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Behavior HELP! Is my older guinea pig bullying my new guinea pig?

mlgobel

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Hi there,

In January this year I got a baby guinea pig, Zola. After doing lots of research on here I found out that it's best to have more than one guinea pig so they can have a friend and be social. So, I finally got a new piggy! Her name is Lola :) I got her last Friday so I've officially had her for a week. At first it seemed like Zola was bullying her, because she kind of chased her around and wouldn't let Lola near the food or anything. But after a few days it seems like they became friendlier towards each other! Zola has begun sharing her food and Lola stopped hiding in the corners or in the back of her igloo. All seems well for the most part, but now Zola has begun to do this loud purring noise... And it's not a quick short purr, she does it for a while. A long constant purr. And she does it A LOT! I don't know what this means and it's really stressing me out. I thought they were starting to like each other but maybe I'm wrong? I read that the rumbling purring noise can be a male romancing a female... this really freaked me out but I checked a site to see how to sex a guinea pig, again and again to make sure the pet stores didn't misinform me and they are girls! Sometimes they also run around the cage and it looks like they are playing but maybe Zola is chasing her in a mean way... If anyone has any advice I'd really appreciate it. I just want them to get along :(
 

Starthecavy123

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If you got them from a pet store that is a big no no. Pet stores dont really care about the animal just the money. They are notorious at mis sexing pigs.

The purring sound is not a bad sound its a happy sound.

Did you introduce them on neutral ground first?

As long as their is no blood drawn they are fine. Maybe you should add another bowl. For my 2 pigs I have 2 water bottles, and 2 food dishes. This way when one is occupied their is a free one. So they dont have to fight. You also may not want to put the bowls close together so they can't be monopolized.
 
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Rywen

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Piggies of the same gender will rumble at each other to establish dominance. They may even mount each other, it's completely normal.
 

mlgobel

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If you got them from a pet store that is a big no no. Pet stores dont really care about the animal just the money. They are notorious at mis sexing pigs.

The purring sound is not a bad sound its a happy sound.

Did you introduce them on neutral ground first?

As long as their is no blood drawn they are fine. Maybe you should add another bowl. For my 2 pigs I have 2 water bottles, and 2 food dishes. This way when one is occupied their is a free one. So they dont have to fight. You also may not want to put the bowls close together so they can't be monopolized.

I introduced them on neutral ground, a brand new C&C cage that my guinea pig did not have before. I have two water bottles and two hay areas that are on opposite sides, and one pellet bowl, but I'll probably get another one. I was really just concerned about the purring so if that is a happy sound then everything is good.
 

mlgobel

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Piggies of the same gender will rumble at each other to establish dominance. They may even mount each other, it's completely normal.

Okay, just wanted to make sure. Thanks!
 

bpatters

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The purring sound is not a happy one, but it's not mad, either. She's rumblestrutting, which can be romance between guinea pigs of opposite sexes, or dominance between two pigs.

They sound like they doing fine, and I'd leave them be. But the next time, read up on doing guinea pig introductions before plopping a new pig in with an older one.
 

mlgobel

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The purring sound is not a happy one, but it's not mad, either. She's rumblestrutting, which can be romance between guinea pigs of opposite sexes, or dominance between two pigs.

They sound like they doing fine, and I'd leave them be. But the next time, read up on doing guinea pig introductions before plopping a new pig in with an older one.


I did, actually. I introduced them on neutral ground just like I was supposed to and other things. also, they are about the same age, both still only a few months old.
 
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