Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Register for free to enjoy the full benefits.
Find out more about the NEW, drastically improved site and forum!

Register

Dominant Baby & Mellow Adult

redinque

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Posts
51
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Messages
51
I got two boars in October, and at the time, Caramel was a month old and Toby was 1 year old. They were adopted out together because they bonded the best out of all the other babies. A month or so later, I read somewhere that a mellow adult should not be paired with a dominant baby since it may cause problems later once the baby reaches teenage years (5 months). I was a little worried because Caramel had been showing signs of being a dominant pig.

Now, there are definite signs of dominance challenges. Caramel seems to bully Toby, chasing him out of boxes (hidey homes), grabbing his food away, and just simply harassing him. And Toby's bigger! Toby will just accept it, run away, and try to get more food elsewhere. Today for the first time, they engaged in a minor fight with sqealing, pushing, and head butting. Toby's not even a teenager yet! Has anyone had experience with this? Did it end up being ok? I know that guinea pigs WILL fight, but I just want to know what people have seen/experienced. Caramel is being such a brat! Poor Toby. He's so chill.
 

DaCourt

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Posts
825
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
825
Yes, yes, yes! Scooby was about 1 year old when we adopted Scooter, who was about 1 month old. Scooby was in charge for a couple of months and then Scooter took over. He ate first, he drank first, he did everything first. I had to put two of everything in the cage. Every time Scooby would try to eat, Scooter would sit in the food dish. They are now 3 yrs. and 2 yrs, and Scooter is still in charge. They still have squabbles, but no blood shed. Every once in a while, Scooby will get a nip on the bottom...nothing big.

HOWEVER...it got a lot better when believe it or not...we added a 3rd boar to the mix. Emmet seemed to even everything out. He was a prefect mix of the 2 personalities. Even though now....he is the most timid.

Your story sounds exactly like mine. I was scared they would never get along, but they do.
 

redinque

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Posts
51
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Messages
51
Yeah, I hope it gets better after a few months. They still seem ok for the most part. I think that Toby indulges Caramel.
 

bbqbarbiedolls

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Posts
124
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
124
I had the same thing happen to me. Sputnik and Manson had a few tiffs while they were trying to sort out their dominance issues but they get along beautifully now.
 

cudley n pepper

Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
Posts
11
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
Messages
11
Im having the same problem we got cudley(long haired) first only 8 weeks old such a happy little piggy always popcorning and we decided to get her a friend we got pepper pig (pure white pedigree)she was 3 months old, Cudley doesnt seem as happy as she was before, I feel so sorry for her at times as pepper is always head butting her bum butting and now we hear cudley squealing and pepper has cornerd her is this normal, theres never been any blood drawn but pepper is always shoeing her out of what ever house cudley goes in, could this be because they are different breeds,
 

JD In Van

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Posts
1,065
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
1,065
Babies usually get aggressive and assertive through puberty.
This behavior is all normal and acceptable. Don't worry unless they draw blood.
 

blackarrow

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Mar 5, 2009
Posts
1,719
Joined
Mar 5, 2009
Messages
1,719
I feel so sorry for her at times as pepper is always head butting her bum butting and now we hear cudley squealing and pepper has cornerd her is this normal, theres never been any blood drawn but pepper is always shoeing her out of what ever house cudley goes in, could this be because they are different breeds,

No, it's not because they are different breeds, it's because they are guinea pigs. It's perfectly normal. It might ease tensions if you use hideys that have multiple exits, though, if you don't already.

It may not be all sunshine and roses right now but almost no social relationships are - it doesn't mean they're not better off having a social relationship that it isn't all wonderful!
 

ferndalezoo

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 21, 2006
Posts
886
Joined
Dec 21, 2006
Messages
886
THe typical advice is to get a baby to go with an adult because "the adult will naturally be dominant". That isn't always the case, and it's totally normal. When we got Greyson (4 weeks old at the time), to be Phil's(adult of unknown age) buddy, it was obvious from the get go that the dominant pig was going to be Greyson. As long as there isn't any bloodshed, it doesn't matter how the heirarchy works out. It WILL work out, somehow.
 

1frankie7

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Posts
1,545
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Messages
1,545
I have a 9 month old who is far more dominant than my young one charlie who is 3 months. but I still dont know if they get along as my older one jake is still being quarentined.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.

Similar threads

W
Replies
3
Views
284
bpatters
bpatters
J
Replies
3
Views
571
bpatters
bpatters
fancypointeshoe
Replies
2
Views
377
fancypointeshoe
fancypointeshoe
Duvalsmom
Babies/Pups Baby pigs
Replies
0
Views
276
Duvalsmom
Duvalsmom
P
Replies
0
Views
273
Pinkdonna1
P
Top