Rescue Pigs #1 - Companions

Preface - I wrote these pieces (Rescue Pigs) a while back when I first have the two lovely boys in my life, the site they had been hosted on has since been closed so I am reposting them here for the good of anyone looking for some basic advice on Guinea Pigs or addressing the same issues we faced with Ghost and Hero. Please read them as they are intended, advisory pieces with diary entries on their behaviour and adjustment in a their forever home.

Also worth noting that since these articles had been published, Ghost has passed away and Hero has been through three major surgeries due to a bladder stone and a severe eye poke. We miss Ghost every day and he will always be with me as my little spooky friend.

When I rescued two wonderful little Guinea pigs from an animal welfare centre in Watford, I had no idea how difficult meeting the needs of these animals would be, nor how complex their health can be to balance when moving them from sporadic outdoor hutches and sheds into a warm home all year round. If I told you that Guinea pigs are easy to take care of, I would be lying and so would anyone who has utter the words “starter pet” when discussing cavies either male or female. Five months on from the initial adoption and celebration of bringing our boys, Ghost and Hero, into our home and I can honestly say that it has been one of the most challenging things I have done as an adult and also one of the most rewarding. Allow me to explain some findings and tips/tricks I have discovered from the time I have been spending settling in two wonderfully different Guinea Pigs that had been through a tough time before we found them their forever home.

Despite what some people believe, all animals have varied and complex personalities that behave differently with different stimuli, whether that is a new home or a new handler, dietary changes or the weather becoming colder, every animal you bring into your home regardless of species will have a fascinatingly unique personality that requires you spending countless hours unlocking the puzzle that will hopefully render them content and comfortable in your care. When it came to Ghost and Hero, that was true in excess, I have been around animals my entire life in various shapes and sizes. Dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, rabbits, reptiles, insects, and everything in between, I am not put off by the challenge of learning an animal’s behaviour nor their specific quirks that might crop up. Guinea pigs however easy in idea, have been one of the greater challenges I have encountered with a four-legged furry friend.

Companions

Guinea pigs are herd animals, like most small mammals they tend to feel safer and more nurtured in groups of their own kind, they thrive on having interactions with other pigs and will actively seek each other out when frightened or searching for food. What I had not been aware of, due to my own negligence in researching how sex interferes with the herd dynamic for small mammals, was the tendencies for male Guinea Pigs (Boars) to go through phases of asserting dominance over the other males during times of stress. Moving into a new home with new people, new smells and new amenities meant that our boys would not soon after arriving begin the dance that can be incredibly uncomfortable to watch if you are new to this species. 

Hero, our black boar with a gorgeous ginger strip down his nose, was clearly the “alpha” pig from the start. First to the food bowls, first to the water bottle, first to the hay pile and typically first to any hands that entered their radius. His personality meant that Ghost would shrink and hide away for vast portions of the day and after a while it became apparent that we needed to monitor the situation with their hierarchy behaviour much more stringently than first thought. Now it is worth noting that various other factors can affect a Guinea pigs’ behaviour towards their herd, lack of places of hide/sleep during the day, lack of toys to keep them occupied when bored, too small a pen for them to walk around and exercise, noises/smells in the home they do not enjoy and plenty of other factors we are still discovering that can alter a cavies mood without warning.

Nevertheless, I researched what I could online and viewed an unhealthy number of videos from professional carers and amateurs alike on YouTube, LA Guinea Pig Rescue and Scotties Animals were a brilliant source of free information on the web If you are in need. While I was reluctant to intervene with their rituals that seemed to be going as prophesised online, I kept a close eye on the two as the days/weeks rolled past in their new home. We expanded the cage, added more bowls for food and water, added more hides, removed things they took no interest in and continually evaluated what could be upsetting them to the point that the dominance phase was not easing up for our poor stressed out pigs. Time after time I would be interrupted from doing bits and pieces by the heart-breaking sound of a screaming pig that came crying out from their corner of the house, I would run to them with panic and consistently see the same scene. Hero mounting Ghost who had laid down in submission, showing his acceptance that Hero was head of the tribe, and for some reason Hero would persist in mounting despite this. Ghost would cry aloud sad squeaks that worried me every time, it was a tricky thing to watch as I expected when I brought them home to be ensuring them a peaceful relaxing spoiled second half of their lives, not fighting and fear. 

I persisted with giving it time as specialists would recommend, the dominance phase can last months for some pigs depending on the set-up of their living space and the personalities but felt sick every time the white fluff ball Ghost would shriek out in fear that Hero was once again pinning him down or chasing him away. Eventually enough was enough after the behaviour worsened between the two, with two incidents occurring not long after one another we decided we need to act before the situation got out of hand. The first sign that everything was not happy days in the guinea pig’s kingdom came when we noticed Hero in a moment of fear or maybe anger nose punching Ghost, this is when a Guinea will slam their nose into the side of the other pigs’ face/body almost like they are throwing a punch. It does not draw blood (typically) and do not seem to do any lasting damage beyond hurt feelings, but the sad sight of Ghost taking actual hits was a bright beaming indicator that something was deeply wrong between the two. Hero had chased off Ghost in the past, pushing him away from hay or water, but this can be seen as nothing more than putting him in line, as an alpha would. Nose punching on the other hand is a serious escalation and after once again consulting some experts via email exchanges (once again, thank you LA Guinea Pig Rescue) it was now clear we had to step in and assess how we can stop any further escalations.

Unfortunately, one last incident would surprise us before we made the decision to separate them from the same pen, late one night we lay in bed when we heard a loud scream from the Guinea pigs, unlike the occasional shrieks Ghost would let out when Hero came about looking to claim his seat. I rushed into the room and found two Guinea pigs in separate houses but Ghost shaking in fear, I scooped him up to assess him and noticed a cut across his nose that looked to be bleeding, it was not deep thankfully and required no intrusive treatment, but it was the straw that broke the camels back. Now I had no way of definitively proving the injury came from a physical fight, but it was too much risk to take leaving them together. Finally, we made the plans and after extended their cages measuring now over six feet long shared by a fence between, the two boys had their own homes. 

Since the incident and separation both have grown in weight and boldness both with each other and with their adopted carers, Ghost now weighing over two hundred grams more than when we received him has become a brave mischievous little soul while Hero is now much more relaxed and playful with myself and Tanya. What did we learn, well firstly it is important to let them try and sort the issues out themselves if they are not physically fighting, if you see signs of bites/blood/clumps of missing hair/pieces of ear missing/damaged nails it is time to get involved and assess the problems. We gave the two of them almost three months to work out their pecking order between them, separating them was the last thing we wanted to do, and it gave me many sleepless nights worrying about doing the right thing for them. It has been two months since they both gained their own cages, side by side (which is particularly important) so that they may still groom and interact with one another, they are now happier than when we received them. After contacting multiple other pig owners online, it became apparent that boys of certain personalities do not in fact always benefit from being locked together with another male, it can be difficult to keep the balance of power in check and can often times lead to fights or squabbles that can get very ugly very quickly. It is always worth keeping pigs together, when possible, they thrive on each other’s company and I would have absolutely preferred they get along but having each other together side by side has been the right move for us, having them both become happier and healthier separated was all the confirmation I needed that these two boys just did not like to share. These days they are happy enough sharing a kiss, lick, or groom through the wide bars of their fence and spend most days squeaking back and forth trying to trick Tanya into dropping more hay or food into their bowls, it was a struggle but finding the right formula to get them content was worth every sleepless night and headache that came with it.