Rehoming Considering Rehoming

[MAndPAreMyPigs]

I just can't keep up with them. They were doing great in their one cage for about 2 months. They started fighting so it was seperated into two cages. They wheeked and wheeked non-stop for the MONTHS I kept them seperated. I finally gave in and put them back together in a 16 square foot cage. They did fine for a month but then a little fight broke out. I expanded the cage to 25 square feet. A big fight broke out and they had to be seperated again. They wheeked and wheeked again and chewed on the bars and drove me insane causing noise at 3 am trying to get into the others cage. I don't get it at all.

I also feel bad that we can't provide them with the best diet, they get oxbow hay and pellets and they get water but their veggies are limited to the very bare necessities. My parents will only buy romaine lettece for them even though they need red or green leaf. And when my parents buy food for them at the store it's always the crap with all the seeds and colored bits in it and when I tell them I'm not feeding that stuff to my guinea pigs they go and feed it to them behind my back. Same goes for those crappy petstore treats like those 'yogart drops' My mom even suggested I buy one of those tiny petstore cages because it would be 'easier to clean' and got really mad at me when I wouldn't.

I barely have time to let them out of their cage and sometimes they have to go a few days without their cage being sweeped because I'm so caught up in homework. I feel bad but sometimes I feel like I can't deal with them anymore...

 

[Sweet Piggy]

Have you considered spaying/neutering to help with the aggression issues? I know it helps in rabbits, but I assume it would be the same with piggies.

 

[MAndPAreMyPigs]

Even if I did have the $600... In guinea pigs, getting them fixed doesn't effect their behavier, just their ability to make babies.

 

[Sweet Piggy]

Wow, that's a lot of money to get them fixed. It's only about $120 per pig here (I'm assuming that's the cost anyway if it's comparable to rabbits).

I hope you're able to figure out something, whichever way is best for the piggies.

 

[MAndPAreMyPigs]

Thanks... I'm trying to think of things to make this work but I just don't know...

 

[bpatters]

[MENTION=31766]Sweet Piggy[/MENTION], neutering in guinea pigs does not help with aggression. And this isn't aggression, anyway, it's dominance. If neutering did help (and there's a big controversy about this), it would take several months.

 

[Princess_Piggie]

When you say fight, can you be more specific? As in what they did, what they where doing before the fight broke out, how long it lasted etc? Sometimes dominance is mistaken for fighting, or there could be a specific cause, for example they both prefer a certain water bottle and fight over using it.

Your mum sounds just like mine. I mentioned to her that I had to stop giving the girls pellets (calcium problems) and she was all 'their teeth are going to overgrow if they don't have them, they need them!' and when I pointed out that the pellets don't make a blind bit of difference to teeth, it's the silcia (I probably spelled that wrong!) in grass hay they need for teeth...she looked at me like I was an absolute imbecile!

I hope you can figure out a way to manage them and keep them.

 

[MrWhistles]

Have you considered spaying/neutering to help with the aggression issues? I know it helps in rabbits, but I assume it would be the same with piggies.

Absolutely no. Spaying and neutering is NOT recommended for aggression issues. These procedures are far more risky for guinea pigs as opposed to dogs or cats. So please don't go recommended them like this.

 

[MrWhistles]

Thanks... I'm trying to think of things to make this work but I just don't know...

Have you considered working with a rescue to finding the perfect match for 1 or both of your guinea pigs?

 

[MrWhistles]

When you say fight, can you be more specific? As in what they did, what they where doing before the fight broke out, how long it lasted etc? Sometimes dominance is mistaken for fighting, or there could be a specific cause, for example they both prefer a certain water bottle and fight over using it.

I agree, I'd like some more information on the fighting. Was it an all out brawl with rolling around, teeth baring, etc etc or was it just vicious chasing, lunging, biting, hair pulling, etc.

 

[MrWhistles]

Sounds like you're using fleece bedding, try going with disposable bedding. You're a student, the extra money maybe worth your pig's health. Dirty bedding isn't healthy for pigs.
Bear min veggies should be fine for your pigs. We're recently having to cut back on veggie costs because we're having to pay off my husband's dental work. Romaine lettuce is perfectly okay. Only time we recommend not feeding romaine lettuce if the pig has calcium issues. Right now, my pigs can only get 1 type of lettuce, bell peppers, carrots and grape tomatoes. They aren't able to get the variety they normally get.

Apologize for all the posts from me XD

 

[Sweet Piggy]

I am sorry if I gave misleading information. My expertise is in rabbits and that is the FIRST thing always recommended to deal with aggression/aggression brought on by dominance in rabbits. That is why I said I would *assume* that it would be the same. I had no idea there was a difference.

 

[MAndPAreMyPigs]

Actually.. it is dominace issues not actual fighting. What is the difference? (That's a question not a statement lol)

 

[MrWhistles]

So what was the behaviors your pigs displayed that caused to to keep increasing cage size or separating them?

I feel like you may have accidentally made the situation worse by constantly changing the cage and separating them. If they were establishing themselves among each other and you kept changing things or separating them, they have to do the whole thing over again.

 

[MAndPAreMyPigs]

They were showing normal dominance behaviers, lots and lots and lots of rumblestrutting and chasing, many piggie tornados... even blood... I seperated them but they didn't like that even more so I put them back with each other... and yet more of those things started again.

ETA: Also, I had no idea that me doing that might have made it worse, I feel really bad now...

 

[caitlinbenosky]

only time you should ever separate is when/if blood is drawn or if one pig is being so dominant that the other isn't allowed to eat/drink

 

[MrWhistles]

agreed, if they're going into those "tornadoes" then their fighting and leaving them this way could be dangerous(as you've seen)

Give it 1 last try.
Design the cage 1 way and leave it this way(until they've been good together a while)
Do a Buddy Bath
And do intros again on a freshly cleaned towel with a big pile of food in the center. Leave them there for a few-ish hours. If all stays okay, move them into their newly designed/freshly cleaned cage.
If you want, you can wait on redesigning the cage until you've felt comfortable with how they're getting along.

If all else fails, try working with a rescue on getting them bonded to someone else.

 

[MAndPAreMyPigs]

Thanks guys... this has really helped.

 

[couchon]

I think the bigger issue to consider is vet money. OP says she doesn't have $500, and she seems to say her parents wouldn't be willing to spend that much on pigs. What happes if/when one of them needs to go to the vet for a serious issue? Even in low-cost areas vet is expensive and can easily be over $500 or in the thousands.