think she’s drinking okay, but I can’t be sure. The most noticeable change however, is her aggression. She is biting Lamb (the older one) and what I can only assume to be ripping out her fur. She squeals non stop whenever Lamb is around, but immediately goes quiet when I take her away. But then she complains later and I have to reunite them. I’m very confused as to what to do. The worst thing is, Lamb is blind so she uses Loca as a sort of guide I assume, and she loves being close to her and cuddling her. So I watch as Lamb tries to be affectionate, only to be bitten aggressively and squealed at! What should I do?
I can’t afford to take her to the vets for them to only say she’s fine - it’s so expensive just to go and see them

Hi

I Loca nipping or biting? There is a massive difference.

Nipping is a carefully judged power gesture that lets the under-pig just feel the teeth without breaking the skin. It is very normal dominance behaviour; the correct response is submission squealing. Are you sure that what you are witnessing is not a change in the hierarchy with Loca taking over the leadership and enforcing it until she is feeling secure as she is coming up to adulthood around 15 months? Of course, whenever you separate, you interrupt the process so it has to restart from scratch.

More about sow dominance behaviours: Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
Here is a look at all the behaviours that are often described as 'biting': " Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)
Here is a list dominance and submission behaviours: Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Please make sure that you always save up for vet cost on a weekly or monthly basis so you can afford an emergency out-of-hours trip or a make-or-break operation.
A guide to vets fees, insurance and payment support.

 

[Veggiepiggies]

Hi

I Loca nipping or biting? There is a massive difference.

Nipping is a carefully judged power gesture that lets the under-pig just feel the teeth without breaking the skin. It is very normal dominance behaviour; the correct response is submission squealing. Are you sure that what you are witnessing is not a change in the hierarchy with Loca taking over the leadership and enforcing it until she is feeling secure as she is coming up to adulthood around 15 months? Of course, whenever you separate, you interrupt the process so it has to restart from scratch.

More about sow dominance behaviours: Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
Here is a look at all the behaviours that are often described as 'biting': " Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)
Here is a list dominance and submission behaviours: Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Please make sure that you always save up for vet cost on a weekly or monthly basis so you can afford an emergency out-of-hours trip or a make-or-break operation.
A guide to vets fees, insurance and payment support.

It’s a mix of both, sometimes it’s just nipping when she gets to close, and other times it’s bites (as in the skin breaks, not severely though)! I did think that it might be her asserting her dominance, but I didn’t think it was that because Loca is already the more dominant one as of a few months ago. Maybe I’m wrong and she wasn’t at all. Thank you for the links, and I will watch them closely and not separate them just yet so they can properly sort things out

 

[Wiebke]

It’s a mix of both, sometimes it’s just nipping when she gets to close, and other times it’s bites (as in the skin breaks, not severely though)! I did think that it might be her asserting her dominance, but I didn’t think it was that because Loca is already the more dominant one as of a few months ago. Maybe I’m wrong and she wasn’t at all. Thank you for the links, and I will watch them closely and not separate them just yet so they can properly sort things out

If there are skin breaks, then that is actually worrying; that should not happen and rather comes under bullying.
It can be that Loca's escape could be the result of an altercation/clash rather the other way round?
Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour

 

[Veggiepiggies]

If there are skin breaks, then that is actually worrying; that should not happen and rather comes under bullying.
It can be that Loca's escape could be the result of an altercation/clash rather the other way round?
Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour

Maybe, although there hasn’t been an escape since and we haven’t found the source to how she got out, I’m thinking maybe I didn’t double lock the hutch or something by accident, otherwise I’m sure she would have found her way out again if she really is so bothered with Lamb. Loca has only bitten Lamb when I’m around, because so far I haven’t found any other bites apart from the few I watched her do, they both separated themselves after so it didn’t turn into a full out fight. I’m just worried that this seems to be happening right after she came out of the hutch and got trapped! Like maybe she’s not over it and Lamb fussing over her all the time is annoying her