The Dating Game is Scary Stuff!

[nonamian_girl]

I adopted a second piggie today! She's fairly young, I would estimate under four months old or so. She looks like a little chipmunk. I'll post pictures when I can get her to stop wiggling long enough to take some.

I introduced her to Georgia and the results are very odd. Georgia is definitely trying to establish dominance, and the little one doesn't even attempt to engage in the dating process at all. She just sits there and weeks and weeks, I've never heard so much oinking in my life. The only thing that worries me is that Georgia keeps snapping at her, and it looks pretty serious, like she'll run after her and nip her pretty hard, and repeatedly.

Is this REALLY normal?

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Congrats on adopting a second pig!

Nipping, mounting, rumblestrutting, chasing, nose-offs and butt-sniffing are all totally normal dominance behaviours. As soon as Georgia is satisfied that the new pig knows her place, she will settle down. What did you call your new little addition?

Just make sure that both pigs at least eat something while the introductions are continuing, as it may take a few hours for things to calm down. I'm sure a plate of veggies will be much appreciated, especially by the new pig.

As worrying as the squeals sound, the best thing is to leave them to it. Obviously if it gets really serious, as in ball-of-fur fights or drawing blood, then you'd need to step in, but the only other thing you can do is to supervise them. You're pretty lucky in that the new pig seems so submissive - if you had adopted a second older, more dominant girl then it probably would have been an interesting meeting. Hopefully Georgia will be satisfied that the new pig has understood that she's the "underdog" soon.

One thing I do have to mention is that you should really have quarantined the new pig. There's no point in worrying about it now as they've been introduced, but it's just something to remember if you adopt any further piggies. Keep us updated on Georgia and the new pig!

[nonamian_girl]

Well it's been a few hours, I've changed their litter and gave the little one a bath because she smelled like sheep-they had kept her on some weird bedding. And now the snapping seems to have toned down a bit and it's more like gentle nibling.

The new pig seems to have instantaneously figured out how to use the ramps to the second floor, which Georgia seems too scared to use, so at least she can get away if the need arises. (Btw I made the upper level of the cage just yesterday, i posted a pic in the cage area, i think it's pretty cool). And luckily, she seems to like the house Georgia doesn't, so hopefully all will be good.

I still don't know what to name the girl, she looks like a chipmunk so I was thinking of Dale, but she's got an insane voice, so I was thinking Ella, like Ella Fitzgerald. But nothing seems to fit of course :S. I was trying to check her teeth, and all of a sudden she opened her mouth and just wheeeked and wheeked.

I was thinking of quarantining but I don't really have the facilites for it right now, and the pig came from a rescue and the lady told me they should be alright...so I'm crossing my fingers, but she seems to be healthy. Her poops are bigger than Georgia's and Georgia's fully grown (okay, i know that's weird, but interesting :P)

[guineapiglvr14]

I have a piggie named Ella!
It sounds like everything is going well and congrats on the new piggie.

[nonamian_girl]

Well it's day two and Georgia's still being mean to the new piggy. Every time the little one gets down from the second level Georgia chases her and bites her. She especially chases her away from the food bowls. How long does this last for?
The little one doesn't even fight back at all, she just squeaks and runs away .

[Percy's Mom]

How long was Georgia alone for? It could last for several days or even a week or more if Georgia thinks there is any chance that the little one might try to take control. Could just be that she is having issues learning how to be around another piggy. Leave them be to figure it out unless they start really fighting. Nothing you've described so far sounds too serious.

[nonamian_girl]

I hope so! *crosses fingers* thanks!

I've also given the little one a separate food bowl so she can get at it.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

You want at least two of everything regardless. Did you clean the cage out and rearrange everything so it looks 'new'? It seems like it is Georgie's territory and she is defending it against an interloper.

How old are they each?

How big is the cage? The loft is good.

[Ly&Pigs]

Did you clean the cage out and rearrange everything so it looks 'new'?

I hope you did. You must thoroughly clean the cage and everything in it before introductions are made. Otherwise the pig that lived in the cage can get rather agressive and defend her territory. The cleaning gets rid of all scents and makes introductions so much easier.

[nonamian_girl]

I did a quick cleanup after they were already in there together just for the purpose. (I did a big cleanup just on Thursday so I didn't think I should do it again). As for rearranging, I made the loft the day before I got the new piggie, so I rearranged everything then.

Georgia is almost a year old and the little one, judging by size, is probably not even four months old.

