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Introductions Quick Introductions (After Death of Cagemate)

Guinea Pig Papa

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Before I say anything else, find a way to deter Owl from biting the divider. You definitely don't want him to break his teeth.

The introduction did NOT go south. Nibbler just fell ill at a VERY inopportune time, and I'd wager a guess that he got whatever Yancy had. So keeping them separate at this point would be a good thing to do. When Nibbler recovers, you can reintroduce both of them and since they've already seemed to get along just fine, a second reintroduction should go just as well.

While Nibbler is on the antibiotics, its critical to monitor his weight, I would say once a day in the morning. That's the only way you'll know if he's eating and drinking enough. If his weight starts to slide, begin supplementing with Critical Care.

You should also pick up some benebac pet gel or powder asap. He will need some sort of probiotic to administer 1-2 hours after his antibiotic dose. It a necessity IMHO.
 

PetFamilyBK

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Before I say anything else, find a way to deter Owl from biting the divider. You definitely don't want him to break his teeth.

The introduction did NOT go south. Nibbler just fell ill at a VERY inopportune time, and I'd wager a guess that he got whatever Yancy had. So keeping them separate at this point would be a good thing to do. When Nibbler recovers, you can reintroduce both of them and since they've already seemed to get along just fine, a second reintroduction should go just as well.

While Nibbler is on the antibiotics, its critical to monitor his weight, I would say once a day in the morning. That's the only way you'll know if he's eating and drinking enough. If his weight starts to slide, begin supplementing with Critical Care.

You should also pick up some benebac pet gel or powder asap. He will need some sort of probiotic to administer 1-2 hours after his antibiotic dose. It a necessity IMHO.

Thank you as always for your responses. What can we use to deter owl from biting the grid/cage?
I ordered BeneBac gel in syringe form and it should be coming tomorrow. We’ll be administering the first dose of meds in a few minutes.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Plexiglas would be optimal. Failing that, perhaps some coroplast or even a piece of cardboard cut from a large box. Just make sure there are no tape or labels or anything else stuck to the box that he can ingest .

You DO have Owl who is a healthy pig. I know it's gross, but you can make "poop soup" from a healthy pig. Just take a bean, mix it with hot water thoroughly, and draw it up in a 1cc syringe and feed it to Nibbler an hour or so after he has his Sulfatrim. I have honestly found that poop soup is often the best probiotic a pig can get.
 

PetFamilyBK

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Plexiglas would be optimal. Failing that, perhaps some coroplast or even a piece of cardboard cut from a large box. Just make sure there are no tape or labels or anything else stuck to the box that he can ingest .

You DO have Owl who is a healthy pig. I know it's gross, but you can make "poop soup" from a healthy pig. Just take a bean, mix it with hot water thoroughly, and draw it up in a 1cc syringe and feed it to Nibbler an hour or so after he has his Sulfatrim. I have honestly found that poop soup is often the best probiotic a pig can get.

Nibbler’s poop results came back negative and they’re looking good 2.5 days into the treatment. We’ve been laying off the veggies just in case it might upset him, but I do want to try to reintroduce green/red bell peppers back into the mix to give them both a vitamin C boost.

I’ve been feeling sad for Owl as he keeps laying near the divider and trying to interact with Nibbler. Nibbler does such as well, but a part of me thinks that Nibbler truly isn’t the alpha he thinks he is and it just caught on. I just saw Owl rumble-strutting from the other side of the cage as Nibbler was near, Nibbs appeared frozen for a few seconds and then ran to the opposite side. I don’t know what to think about this relationship now.

What if Nibbler wasn’t really sick, but just stressed? I’ve been noticing him yawn a lot recently as well (not much today) but perhaps it’s too much chasing for him to handle especially at his old age and in the heat.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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The behavior you're describing doesn't really sound like a stressed pig, per se. Tell me, when they yawn are their eyes closed or open?

If they close their eyes when they yawn, they're just tired. If their eyes are open, however, that means they're showing their teeth to whomever they're yawning at , and it's meant as a warning.

Continuing their bell pepper is only a good thing unless their tummies are so bad they shouldn't. In that case, vitamin C drops are a good solution.

Just from what I've read, it really does sound like Nibbler had a touch of whatever Yancy had, and with his treatment and care he's starting to come around. It will take time. Poor Owl realizes he has a buddy now and he just wants to spend time with him. It's totally understandable and normal behavior.

