Hi,
I was searching the internet when I came across this website and didn’t know exactly where to put my question at...I was looking for an answer as to what I should do with my three females. They are in a 2x7 cage and have been fairly well together for about six months now (they are all around the same age). However, I did notice from the beginning that Peaches was very dominante. She did the chattering, pushing, raising her head, humping, etc. My second guinea pig named Pumpkin was absolutely terrified of her. She would avoid Peaches at all cost. Pumpkin is such a submissive guinea pig, and the other two are well aware, but LaLa was just as submissive and went along with Pumpkin just fine. Anyway, I took Pumpkin to the vet for a patch of dry skin and they tested her for mites and so on. she had a small scab, but I assumed it was from the constant scratching until a week later I held LaLa and felt a bump. She is a long haired piggie, so man, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I discovered a wound that could not be accidental. It was medium sized and scabbed over. Right away, I figured it was Peaches that caused harm to both of them and separated her. But now, Pumpkin, who was the most submissive piggie I’ve even seen, is lunging at LaLa and making a somewhat growling noice while she walks? The two girls are also trying to reach Peaches, who is separated by two grids (so the 2x7 is now 2x3 and 2x4). They act like they want Peaches back (Peaches was acting so sad that they were gone, too), but I’m afraid I may not be home if a full blown fight occurs. And I’m rather confused with Pumpkin’s sudden dominance. What should I do? I feel guilty when I separated them but I’ll feel guilty if I put them back together.
Wound/Advice/Help
If your piggies are between 6 and 18 months old they are probably in the throes of puberty. Just like human adolescents, they now have more hormones coursing through their veins and they get moody, easily irritable, and downright bratty sometimes. (I had 6 female piggies all going through puberty at about the same time in the same 2 x 8 grid C & C cage, so I know of whence I speak, lol.)
If they have enough space (and a 2 x 7 grid C & C cage should be enough space for three females), they should not need to be separated. Now that they have been separated, however, you should read through the instruction for introductions on this site and follow it before putting them back together in the cage. If one truly is super scared of the others, they might need to stay separated, but what seems "scared" to you might not be to them. Reading up on guinea pig behavior on this site will help you determine what is normal and what is not.
Once you successfully reintroduce them, you need to make sure of the following in your cage:
Have at least two food bowls, two water bottles (three of both of these if you can), two hideys that have more than one entrance and/or two or three "fleece forests." Fleece forests are strips of fleece material hanging down from the top of the cage (you need a lid made of grids to do that) that form a "forest" that the piggies can run through. It gives the illusion of a hidey to a pig inside it, but also allows the piggies to run straight through them, so they don't take up valuable floor space in the cage. Fleece forests also provide ways for piggies to stay out of each others' lines of sight when they are feeling irritable and just want to be left alone.
My pigs really enjoy having a loft (about half a grid high) that is 1 x 2 grids in area. Underneath the ramp itself is a makeshift hidey, and the space under the loft is prime real estate. Plus, the loft is where I keep their hay, so it keeps it out of the rest of the cage. I actually have two lofts like that, one on each end of the cage (mine is a bit bigger than yours).
My piggies are all out of puberty now and have mellowed immensely. Yours will too, I'm sure. In the meantime, just know that brattiness is par for the course right now. I don't think there is anything wrong with them that a little more maturity won't fix.
If they have enough space (and a 2 x 7 grid C & C cage should be enough space for three females), they should not need to be separated. Now that they have been separated, however, you should read through the instruction for introductions on this site and follow it before putting them back together in the cage. If one truly is super scared of the others, they might need to stay separated, but what seems "scared" to you might not be to them. Reading up on guinea pig behavior on this site will help you determine what is normal and what is not.
Once you successfully reintroduce them, you need to make sure of the following in your cage:
Have at least two food bowls, two water bottles (three of both of these if you can), two hideys that have more than one entrance and/or two or three "fleece forests." Fleece forests are strips of fleece material hanging down from the top of the cage (you need a lid made of grids to do that) that form a "forest" that the piggies can run through. It gives the illusion of a hidey to a pig inside it, but also allows the piggies to run straight through them, so they don't take up valuable floor space in the cage. Fleece forests also provide ways for piggies to stay out of each others' lines of sight when they are feeling irritable and just want to be left alone.
My pigs really enjoy having a loft (about half a grid high) that is 1 x 2 grids in area. Underneath the ramp itself is a makeshift hidey, and the space under the loft is prime real estate. Plus, the loft is where I keep their hay, so it keeps it out of the rest of the cage. I actually have two lofts like that, one on each end of the cage (mine is a bit bigger than yours).
My piggies are all out of puberty now and have mellowed immensely. Yours will too, I'm sure. In the meantime, just know that brattiness is par for the course right now. I don't think there is anything wrong with them that a little more maturity won't fix.
Last edited by JX4 on Mon Jan 07, 2019 1:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
We do have a neutered male that lives with our females, and he does get "put in his place" when the females are not "in the mood." He sometimes gets a wound. A dab of antibiotic ointment followed by being held and fed treats while it soaks in so he doesn't mess with it can help keep it from getting infected. I wipe of any excess before he gets back in the cage.
While going through puberty, the piggies will spat and spar about their "pecking order" in the herd, too. Behaviors that are the normal way for pigs to signal "you win, you can be dominant" to them can sound awful and like they are really scared to us. As I said above, reading up on the behaviors can help you to determine what's normal and what truly needs intervention.
While going through puberty, the piggies will spat and spar about their "pecking order" in the herd, too. Behaviors that are the normal way for pigs to signal "you win, you can be dominant" to them can sound awful and like they are really scared to us. As I said above, reading up on the behaviors can help you to determine what's normal and what truly needs intervention.
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