[Percy's Mom]

Part of the problem is that the cage still smells like Georgia's cage. Everything needs to smell and look completely neutral to both of them. Give them floor time while you thoroughly clean the cage (wipe down the tray with vinegar/water, add new bedding), and let them try it again in the cage. Knowing that the cage wasn't neutralized before putting the new girl in makes it sound more like Georgia was defending her territory.

[nonamian_girl]

It's possible, I noticed that during floor time it gets a little better. After floor time the little one started standing still while Georgia examined her, and it seems Georgia's nips are getting a bit lighter. I will try to give them more floor time and perhaps get rid of Georgia's old house and make a new one, that might help. Thanks for your advice, I think we might be making progress .

[Ly&Pigs]

Anytime you introduce a new pig, you must clean the cage thoroughly before putting the pigs together in the new cage.

[nonamian_girl]

That was my plan, and then I got somewhat sick and I just didn't have the energy. Hopefully it will help out the next time I clean the cage.

It's day three today and it seems the little pig is getting a bit braver and Georgia seems to be getting a little lazier with chasing her.

Yesterday the little one came up to the main food bowl, and Georgia didn't chase her out long enough for me to take this picture:



And then today it was long enough to take this picture at the hay rack:



I still don't know what to name the little one. She's really goofy looking, and when she squaks she makes this sound like "Wheeka wheeka."

As for Georgia, i HAVE noticed that in the past couple days she seems more submissive to me, like she doesn't run away from me when I want to pet her, and she's also only bit me once :P.

[ScottandDebbie]

nonamian_girl, Loved those pictures. I always enjoy seeing pictures.
That little one certainly has a interesting hairdo . Cute girls.

I am in my second week of introducing two paired males with one other male. Each day they are adjusting more and more to each other. We hadn't been successful in previous attempts, but so far so good this time around.

I would like to add onto what good information Ly has already given to you.
This can certainly make a difference.

* Take the girls out of the cage.
Place them in safe areas *away* from each other, while you are doing the following.
(you might use bathtubs, or showers with towels place on the bottoms. Or a large laundry basket will work nicely... Just make certain it is a safe place. Use a small cardboard box for them to hide in, hay, and fresh vegs.)

* Take ((((everything))) out of the cage and wash it with hot soapy dish soap, and raise well. Everything in the cage. Water bottles, food dishes, toys, everything. The idea is to remove all territorial smells from any area, and objects. Everything needs to be a neutral smell.

*Once everything is washed and dried, place the items back into the cage... *only* rearrange the cage. If the water bottle was in the left side of the cage, place it on the right side. If their pigloos were in one corner... move them to the other corner.

*I didn't do this one, but I will pass it along to you just in case. Both your girls have their own scent. I was advised that I might need give the boys baths, and throughly dry them before returning them back to the neutral cage.

Ly, told me that if my boys didn't fight within the first hour, they would most likely adjust to each other over time.
(Ly's words were echoed by another very knowledgeable person)
And I have certainly found this to be very true.

My boys nipped at each other, and did all the rumble-strutting, teeth chattering, mounting, nose offs, and such, but no rolling around fight with blood.

In a previous time of introducing Fizbit to Smudge there was a nasty fight within 20 minutes. With a nasty bite. We tried three more times, but it was obvious that they were not going to bond in spite of all our efforts. I didn't want to risk an eye injury.

Good luck. Please keep us posted. I really appreciate reading how things are going.

[nonamian_girl]

Thanks a lot Scott and Debbie . Ironically I think while you were writing that post, I was busy thoroughly cleaning the girls' cage (third time this week, blah, I had thoroughly done it on Thursday cuz I was supposed to get the little one then, but the lady got snowed in, so I did a minor clean up on sunday when I got her too). I cleaned it as best I could, I even wiped down the cardboard house and made another cardboard house for the little one, upstairs (she had a towel tent and it was all peed up).

Unfortunately I couldn't rearrange the cage all that much because I'm using one of the houses as a support landing in-between ramps to the upstairs, and the other house will only fit in the opposite corner. BUT, I did rearrange the water bottle and food bowls and put them in a more accessible area (along a flat wall instead of corner).

(I actually did give the little one a bath when I got her cuz she was smelly. And today both peed on a non-absorbent area so I had to do some butt washing )

Anyways, the results were pretty immediate, though perhaps minor. I filled up the girls' bowls with food, so right away there was a lot of chewing. This time it took Georgia longer to chase the little one away, and sometimes she didn't chase her at all, or not as far as she could like usual. Then I accidentally scared them both, and they both ran into the cardboard house and actually both stayed there for a while--that's a first. As of right now it seems like Georgia can ignore the little one for longer, and they even managed to eat out of the same bowl for a while. I think that's progress!

The thing about those two is that they're not fighting,