Frustrated The single vs pair issue

CharmeC · Mar 26, 2010

I've been the owner of 2 piggles for more than a year. Originally from Taiwan, I moved to NYC years ago, so naturally I absorbed my knowledge of guinea care mostly from books and websites in English which all advocate that guinea pigs should not be kept alone.

Last year I was invited by a friend to moderate the guinea pig section of a Taiwanese rodent adoption forum. Over time it came to my attention that lots of guinea pig owners in Taiwan seem to have no idea that it's not advisable for guinea pigs to be kept alone. There is also a lack of awareness that the sizes of store bought cages are unacceptable even for single pigs.

So I decided to add a notice to the guinea pig section of the forum on those 2 issues. My wording being that it's inhumane to keep a guinea pig by itself, prospect owners MUST adopt at least a pair. And I also quoted the cage size recommendation from the cavy cages site.

After I posted the notice my co-moderator objected to the wording (she posted her objection in the moderator-only section of the forum), she felt that it sounds too extreme and that she herself keeps only one guinea pig. Upon further inquiry, she divulged that she adopted her pig two years ago when a friend's pig gave birth to a litter and couldn't find enough people to adopt the babies, and she happened to have a cage available at home at that time.

I tried to explain how guinea pigs are social animals and need the company of their own kind. My co-moderator proceeded to reply with a long string of pros for keeping pigs alone. It seems that the point is no longer about my strong wording in the notice I posted, but she is trying to justify and promote adopting/keeping a single pig! She said my notice has already excited unfavorable remarks from forum members and that she would like to bring our discussion in a public section to show the members when we reach a conclusion.

I am very disturbed by this (I am mainly worried about the effect on other members of the forum if she publicizes her list of pros). To me her argument seems so weak I am not sure what to say without insulting and antagonizing her. I am hoping that I could get feedback here to help me deal with the situation, thanks so much in advance!

Here is her list of pros:

1. She thinks my wording in the notice might induce inexperienced owners who only own one pig to rush out and get a second pig. Being inexperienced, if the owner cannot tell the gender correctly, he/she might end up with a breeding pair. It's not a common practice in Taiwan to neuter/spay guinea pigs, which means when the owner realizes the mistake and separate the pair, he/she would have to adopt another pair of opposite genders to keep the original pair company in 2 separate cages. Or the inexperienced owner might not realize that a new pig needs to be introduced to the old pig gradually and dump them together right away with the result of fighting and bullying.

2. If the pigs are introduced to each other as adults instead of being brought up together, bullying often occur and the underdog might have a hard time accessing food and water.

3. It's harder to monitor health through the diet and poop of individual pigs if they are kept together.

JD In Van · Mar 26, 2010

Well 2 is a flat out falsehood. Pigs from the same litter often have more problems as they go through puberty together.

Adults are past that phase.

rabbitsncavyluv · Mar 26, 2010

#3 that is why you weigh them weekly with a kitchen scale. Even if you have a single.
#1 just learn how to verify gender or get a vet to do it. It isn't that hard. Most of us don't neuter. We keep them in same sex herds or pairs.

Ly&Pigs · Mar 27, 2010

Maybe you should link to Guinea Pigs Social Life.

crazywiggy · Mar 27, 2010

1) Kind of makes sense - but should not be used as an excuse for only keeping one pig! ALL pigs should be properly sexed anyway, regardless of how many you keep, otherwise gneder-specific health issues could be missed (such as impaction in boars).

2) Simply not true. Adult pigs are usually fairly easy to introduce, provided it is done properly. As for one pig having a hard time accessig food and water - this is easily prevented by using at least two food bowls and water bottles.

3) Personally, if I take one pig to the vet I take both - because if the illness is infectious, related to diet or environment etc then it is probable that both will have it - even if only one is showig symptoms. Therefore, if I noticed a problem such as diarrhoea or less food being eaten I would take both pigs to the vet anyway.

On the other hand:

1) Guinea pigs wild ancestors and closest existing wild relatives are social species, that would NEVER naturally live alone.

2) Guinea pigs themselves are a social species that should never live alone.

3) It is PROVEN fact that housing social animals alone is bad for them. It actually causes chronic stress, which is not only bad in itself, but can also lead to various other health and welfare problems.

There is a huge amount of evidence that single housing social species can cause:
Abnormal behaviour (inc aggress, depression, stereotypies, etc)
Increased heart rate and blood pressure
Increased cortisol (stress hormone)
Reduced immune response and increased healing time (more likely to get sick, slower / less likely to recover)
Reduced learning ability and memory
Increased fearfulness

For these reasons ALL the "experts" from various fields say the same thing - guinea pigs should always be socially housed (ie at least pairs). This inc all the animal welfare organisations, all the specialist, guinea pig rescue groups, hell even lab animal guidelines (in the UK at least) state that pigs should not be housed alone.

Good luck - I really hope you can help educate people round the world in proper piggie care.

princesspoppy · Mar 27, 2010

Would you be aloud to add links of important information from this site to the Taiwanese rodent adoption forum ?

CharmeC · Mar 27, 2010

Thank you so much for the feedback so far, it already helped me in replying to a questioning member on the Taiwanese forum.

princesspoppy said:
Would you be aloud to add links of important information from this site to the Taiwanese rodent adoption forum ?

