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Post by pearl on Dec 14, 2010 4:10:23 GMT
Hi, My young female guinea pig seems confused all of the sudden. She is about 5 months old now. She has always gone potty in the same spot in her bed, and has a little ramp she walks up to get to her food and treats. She has started going potty in the corner that she sleeps in under the shelf and won't go up or down her ramp to get to her food and treats. She has a tunnel and a stuffed hedgehog in there with her. I tried to introduce another young female in with her. The new one was quite grumpy and attacked Pearl. She bit Pearl's ear That didn't work out, obviously. I have been too afraid to try that again. Pearl gets a lot of attention, and fresh veggies and fruit daily. I keep her bed very clean as well. She has been completely back to normal since we took away her grumpy companion. That has been approx. 2 months ago. Now she is acting strangely. Any ideas Thanks! Tara
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Post by Orlaith on Dec 14, 2010 20:11:34 GMT
For how long is she not going up the ramp? Did she fall off and give herself a fright or anything? I would show her a nice treat and see if you can get her to follow it up the ramp, keeping it just out of her reach and slowly leading her forward. There are a lot of threads in the Behaviour section about how to introduce guinea pigs if you wanted advice about how to try getting her a friend again
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Post by pearl on Dec 15, 2010 6:44:32 GMT
Thanks so much for the advice. I would say it has been about 4 days since she stopped using her ramp. I did notice her jump off the deck that the ramp leads to. I have watched her move around a lot. We played a lot on the floor today and she doesn't seem to be injured at all. She was popcorning and running around. I will try coaxing her up the ramp as you suggested. Thanks for the info on the other threads too. I'm new on the site and wasn't sure where to post what Oh, she is still eating well too. She has a wonderful appetite! We enjoy her so much. I am keeping a close eye on her. Thanks again Tara
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Post by Kayleigh on Dec 15, 2010 7:20:17 GMT
It does sound like the other piggie scared her a little. When you introduced them, did you clean the cage out and provide veggies to keep them occupied whilst introducing them. Is there enough space in the cage for two sows? If not then this could have caused arguements between the two. How old is the other piggie you tried to introduce? Are you intending on putting the two piggies togeather again for a trial run?
You say she had her ear bitten, did it bleed? or was it just a "get away from me" nip?
Kayleigh
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Post by pearl on Dec 15, 2010 10:13:09 GMT
Hi,
I introduced the other piggie about 2 months ago. The two are very close in age. I have not reintroduced the two again. The bite to Pearl's ear actually took a chunk out of it and ripped it. I introduced them in a play pen type area with veggies and hay. I did clean the bed as well. The other piggie "Minnie" does not like to be handled much at all. A family owned her and I wonder if she was abused or neglected. Maybe she was improperly handled by the children. I don't know. Pearl has actually been ok since the other piggie was moved out of her bed. She is very tame and sweet and despite the fact that she was here first did not try to dominate. I would prob. have to find a companion to live with her that has the same type personality. I just don't want her to be tormented. I keep reading that they should be kept in at least pairs, but the first try was scary. I don't think Minnie wanted a companion at all. So, I'm not sure what I am going to do.
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Post by Kayleigh on Dec 15, 2010 18:03:53 GMT
Its always difficult to introduce piggies if you arent sure what are good signs and what are bad. Some sows wont accept others and can only live with neutered boars or alone. Saying that I havent yet come across a sow i cant pair. Its always hard to watch them chase eachother, wheek, nip and mount eachother but all are normal behaviours. They have to astablish a dominent, submissive role. It can take days for piggies to become friends but the general rule is if no blood is drawn then keep them togeather but keep an eye and ear out for them fighting.
Some people would give up as your sows ear has been nipped, but me personally, I would try again, I have two piggies togeather who have nipped eachother ears but now are living in harmony, they have the odd spat but nothing serious.
How large is the cage you want them to live in? Is it a shop bought cage, hutch or C&C cage? Always ensure you provide two hideys, two food bowls and two water bottles at first.
If you want any advise or guideance just ask, we are all here to help.
Kayleigh
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Post by kellyb on Dec 15, 2010 20:05:32 GMT
I've just posted this picture to show you how I house my sows. Two of them live together happily and one sow (Sugar) is very territorial and very aggressive with the other two sows - so she lives on her own. All I have separating them are grids and Sugar seems to love their company this way. She will even lay down up against the grid and Oreo will lay down on the other side. And they'll sleep like that. Very sweet. But the moment they freely share space, Sugar goes insane. So if your sows never do get along, this is an idea to give them the companionship in a safe way. But you never know, if you keep trying maybe they'll work it out.
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Post by pearl on Dec 16, 2010 14:18:22 GMT
Thank you everyone for all the help! I have started to reintroduce the two. So far so good. This time Pearl seems to want to be the dominant one. The only trouble seems to be that Pearl is trying to take hay out of Minnie's mouth. Minnie will sometimes let her and sometimes not. I have them in a play area on puppy pee-pee pads. I am looking into getting a C&G cage. I would like one with a upper deck area. I like to keep food where they will have room to run around. The cage I have now is from a pet store. It is supposed to be the biggest I can get. I do realize now that it is not going to be big enough for the two of them. Sadly, I believed I was getting the best for Pearl at the time and was told there would be room for two. So, I will be changing the cage ASAP! I really like the cage you have, kellyb Thanks for the pic, and thank you Kaleigh for all the wonderful advice. I will let you know how things are going.
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Post by tehbuggy on Dec 17, 2010 8:42:42 GMT
Most pet stores have reputations for selling small cages. When I got my piggies I was asking them about cages and asked if they had any ones big enough for guinea pigs and the guy working there showed me one that was about big enough for a HAMPSTER. Luckily, I had bought a guinea pig book and did a ton of research first so I knew that was just crazy. I bought the biggest cage they had, which was advertised for rabbits, an my girls are happy. After the holidays I'm gonna build them a new cage, since Spongy's getting bigger and when it comes to cages, bigger is better. ^_^
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Post by pearl on Dec 17, 2010 14:03:19 GMT
I have a new cage ordered I ordered a large C&G cage this morning. Actually I won an auction this morning! It is large and has a nice loft at the top. The girls are getting along pretty well right now. Every now and then there will be a chase and a little wheeking, but no more than that right now. I'm so glad! Thanks everyone
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Post by Kayleigh on Dec 18, 2010 10:15:18 GMT
Thats great. Im sure all the extra space will do the piggies great and encourage them to be best buddies.
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