Announcing a new member of our guinea pig family!
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- For the Love of Pigs
This is Bookfan's daughter; I just wanted to share something amazing and cute that my sister and I discovered while trying to get Emelia and Emma to get along.
So, a bit of background. A while back, when we had Carlie, Grace, and Emma, the company we got hay from changed hands and the quality decreased by a lot. It was half orchard grass with a lot other stuff contaminating it: some unknown vegetation with spiky seeds and a variety of tree leaves, some of which I could identify as toxic. So we got into the habit of picking out the stuff that wasn't supposed to be there. The orchard grass at least was safe, though we knew from experience they won't eat it, so though it got left in, I started sitting by the cage and picking it out for them in order to get a better idea of how much timothy they actually had left.
The first few times I did this, Carlie was so happy! "Yay, Strange Large Pig is finally eating with us as a family!" It was adorable, so even after we got better hay again, I would sometimes "eat" with her by picking out brown pieces of hay, which they don't seem to favor. I stopped after she died, since the other two didn't seem to care.
(On a semi related note, Carlie treated rumblestrutting as a greeting and Fun Game, but didn't seem to recognize my attempts to participate. She did rumble at us in greeting though. Only pig we've had that rumbled at us!)
So fast forward to this afternoon. We've been having trouble introducing Emelia. Victoria, despite being the smallest adult pig we've ever had, is very feisty, so we just have Emma and Emelia out, with some hay in two piles. There were some tense moments, nothing really alarming, but at some point, I started "eating" the brown hay like before. "Look, see, it's fine, we're just eating, we're calm. Let's just eat." ...And it worked. Not 100% but it definitely had a big effect. My sister started doing it too, within their line of sight whenever they started getting tense.
It was both amazing and extremely cute! "Eating" is something they understand, a way to communicate that Strange Large Pigs are relaxed.
So, a bit of background. A while back, when we had Carlie, Grace, and Emma, the company we got hay from changed hands and the quality decreased by a lot. It was half orchard grass with a lot other stuff contaminating it: some unknown vegetation with spiky seeds and a variety of tree leaves, some of which I could identify as toxic. So we got into the habit of picking out the stuff that wasn't supposed to be there. The orchard grass at least was safe, though we knew from experience they won't eat it, so though it got left in, I started sitting by the cage and picking it out for them in order to get a better idea of how much timothy they actually had left.
The first few times I did this, Carlie was so happy! "Yay, Strange Large Pig is finally eating with us as a family!" It was adorable, so even after we got better hay again, I would sometimes "eat" with her by picking out brown pieces of hay, which they don't seem to favor. I stopped after she died, since the other two didn't seem to care.
(On a semi related note, Carlie treated rumblestrutting as a greeting and Fun Game, but didn't seem to recognize my attempts to participate. She did rumble at us in greeting though. Only pig we've had that rumbled at us!)
So fast forward to this afternoon. We've been having trouble introducing Emelia. Victoria, despite being the smallest adult pig we've ever had, is very feisty, so we just have Emma and Emelia out, with some hay in two piles. There were some tense moments, nothing really alarming, but at some point, I started "eating" the brown hay like before. "Look, see, it's fine, we're just eating, we're calm. Let's just eat." ...And it worked. Not 100% but it definitely had a big effect. My sister started doing it too, within their line of sight whenever they started getting tense.
It was both amazing and extremely cute! "Eating" is something they understand, a way to communicate that Strange Large Pigs are relaxed.
- ItsaZoo
- Supporter in 2023
Aren't they funny little critters? Lacey does something similar. She was once fond of orchard grass until I ordered two bags, now she wants timothy. So she picks around the hay not really eating much, until I come with the whisk broom and dust pan. When I start to spot clean, she trots out, jumps at the broom and grunts, and starts eating as she mumbles to herself. She must think the broom is going to take her hay away.
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- For the Love of Pigs
Sorry, I left you hanging! I may be repeating myself; a lot has happened. First off her name is Emelia, not Amelia, which always made me think of Amelia Bedelia. So, daughters did lots of floor time with not much progress, with Emelia still living in the separate cage. During one of the floor times Vicky lunged at Emelia and bit her nose. The vet said Emelia didn't need stitches and she healed quickly. It took much longer for her to even minimally trust Vicky.