Unfortunately most members on that forum might not be proficient enough in English for them to read the info from this site.

crazywiggy said:
1)

3) It is PROVEN fact that housing social animals alone is bad for them. It actually causes chronic stress, which is not only bad in itself, but can also lead to various other health and welfare problems.

There is a huge amount of evidence that single housing social species can cause:
Abnormal behaviour (inc aggress, depression, stereotypies, etc)
Increased heart rate and blood pressure
Increased cortisol (stress hormone)
Reduced immune response and increased healing time (more likely to get sick, slower / less likely to recover)
Reduced learning ability and memory
Increased fearfulness

For these reasons ALL the "experts" from various fields say the same thing - guinea pigs should always be socially housed (ie at least pairs). This inc all the animal welfare organisations, all the specialist, guinea pig rescue groups, hell even lab animal guidelines (in the UK at least) state that pigs should not be housed alone.

From what I understand, beside my co-moderator, there are quite a few owners of single pigs on the Taiwanese forum who also feel insulted by my assertion that it's inhumane to keep pigs alone. I intend to write a post elaborating on the point. I am glad you mentioned that it is a proven fact maintained by studies and experts. I will do a research on official sources like those to quote in my post, could you possibly direct me to a few too please? Thank you again for your reply!

Ama4884 · Mar 27, 2010

The link in Ly's post would be the best to show them. Pigs definitely shouldn't be alone.

crazywiggy · Mar 29, 2010

I'm afraid I can't give you specifics - I found all this out when I was at uni doing my animal management degree. You have to research absolutely every single thing you put in your assignments from research papers (books and websites alone are not good enough).

If you or anyone you know is a student or librarian and has access to Science Direct or any of the other scientific journals you may be able to find some useful stuff. There actually isn't much research on guinea pigs specifically - but the same stuff has been found to be true for all the social species looked at.

Paula · Mar 29, 2010

I think the co-moderator person has some good points, honestly.

I don't think any are good enough to justify suggesting that folks NOT get a second pig, but I don't think her ideas should just be dismissed either.

If the problem truly was your wording, could you just change it? For example, instead of saying it's inhumane to keep a single guinea pig, why not simply state that they are social creatures that strongly benefit from the companionship of others. I can see where throwing around terms like "inhumane" might cause concern over inspring folks to make rash decisions, so her first point, I think, is a valid one.

As for the concern over fighting/bullying, that's why it's important to stress large cages and proper intros, not simply not getting another pig.

2. If the pigs are introduced to each other as adults instead of being brought up together, bullying often occur and the underdog might have a hard time accessing food and water.

This is possible. Again, also why stressing space and proper intros is important. Pigs can be introduced successfully as adults, but the owner has to take certain steps to help ensure the intro/living situation is successful. Not something that's likely to happen if a person races off in a sort of panic to get another pig because they're doing something cruel and inhumane by only keeping one.

3. It's harder to monitor health through the diet and poop of individual pigs if they are kept together.

A valid point, but something that can easily be remedied with weekly weigh-ins. Which owners should be encouraged to do anyway.

It is PROVEN fact that housing social animals alone is bad for them. It actually causes chronic stress, which is not only bad in itself, but can also lead to various other health and welfare problems.

There is a huge amount of evidence that single housing social species can cause:
Abnormal behaviour (inc aggress, depression, stereotypies, etc)
Increased heart rate and blood pressure
Increased cortisol (stress hormone)
Reduced immune response and increased healing time (more likely to get sick, slower / less likely to recover)
Reduced learning ability and memory
Increased fearfulness

For these reasons ALL the "experts" from various fields say the same thing - guinea pigs should always be socially housed (ie at least pairs). This inc all the animal welfare organisations, all the specialist, guinea pig rescue groups, hell even lab animal guidelines (in the UK at least) state that pigs should not be housed alone.

I wouldn't cite these reasons without specific references. It's the type of thing that on its own, could just upset people, I'd imagine, especially if they aren't terribly willing to be persuaded to see your side.

Just a thought.

I think it's excellent that you're trying to encourage people to house pigs in pairs, but I think the way you go about it can really be what makes or breaks your case.

Think about how you like to get information when you are doing something that's potentially wrong or harmful to your pets - would you rather be told you're being cruel and inhumane? Or given polite suggestions and links to why you should change your behavior? Which is more likely to inspire change?

CharmeC · Mar 30, 2010

Thank you all so much again for the feedback! I've since rewrote and expanded the post, it now focuses on presenting the amount of costs and proper care it takes to keep guinea pigs healthy and happy without harsh wording, so people are more likely to think twice before they rush out and get one. p.s. I was able to find lots of references on the Animal welfare institute website!

Sadly my co-moderator has resigned due to the disagreement over this issue (she feels that I should make allowance for the cultural difference between Taiwan and the West, I failed to make her see that guinea pigs all over the world have the same need no matter what country they are being kept in).

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Frustrated The single vs pair issue

CharmeC

Well-known Member

JD In Van

Well-known Member

rabbitsncavyluv

Well-known Member

Ly&Pigs

Cavy Champion, Previous Forum Moderator

crazywiggy

Well-known Member

princesspoppy

Well-known Member

CharmeC

Well-known Member

Ama4884

Well-known Member

crazywiggy

Well-known Member

Paula

Pigaholic Extraordinaire

CharmeC

Well-known Member

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