4boipigs
Valued Contributor
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2021
- Posts
- 881
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2021
- Messages
- 881
Maple Leaf (1.5 yrs old) lives in a divided cage with Talwar (8 months). Previously MLeaf lived in a divided cage with Trishula. The rescue tried to bond Talwar and Maple Leaf in Feb. We thought they were bonded, they fought a lot once home, and now they're divided.
Since they've been divided (over a month now), Maple Leaf has obsessive periods of chewing at the bars and digging at the bedding in an attempt to get to the other side. When I noticed this when they were first separated, I ziptied to the divider these plastic grids that are pointy and designed to deter cats. I overlapped them and figured Maple Leaf wouldn't be able to wedge his face thru the gaps and chew on anything. WRONG. He managed to find a way to chew on the plastic, and would tug and get under it. I decided to remove it when I found out he was chewing off the plastic pointy parts. Leaving just the grids again allowed him to get closer to Talwar, and he did calm down a bit and not chew as much.
Right now, for example, he is resting near the bars and not doing anything. Other times, he will go nuts at chewing the bars and digging, and I have to scare him away or raise my voice. They know when they hear a stern voice, it's time to stop. Sort of like you would with a dog.
Talwar, on the other hand, rarely chews on the bars anymore. He used to do it quite a bit when he lived next to Gungnir. Now when he decides to do it, I just firmly say his name and he'll think about it and stop.
Idk what else to do. I know this site has the 'wall of silence', but I'm not sure about using it since Maple Leaf shuts down when no pig is in sight. Plus with the way he digs, he would just find some other way to mess with the coroplast divider.
Any advice? I wish I could just bond them, but these boys made it clear that they don't want buddies.
Since they've been divided (over a month now), Maple Leaf has obsessive periods of chewing at the bars and digging at the bedding in an attempt to get to the other side. When I noticed this when they were first separated, I ziptied to the divider these plastic grids that are pointy and designed to deter cats. I overlapped them and figured Maple Leaf wouldn't be able to wedge his face thru the gaps and chew on anything. WRONG. He managed to find a way to chew on the plastic, and would tug and get under it. I decided to remove it when I found out he was chewing off the plastic pointy parts. Leaving just the grids again allowed him to get closer to Talwar, and he did calm down a bit and not chew as much.
Right now, for example, he is resting near the bars and not doing anything. Other times, he will go nuts at chewing the bars and digging, and I have to scare him away or raise my voice. They know when they hear a stern voice, it's time to stop. Sort of like you would with a dog.
Talwar, on the other hand, rarely chews on the bars anymore. He used to do it quite a bit when he lived next to Gungnir. Now when he decides to do it, I just firmly say his name and he'll think about it and stop.
Idk what else to do. I know this site has the 'wall of silence', but I'm not sure about using it since Maple Leaf shuts down when no pig is in sight. Plus with the way he digs, he would just find some other way to mess with the coroplast divider.
Any advice? I wish I could just bond them, but these boys made it clear that they don't want buddies.