fluffysal
Senior Guinea Pig
What a gorgeous picture. You should set up a business doing GP portraits as you always get them looking so good!
Sulwen is gorgeous
I am so sorry she is being so difficult it has honestly come as such a surprise! When we bonded her with Sprout, we did it at home rather than at the rescue and it was a done deal pretty much instantly, so it’s such a surprise that she is like this. Like Merlin, Sprout was a very small boar (1100 grams at his heaviest!) and non-dominant (he would just constantly woo her with rumblestruts), so hopefully this will be the match for her with some time. I’ve never seen any type of dominance from her with Sprout - no rumblestrutting, teeth chattering, nothing at all - so losing him must have really rocked her
I’m just so glad she’s with someone who can read her and understand her and who has patience to work through any of her issues. I’m very hopeful that she will overcome her insecurity issues with time.
ohh look at them! We really miss little Merlin. I hope they both behave and can be bonded. I hope Merlin is on his best behaviour! He was always really easy to bond with my boys (but they were much older boars, so they were quite happy to tolerate him). Thank you so much for doing such a wonderful job of taking care of him @WiebkeSulwen 'Bright Sun'/Sisu is unfortunately turning out to be a rather tricky customer. She is at heart a rather fearful and insecure piggy who over-compensates with confrontational and overly dominant behaviour ('fear-aggression').
She had a week of living next to Llelo's similarly aged widow Melangell 'Sweet Angel' in a divided run. Mella is the only piggy slightly larger than Sulwen and the only Tribe piggy who Sulwen hasn't pulled her dominance dance through the bars against. Sulwen very much picked her cues from Melangell during the last week and there was no hostile behaviour across the divider.
Mella would have liked her as a new mate by signalling it with some ostentious piggy washing but Sulwen unfortunately didn't. The bonding sadly didn't last a quarter of an hour before it started to escalate with some mutual 'stay our of my personal sphere' lunging, started by Sulwen.
Picture from the initial intro to see whether it would be worth taking this further by living alongside each other for some days. There was no hostile territorial behaviour, so I put in the necessary furniture.
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Picture from the start of the bonding proper
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Sulwen has now taken Mella's cage next to Merlin where she has got a couple of months' time to make friends with my smallest and least dominant boar. I am taking this one very slowly to help her work through her fear-aggression issues gradually. I have spotted her piggy washing next to Merlin so I am keeping my fingers crossed that friendship will grow and that she will behave once face to face. At the moment, there is still a fair bit of territorial behaviour mixed in.
Should the bonding fail, Melangell has already become best of friends through the bars with Merlin so he is assured a lady who loves him in any case. It would have been nice if Sulwen and Melangell would have made friends to live both with Merlin but piggies and best laid plans don't work out all that often...
Sulwen and Merlin
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The joys of fickle ladies!
PS: Mella is currently denned next to the big group to hopefully bond with them one she has had a little time to get over her disappointment and to interact with them through the bars.
She is a friendly, rather laid back and not very dominant lady who was living with Brathlys and Llelo but has sadly lost them just half a year apart. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether she is going to live with Brangwyn or Merlin, just that she does with one of the Cornish boys.
@Little Ones
@Bradshaw Piggies
ohh look at them! We really miss little Merlin. I hope they both behave and can be bonded. I hope Merlin is on his best behaviour! He was always really easy to bond with my boys (but they were much older boars, so they were quite happy to tolerate him). Thank you so much for doing such a wonderful job of taking care of him @Wiebke
Sounds like a bit of a headache but I’m glad things have worked out for Melangell the third time round and that she’s happy in a trio with Esme and Heilin
That’s lovely that they’ve bonded so wellNeither Esme nor Heilin have shown any interest in their former mates or rattled the divider; this is the mark of a successful bonding. It was all about finding the right mix for both groups.
Thank you. Your words mean a lot. I’ll always miss Esme but I’m happy for her that she’s living the life she deserves with Wiebke and piggy friends which is what I couldn’t give her x@Claire W , it's great to know that you love Esme enough to have given her the opportunity to have a happy new life
Your understanding of piggies is awe inspiring ! We all learn so much from youNeither Esme nor Heilin have shown any interest in their former mates or rattled the divider; this is the mark of a successful bonding. It was about all finding the right mix for both groups at the end.