As for the heat, as I've said, anything over 75 degrees really is getting too warm for them. You're risking heat stroke above that. Guinea pigs are originally from an area in the Andes mountains, and are thusly a more temperate climate animal.
 

PetFamilyBK

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So we’ve decided to try the reintroduction again today and as expected it started with the usual chattering, side-stepping, puffing-up, squeaking, etc. Aside from an occasional shake off, Nibbler seems to be accepting the mounting from Owlie - but certainly looks to be in “shock” after it’s over. Poor little feller.


While the chasing died off we decided to bring both them to their new neutral enclosure with only 2 large hay piles and two water bottles. We let them do their thing until it once again settled down. After a veggie feeding to calm the air, we thought we’d try to put their new cardboard houses in and see if they’d be able to occupy each and settle in, but all that did was stir up more commotion so we had to take it out.


We’re not sure if we should leave their houses in over night or just make them some nooks out of towels for the night. We’ll continue to monitor a bit before we head off to bed.


Anyhow, there weren’t any big fights but a couple of close calls. Hopefully we can get some rest and wake up to some pigs who are getting along.
 

teambenji543

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I hope Nibbler is okay! Once he's back to normal, are you going to put them back together?
 

PetFamilyBK

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I hope Nibbler is okay! Once he's back to normal, are you going to put them back together?

Thank you! We believe Nibbler is better so we reintroduced them last night and I think things went okay. They were left alone overnight as well with minimal issues, however, this morning Nibbler who kind of accepted submission yesterday is fighting back a little. I’m also nervous because he’s lost some weight recently (although he has been gaining it back) - the stress of this reintroduction might causing him to lose again. They were eating together this morning when I gave a fresh pile of hay which was comforting to see, but as soon as things get nippy Nibbler is darting around and chattering.

Right now they’re resting at both ends with no hideys, just open field. Hopefully things improve.
 

PetFamilyBK

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Quick question, if I see Nibbler not eating as much as he should while in their new enclosure due to stress or fear since they’re still working things out, should I take him out and hand feed? Or is that going to cause another rift when I put him back?
 

PetFamilyBK

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2nd night in and it’s pretty much more or less the same. The only issue that concerns me is that Nibbler won’t leave his corner unless he’s offered treats or veggies. He’ll even climb and bite the cage bars if I shake
the treat bag or make noises that signal snacks are coming which is like his old self. He will however mostly just rotate his body to eat whatever hay is around him.

Owlie continues to mount, and Nibbler mostly willingly accepts with a bit of some uncomfortable squealing, other times he’s silent. Nibbler will also run away if he gets pecked at from behind when Owlie approaches and sometimes squeak if he gets too close. I’ve seen them eat together when offered a pile of hay but it has to be kept close by to Nibbler. Often I do see Owlie laying next to Nibbler’s or close to but I don’t know if the feeling is mutual.

The neutral set up contains 2 water bottles, 2 pellet dishes, 3 hay stacks, and 2 dish drying rugs as pee pads on each end of the fleece. I haven’t placed any houses/hideys in yet nor any tunnels, just a couple of chew toys.

We purchased this GuineaDad fleece which we aim to place down but we’re not sure when the right time will be, same with adding in their new cardboard houses I made for them from USPS boxes,

I know the process can take a long time but Nibbler’s current state is depressing to see.
 

bpatters

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Put something in the cage that breaks up the lines of sight so that Nibbler isn't always available to Owlie. It can be fleece forests, or temporary hideys (upside down boxes with the ends cut out, for instance). Maybe that'll give Nibbler a little more confidence.
 

PetFamilyBK

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To update all, things have been progressively getting better. Both pigs continue to eat together at feeding time and roam the cage together without incident. There’s still a lot of mounting by Owlie, however, he often just climbs on Nibbler’s back and gets right off - and I think how often this happens is dwindling down. I also think Owlie gets just a little too exited around Nibbler (which may be why he mounts so frequent) as we’ve seen him popcorn a few times when nudged by Nibbler or gets brushed by him. Things do continue to get testy if they bump heads when in the haystack or if one has the last veggie. Nibbler’s weight has plateaued for the most part which makes me believe he’s getting his fair intake of food.

Now... if we can make it through the evening without both piggies being stressed out of their skulls due to the fireworks then we’re looking good.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Sounds like time is doing exactly what it should. I'm glad Nibbler has a new buddy, and Owl has a new furever home. Looking forward to more positive updates!
 
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