Hey, guys!
You could very well say I am in deep guinea pig drama.
So, for the past week my two boys, Wiggles and Fiver, haven't been getting along too great. For example, a couple days ago me, my mom, and my sister had Wiggles and Fiver on my lap together, and it didn't go great.
My boys have never liked to be in that a close proximity when they're on someone's lap, and before we knew it they were both off the couch, on they floor in a great big scuffle (it was actually rather small... well medium sized, I don't really have anything to compare it to). We immediately picked them up and we all cooled off, and we've been keeping an eye on them. They've been chasing each other around the cage a lot, or at least, Fiver's been chasing Wiggles, and Wiggles has just been trying to defend himself. Whenever I see them doing that I kind of break them up, and I thought it was a dominance thing.
See, Wiggles is about 1 and a half years old, and Fiver is somewhere around being almost 1 year old, and even when we first got Fiver as a baby, he's always been "dominant." At least, that's what Wiggles has let him believe (Wiggles has always been extremely kind to Fiver and has treated him fairly), but I've been wondering if Fiver is getting his male hormones and actually trying to state that he's the one who's dominant now. I don't really know when they start getting their hormones...? My other guess is that (and I don't know how long female piggies are in heat), my single female guinea pig Coffee is in heat, and she's in my bedroom in a separate cage close to them. I don't really know the signs to know if she is, but it's just another guess.
Anyways, we and my sister Nula were in the living room about a half hour ago, and we heard them scuffling. We rushed in, and they were really going at each other, and once again Fiver was on the offence and Wiggles the defense. After a bit we got Fiver in a separate box where he is presently sitting in, and I sat down in the cage where Wiggles was, after we covered up the old hay with new momentarily before I could clean it. He was lying in his usual, curled-up, "I'm a cute puppy dog" form, and he couldn't get comfy. He was really exhausted, as was I from all the piggy drama, and was pretty restless.
When I pet his back/rear, he kind of wiggled away, maybe kind of flinched, and when Nula got him lettuce, I noticed something else. You know when you give a piggy something, you can't get it back unless is tears from their teeth? Well, I didn't hear a crunch, and I could just slide it out of his mouth. I has him follow the lettuce upward so I could see his mouth: There was a tiny bit of dried blood on his chin, and (as far as I can see), one of his bottom teeth is missing. He can still eat, though, so that's good. I actually had a guinea pig named Aslan that some of you might remember, and he lost a tooth from chewing on the bars but it grew back really fast, and (I don't know if it makes a difference), but he was older than Wiggles, actually his former cage mate. So I think that'll be okay, but I looked at his back and there's a lot of Fiver's bite marks! They're closed up, but still tender and I'm still looking for more things on him. But he seems in fine spirits besides that and I think he'll be okay as long as he gets the right kind of treatment. I'd like to know as much as possible about the bites and I'm cleaning the cage so there's no chance of getting any infections. Also, if you have any input on the Wiggles and Fiver relationship matter, please, PLEASE tell me. I really hope they can get over this. I won't put them back together until I can hear what you have to say.
Thanks in advance, and please send all your warm cuddly thoughts to Wiggles and Fiver,
Luna.
You could very well say I am in deep guinea pig drama.
So, for the past week my two boys, Wiggles and Fiver, haven't been getting along too great. For example, a couple days ago me, my mom, and my sister had Wiggles and Fiver on my lap together, and it didn't go great.
My boys have never liked to be in that a close proximity when they're on someone's lap, and before we knew it they were both off the couch, on they floor in a great big scuffle (it was actually rather small... well medium sized, I don't really have anything to compare it to). We immediately picked them up and we all cooled off, and we've been keeping an eye on them. They've been chasing each other around the cage a lot, or at least, Fiver's been chasing Wiggles, and Wiggles has just been trying to defend himself. Whenever I see them doing that I kind of break them up, and I thought it was a dominance thing.
See, Wiggles is about 1 and a half years old, and Fiver is somewhere around being almost 1 year old, and even when we first got Fiver as a baby, he's always been "dominant." At least, that's what Wiggles has let him believe (Wiggles has always been extremely kind to Fiver and has treated him fairly), but I've been wondering if Fiver is getting his male hormones and actually trying to state that he's the one who's dominant now. I don't really know when they start getting their hormones...? My other guess is that (and I don't know how long female piggies are in heat), my single female guinea pig Coffee is in heat, and she's in my bedroom in a separate cage close to them. I don't really know the signs to know if she is, but it's just another guess.
Anyways, we and my sister Nula were in the living room about a half hour ago, and we heard them scuffling. We rushed in, and they were really going at each other, and once again Fiver was on the offence and Wiggles the defense. After a bit we got Fiver in a separate box where he is presently sitting in, and I sat down in the cage where Wiggles was, after we covered up the old hay with new momentarily before I could clean it. He was lying in his usual, curled-up, "I'm a cute puppy dog" form, and he couldn't get comfy. He was really exhausted, as was I from all the piggy drama, and was pretty restless.
When I pet his back/rear, he kind of wiggled away, maybe kind of flinched, and when Nula got him lettuce, I noticed something else. You know when you give a piggy something, you can't get it back unless is tears from their teeth? Well, I didn't hear a crunch, and I could just slide it out of his mouth. I has him follow the lettuce upward so I could see his mouth: There was a tiny bit of dried blood on his chin, and (as far as I can see), one of his bottom teeth is missing. He can still eat, though, so that's good. I actually had a guinea pig named Aslan that some of you might remember, and he lost a tooth from chewing on the bars but it grew back really fast, and (I don't know if it makes a difference), but he was older than Wiggles, actually his former cage mate. So I think that'll be okay, but I looked at his back and there's a lot of Fiver's bite marks! They're closed up, but still tender and I'm still looking for more things on him. But he seems in fine spirits besides that and I think he'll be okay as long as he gets the right kind of treatment. I'd like to know as much as possible about the bites and I'm cleaning the cage so there's no chance of getting any infections. Also, if you have any input on the Wiggles and Fiver relationship matter, please, PLEASE tell me. I really hope they can get over this. I won't put them back together until I can hear what you have to say.
Thanks in advance, and please send all your warm cuddly thoughts to Wiggles and Fiver,
Luna.