Daughters also did a lot of lap time with the two of them on separate laps, but free to relocate and sit together. Finally, daughter set up a divider in the big c&c cage. There was a lot of hanging out at the divider and they'd all tried to get hay poking in from the other side - obviously it was better. Vicky licked Emelia's ear through the grid. Also some nose touching between Vicky & Emelia. After a week of this we removed the divider and pigs were monitored all day and at some point we let them go through the night.
So now Emelia knows Vicky is the boss and Vicky knows Emelia knows she is boss. Vicky's still mildly aggressive, but no physical harm is happening and Emelia is dealing with it ok. Emelia had just started chutting.
Daughters also did a lot of lap time with the two of them on separate laps, but free to relocate and sit together. Finally, daughter set up a divider in the big c&c cage. There was a lot of hanging out at the divider and they'd all tried to get hay poking in from the other side - obviously it was better. Vicky licked Emelia's ear through the grid. Also some nose touching between Vicky & Emelia. After a week of this we removed the divider and pigs were monitored all day and at some point we let them go through the night.
So now Emelia knows Vicky is the boss and Vicky knows Emelia knows she is boss. Vicky's still mildly aggressive, but no physical harm is happening and Emelia is dealing with it ok. Emelia had just started chutting.
- daisymay
- Supporter 2016-2021
New girl's name is Amelia
I got this name from one of your earlier posts. So glad all is now well between them. May they have many years together and bring you and your daughter much happiness and joy. Good to your daughter and all her patience and dedication to the naughty girls! Cat fights will happen, Glad Emelia wasn't seriously hurt!
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- For the Love of Pigs
This is Bookfan's daughter! There's two of us actually: my sister is the main caretaker and I'm the chatty one lol. Apparently my sister is not doing the word training anymore. She said, "They tell me when it's mealtime, not the other way around." One cue they do recognize is the floor in front of my sister's room squeaking, particularly first thing in the morning. I've seen on the rare occasion I'm up earlier and downstairs already, they'll start yelling as soon as she walks out, and get irritated when she doesn't immediately teleport before them with breakfast. Two minutes is TOO LONG.
Anyway, the girls are getting along just fine now! It's super sweet; they really seem to make each other happy. We've introduced a lot of pigs over the years and used our standard procedure, but it just wasn't right for Emelia. She's a really sensitive little pig and needs a lot of time to adjust. Having them in the same cage with a divider was just what she needed. She's so much happier and more confident now and even gets nuzzled sometimes.
I also just want to say, Vicky is small. She was a baby when we got her, and for a while we thought she just wasn't done growing, but now we're pretty sure she is done and is just small... and feisty! Totally fearless! (Also exceptionally snuggly for such a young pig.) Before she was totally used to Emelia, she would periodically chase her a little bit, and when Emelia would run past Emma, Emma would jump and then turn to Vicky, like, "Chill out a little, Vicky." And then they'd chatter/fuss at each other a little bit and then get over it. Emma is a very laid back pig but she's the boss. She's also a CHONK, and shaped more like a sweet potato than a classic potato pig.
Gosh they are all so cute I could cry.
Anyway, the girls are getting along just fine now! It's super sweet; they really seem to make each other happy. We've introduced a lot of pigs over the years and used our standard procedure, but it just wasn't right for Emelia. She's a really sensitive little pig and needs a lot of time to adjust. Having them in the same cage with a divider was just what she needed. She's so much happier and more confident now and even gets nuzzled sometimes.
I also just want to say, Vicky is small. She was a baby when we got her, and for a while we thought she just wasn't done growing, but now we're pretty sure she is done and is just small... and feisty! Totally fearless! (Also exceptionally snuggly for such a young pig.) Before she was totally used to Emelia, she would periodically chase her a little bit, and when Emelia would run past Emma, Emma would jump and then turn to Vicky, like, "Chill out a little, Vicky." And then they'd chatter/fuss at each other a little bit and then get over it. Emma is a very laid back pig but she's the boss. She's also a CHONK, and shaped more like a sweet potato than a classic potato pig.
Gosh they are all so cute I could cry.