The 3 (new) little piggies

Post Reply
User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Nov 11, 2021 5:00 am


Gilligan and Skipper are both doing well. They're almost 2 now. They are still having regular brush ups though. One would think they would argue over the food or water, but they don't. The confrontations are over the darned hammocks! There is one for each of them instead of a tunnel like the rest of my guinea pigs have. They prefer them to the tunnel. They lay in them and under them. I don't understand why they don't each take one and enjoy them. Whichever hammock one of them takes, the other wants despite the fact that there's another perfectly good empty one. There's no fighting. It's just Gilligan squeaking loudly at Skipper followed by them setting down and laying together under one.

All of that going on, but if I take one of them out of the cage, the other gets nervous until they are together again. It's separation anxiety. It's bad enough for both of them to go into a serious depression if I separate them for too long. We almost found that out the hard way on the trip to our new home. It's quite cute now, but I'm going to have to find a way to deal with it if something happens to one of them. I'm not going to think about that until the time comes though. Right now I'm enjoying every minute of having them as my pets.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Nov 11, 2021 8:00 am


I think one idea might be to make sure they were housed close to another couple of boars, hopefully laid back boars, to expand their "friendship" (or at least "acquaintance") circle.

Do you ever have multiple boars in a really large open area in your home? Or are they always out in pairs?
p.s. I hope this wouldn't backfire by having happy boars more aggressive in their cages.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Nov 11, 2021 7:26 pm


They are butted right up to Mr Bubbles. He and Gilligan do a lot of socializing. Of course when Skipper sees that going on, he has to get in on it too. All of the cages are in close enough proximity that none of the pigs feel alone. Combine that with all of the squeaking and cage wire noise, they're all very aware that there is plenty of company.

I never put the boars together with any other pigs that they aren't already paired to. Given their personalities, I honestly think it would be disastrous. I've already seen it with Sammy and Dean. Dean won't let any other boars near his Sammy. Mr Bubbles is and has always been a lone pig. He doesn't mind the other boys coming up to his cage, but he gets aggressive and lunges without the wire separating them.

I've never tried to have other boars with Wilber and Grady, but I see no reason to try it. They're the "middle guys" as far as age and size goes. Much smaller than Sammy, Dean, Gilligan, Skipper and Mr Bubbles. Much larger than Kahlua and Jack. Given the back and forth between them from time to time, there's a good chance that I'd have a vet bill if I mixed and matched them with any of the other boars. As far as Kahlua and Jack, they're still babies at just about 4 months old and wouldn't fare very well in a fight with any of the adults.

They're all pretty content with the way I keep them. The girls' cage is not butted against any of the boar cages. About all the boys know about them is that there are other guinea pigs in the room. At least that's what I believe, based on the way they act.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Sun Dec 12, 2021 1:04 am


There's not much I can say to do justice to the cuteness of a guinea pig like Gilligan chilling out in a hammock, so I'll just leave this right here for everyone to enjoy.

Image

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Sun Dec 12, 2021 5:05 pm


Adorable! He looks comfy.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Dec 12, 2021 8:53 pm


Yes, indeed! A whole lotta cute!

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:34 pm


That's the hammock he and Skipper argue over. There's another on the other end of the cage, but they both want that one. They squeak very loudly at each other, but it has never gotten any more serious than that. It's about 50-50 on who wins the argument. Gilligan won that time. The loser usually goes and lays under the other hammock. It really very cute.

User avatar
mmeadow
Supporter 2004-2022

Post   » Tue Dec 14, 2021 4:39 pm


Adorable!

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Dec 23, 2021 1:37 am


Looks like Gilligan won the battle for the hammock this time.

Image

User avatar
daisymay
Supporter 2016-2021

Post   » Thu Dec 23, 2021 2:00 am


Skipper looks like he wants a kiss and cuddle. Poor little mite! Girls send wheeks and hugs. I could kiss those lips!

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Dec 23, 2021 2:33 am


Skipper is the Fabio of guinea pigs. His long hair is epic. Very soft. He'll wait like that until Gilligan gets out of the hammock and then he'll jump in. If he gets tired of waiting, then he'll go lay under the other one. Those two have a very unique and entertaining relationship.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Dec 23, 2021 12:16 pm


They sometimes look so inscrutable! One wonders what those laid back shocked expressions really mean!

Post Reply