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new guinea pig owner & I think I am doing everything wrong! Claim dominance or fight?

Josie

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new guinea pig owner & I think I am doing everything wrong! Claim dominance or fight?

To those who are reading this,

On Saturday, I bought a guinea pig and named her Biscuit. When I got her from the store, she seemed to be pretty tame and like a cuddle bug :) Once we got home and I got her cage, she ran in and hid (which I understand is normal and she was more than likely scared). She would not come out of her igloo at all. She wasn't eating much or drinking any water. She had a few pieces of hay, and some carrot. I put an orange, parsley, kale, and carrots in her cage and she only touched the carrot, which I later found out is not good for guinea pigs because they're high in sugar. I am worried she will not get all of her Vitamin C! She is very skiddish of everything as well. The slightest sound or even my hand moving with my pencil across the room scares her. I do try and talk to her as much as possible. It had been a few days and she would not come out to do anything so I became very worried and went to the internet, which suggested getting her a friend. So I ended up getting her another friend named Gravy, who also seemed very tame when I got her from the store (I bought both of these guinea pigs from the same store and they were living in the same cage together at the store). Once I got Gravy (who is also a girl), I put the two of them in an area to run around and meet. They instantly started talking and seemed to get along great! After about 30 minutes of them being together, I put them in their cage (which is not super big, but I do plan on getting a bigger cage within a month or two when I get an apartment. I currently live in a dorm room so I do not have much room for a big cage. The lady at the store said this was ok as long as I eventually get a bigger cage). After a few minutes of being in the cage together, they started fighting, which really scared me. I did see a video the night before stating that in the beginning its ok as long as they aren't trying to kill each other because they're claiming dominance. It was really hard to watch Biscuit mounting Gravy, and hearing Gravy squeal pretty badly. Biscuit was making Gravy basically put her nose in the corner. And as soon as Gravy would go to eat or drink water, Biscuit would attack her. So Biscuit would just hide in the igloo, and then Biscuit would scare her out. It also seems like Biscuit is making Gravy wait to eat until Biscuit is done eating what she wants. I do not know if this is normal or if Biscuit is being a bully or..? Some people have said to just give it a few days and see how they get along, but I am nervous for Gravy's safety. Gravy is honestly super sweet. She does not freak out when someone moves towards her and lets me pet her in the cage, compared to Biscuit who is the opposite. Then this morning, she seemed different. Gravy was more skiddish. Is this because she is afraid of Biscuit? Should I get rid of Biscuit? Exchange her for another? Should I let it play out? What do I do? Please help!

Very concerned owner,

Josie
 

bpatters

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Re: new guinea pig owner & I think I am doing everything wrong! Claim dominance or fi

Welcome to the forum! And just a friendly suggestion -- you'll get a lot more responses and more people will read your posts if you'll break them up in double spaced paragraphs. People tend to ignore "walls of text."

Since you got them from a pet store, immediately turn them over and compare their private parts to make sure they're both female. Pet stores are notorious for selling missexed pigs. If they're not the same, separate them immediately and leave them separated. Pregnancy and delivery are very hard on sows, particularly young ones, and the death rate is high.

Separate them for a couple of days, and then redo the introductions according to this: https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html. But if the cage is too small, they'll probably always fight. No cage sold in a pet store is large enough for two guinea pigs.

Throw out the igloo, or cut another hole in it. No hidey in a cage should ever have only one door. That's just an invitation for one pig to trap another and get its face slashed.

Here's some reading material for new pig owners:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!
 
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