General Guinea pig bonding, materials, etc. questions!

[warcarrot]

Hi
I have a few questions:

1. How can you tell if a [male] guinea pig is bullying the other?

2. If I am getting 2 already bonded guinea pigs, should I buy two bowls for food and two water bottles? just in case to keep the peace? or do you think they will be fine? (BTW other tips to keeping peace?)

3. Also ^ , should I get two hidey houses? I am getting a Timber hide-a-away, so you think I should get one of those and one Igloo? or both Timber hideaways? or does it really matter..?

4. Is hay sticking to fleece bedding a real problem?- so I should use a hay rack?

5. What is a good weight for a male guinea pig? a young male pig?

6. Is it likely that young bonded guinea pigs, (especially males) will grow up through adolescence and then start fighting with each other?

7. Also, how can you tell who is the dominant piggy?

Thanks so much!

 

[juliaaa]

1. If one pig won't let the other one eat, or if one pig is being chased and bitten. Also, if there is blood drawn, separate immediately.

2. Buy two of everything, and give them at least two hideys with more than one exit. It doesn't matter which type you give them, but some pigs like to chew on the Timber hide-a-aways, so they might be preferable.

3. Hay racks work somewhat, but they don't entirely keep hay from getting on the fleece. I believe in this thread https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/bedding/21568-fleece-project-study.html there is techniques for cleaning hay from fleece.

4. I'm actually not sure about this. I think it depends on the pig.

5. It could happen, but it's not more likely than them living contently together through adolescence.

6. When I first put my two male pigs together, they stuck their noses in the air to see who could hold their head higher. The one who didn't back down was the dominant one.

Hopefully I answered some of your questions, but I'm sure one of the mods could give you ever better, more detailed answers

 

[gooberific]

2 & 3. Two of everything is recommended. It's also good to have one more hidey than you have pigs, preferably with more than one exit. Cardboard boxes work wonders, as do towels or fleece in a sort of "tent" in the corners.

4. Hay racks also keep hay up off the floor so that they do not pee on all their hay and then eat it. Which, they will do. I use a stiff outdoor broom and sweep my fleece while I stand on it before putting it through the washer.

5. Varies. My 1 1/2 year old pigs are 2 lbs 6 oz and 2 lbs 10 oz. They are brothers.

6. Possibly. They will have squabbles over who is dominant now and then.

 

[akstrohm]

I would get three hideys with multiple entrances/exits. If they fight over one kind, make them all the same. You can start with one food dish/water bottle and see how it goes.

There is no one normal weight. It varies a lot.

I use a hay loft to keep my hay contained off the main level of fleece.

 

[warcarrot]

Thanks . I was also just wondering
what does ear nibbling mean? I've seen some guinea pigs nibble on another guineas ear and it lets him for a while and then jumps away. is this an affectionate gesture or what?

 

[Siobhann]

I have three pigs that get along great but won’t share the hidey places so it’s best to have more than one. I have 6 hidey-holes for mine.

I use fleece and thought the hay rack would help keep the hay off of the fleece. Well that didn’t work so I switched to a “hay loft” when I got my third pig thinking that would keep the hay off the fleece. Yeah. My pigs will drag the hay down to the bottom level. Hay will get on the fleece but it’s not hard to clean it.

As long as they’re not drawing blood they’re fine.

 

[warcarrot]

cool. i think i'll get a timber hideaway, and an igloo.. and a towel tent.
if they won't share hidey holes, will they share cuddle cups?

 

[akstrohm]

They most likely will not share them at the same time. As to whether they will fight over them, it depends on the pigs. You can try one and see how it goes.