Behavior Emergency advice please!

[rubypig]

Hi all, posting for a friend in emergency need for advice, she recently put 2 females together after the quarantine and after allowing them to be next to each other but separated. Now what's happening is the older female is swaying her hips and doing the our sound around the younger newbie, this is going on for 24hrs, no biting, no teeth chattering, the older one just walks past the little one in her bed and does this hip swaying and purring, she also walks in circles around her doing this. The other thing is that the older one chooses not to sleep in her own bed but squeezes in with the little one and sleeps together?! She has done the whole "my food" thing but not to the point where she won't let her eat. They eat together!

I have read through all the pages on behaviour and sounds and I can't understand is this aggression or the love dance thing they do? She just starts around the cage purring then returns to her own bed when she's not in the little ones bed? She did the yawning thing once but was in her own bed and the little one was not in her view so I dought it was aimed at the little one.

My friend did pick up the little one at one point and the older one searched the whole cage for her until she was put back in, so is this bonding or aggression? I forget to mention my friend said when she first put them together the older one licked her a lot, her mouth and bottom end too, another thing she is worried about is that when the older one joins the little one in her bed could she squash her?

Thanks all replies much appreciated, please write to me instead of links as I have exhausted reading them all and I just can't determine if it's aggression or bonding :0)

 

[Frapplove]

I think it's just bonding and dominance I wouldn't be too worried if there isn't any fighting or bloodshed and as long as both are getting enough to eat.

 

[bpatters]

It's not aggression. It's perfectly normal behavior for two newly-introduced pigs. It might have gone better if your friend had read Guinea Pigs Social Life before she put them together.

There shouldn't be a bed in the cage that they can both get into if it's not easy to get out of it -- you don't want one pig penned in by the other one. All hideys in the cage should have two entrances and exits -- she can make them out of cardboard boxes (cut holes in the ends and cut the bottoms out) if she needs to.

She needs two pellet dishes, two food dishes, and two water bottles, all spread out around the cage so the older pig can't guard all of them at once. Once things settle down, she can go back to just one. The hay rack also needs to be large enough for both of them to be able to get to it without getting so close it precipitates a squabble.

As long as the little one isn't being bitten or harassed to the point that she can't eat, she should let them alone and let them work it out.

 

[rubypig]

Thanks to both of you for the advise, I have passed it on to her, she made the cozzies herself so she says she'll try to open the back end up too, there kind of little caves that they both love. She says today the larger one is still purring at the other but she put two of everything down and she also said the little one still goes ahead and eats even when the other is being dominant so that's good I guess. Still no biting, the little one is following the other everywhere and they often chew in the same piece of food but still no bites thank God so fingers crossed.

I really hope the older one calms down on the dominance asap as it wouldn't be nice to have to separate them if it turns into bullying but I don't think it will as the larger one although showing dominance still seems to love the little one as she was even popcorning at one stage!

Anymore advice much appreciated and will pass it on :0)

 

[rubypig]

Update

Hi all the purring is toning down and popcorning more! My friend opened both closed ends of theyre cozzies and they are both much happier now, still some purring and rumble strutting but much less. Apparently the little one prefers to share food from the older ones mouth while she is eating it rather than find her own which tempers the older one a little but still no bites! :0) when I say the older one she is around one years old herself and the little one is 4-5 months old! Very sweet!