Post by Dawn - Admin on Jan 9, 2006 17:03:00 GMT
Guinea pigs are social creatures and are not animals to be kept alone. They must have company of their own kind, even if it is just another piggy the other side of the room. Ideally, and advisably, at least two guinea pigs should be kept together in the same cage to prevent boredom, loneliness and depression.
The company of other animals is no subsititute for the company of another piggy. You might say "I spend all day with my guinea pig and he is fine with that." He is not. You talk a totally different language and are 20 times the size of him. Put yourself in that situation. Not nice to think of yourself, all alone is a big, scary, foreign world, with strange creatures much bigger than you talking an uninterpretable language. At least with someone of your kind you can face this strange world together, and understand each other.
How to Introduce Guinea Pigs
I have taken a chapter out of my current draft of my book to give you tips on how to successfully introduce one or more piggies to another group of cavies. In most instances the ideas I have written about have worked very well, but sometimes, no matter what you do some pigs just will not get along. Here is the guide:
Quarantine the new cavy
Quarantining any new piggy is important. You must keep the new pig in a different room to your current guineas and wash your hands after handling the new pig for at least 2 weeks, 3 if possible. Keeping the new guinea pig separate from the group gives you time to spot any illnesses the new pig may have as well as easing your new friend into a new place without causing too much stress.
Take a trip to the vet
There are two purposes for a first vet visit. Getting your pig properly sexed is one, even if you have checked yourself and the rescue has given you their decision. Getting a general check-up is worthwhile too, but illness is not always spotted during this visit. The vet should check your pigs teeth (incisors and molars), eyes, ears and weight, and also check to see that the nose is clear.
Introductions
After 2-3 weeks of quarantining you are ready to add your new cavy to your current group.
Neutral is the key word when doing introductions. Try taking all the pigs out onto the lawn in an enclosure - this is neutral territory and the grass will provide a distraction. Alternatively you could line an empty bathtub with clean blankets and pop in some hay and fresh vegetables - again, neutral and a distraction.
Nipping, chasing, butt-sniffing, mounting, rumblestrutting and nose-offs (high nose contests) are normal dominance behaviours. These behaviours will always be around as a daily part of your pigs' lives, but they will be more intense when they first meet each other.
What could indicate an imminent fight is snorting, lunging and yawning (showing teeth). Always have a dustpan or towel to hand when giving introductions in case you need to separate the pigs from a ball-of-fur fight - pig bites can be very nasty if you don't protect yourself. Remember only separate if there is bloodshed, severe distress, or if one cavy is stopping the other from eating. If the pigs do get into a ball-of-fur fight, then separate them for a few minutes and re-introduce them on another clean blanket.
If that doesn't work....
If this doesn?t work and they continually get into ball-of-fur fighting then a 'buddy bath' may be performed, where you bathe each pigs' butt and shampoo away their scents. Once they have dried off then they will smell the same. If you feel brave enough then bathe the pigs together (after all, this is the point of a buddy bath), and they should be so terrified of what's going on that they will forget about fighting and will bond with each other through fear. This is a last resort though, as bathing does dry out the skin, so try to avoid it if you can.
The final step...
Once the pigs have all bonded you must clean the cage thoroughly. Wash all water bottles, food dishes and accessories. with hot soapy water. Clean the actual cage well before putting fresh bedding and the clean accessories back in. This gives the pigs the best chance at still getting along once in the cage.
Copyright Laura Humphreys.
caviesunited.bravehost.com/
The company of other animals is no subsititute for the company of another piggy. You might say "I spend all day with my guinea pig and he is fine with that." He is not. You talk a totally different language and are 20 times the size of him. Put yourself in that situation. Not nice to think of yourself, all alone is a big, scary, foreign world, with strange creatures much bigger than you talking an uninterpretable language. At least with someone of your kind you can face this strange world together, and understand each other.
How to Introduce Guinea Pigs
I have taken a chapter out of my current draft of my book to give you tips on how to successfully introduce one or more piggies to another group of cavies. In most instances the ideas I have written about have worked very well, but sometimes, no matter what you do some pigs just will not get along. Here is the guide:
Quarantine the new cavy
Quarantining any new piggy is important. You must keep the new pig in a different room to your current guineas and wash your hands after handling the new pig for at least 2 weeks, 3 if possible. Keeping the new guinea pig separate from the group gives you time to spot any illnesses the new pig may have as well as easing your new friend into a new place without causing too much stress.
Take a trip to the vet
There are two purposes for a first vet visit. Getting your pig properly sexed is one, even if you have checked yourself and the rescue has given you their decision. Getting a general check-up is worthwhile too, but illness is not always spotted during this visit. The vet should check your pigs teeth (incisors and molars), eyes, ears and weight, and also check to see that the nose is clear.
Introductions
After 2-3 weeks of quarantining you are ready to add your new cavy to your current group.
Neutral is the key word when doing introductions. Try taking all the pigs out onto the lawn in an enclosure - this is neutral territory and the grass will provide a distraction. Alternatively you could line an empty bathtub with clean blankets and pop in some hay and fresh vegetables - again, neutral and a distraction.
Nipping, chasing, butt-sniffing, mounting, rumblestrutting and nose-offs (high nose contests) are normal dominance behaviours. These behaviours will always be around as a daily part of your pigs' lives, but they will be more intense when they first meet each other.
What could indicate an imminent fight is snorting, lunging and yawning (showing teeth). Always have a dustpan or towel to hand when giving introductions in case you need to separate the pigs from a ball-of-fur fight - pig bites can be very nasty if you don't protect yourself. Remember only separate if there is bloodshed, severe distress, or if one cavy is stopping the other from eating. If the pigs do get into a ball-of-fur fight, then separate them for a few minutes and re-introduce them on another clean blanket.
If that doesn't work....
If this doesn?t work and they continually get into ball-of-fur fighting then a 'buddy bath' may be performed, where you bathe each pigs' butt and shampoo away their scents. Once they have dried off then they will smell the same. If you feel brave enough then bathe the pigs together (after all, this is the point of a buddy bath), and they should be so terrified of what's going on that they will forget about fighting and will bond with each other through fear. This is a last resort though, as bathing does dry out the skin, so try to avoid it if you can.
The final step...
Once the pigs have all bonded you must clean the cage thoroughly. Wash all water bottles, food dishes and accessories. with hot soapy water. Clean the actual cage well before putting fresh bedding and the clean accessories back in. This gives the pigs the best chance at still getting along once in the cage.
Copyright Laura Humphreys.
caviesunited.bravehost.com/
