I hope you guys are having a nice wheek. Crippie has been spending a lot of time with her piggies over the past few days. Our new trio is totally in love with their new cage and I think they are starting to bond with each other. If any of you guys have ever had guinea pigs and have had to do an introduction you know how hard they can be. Things can go verrrryyyyy wrong with introductions. Piggies need to sort out their dominance and someone (human or piggie) could get hurt in the process. Here are Crippie's Tippie's for successful Piggie introductions (try saying that three times fast... whew).
1) Know your pigs - Your pigs are gonna fight for dominance, that is a given. If you put two dominant aggressive pigs with each other bad things will happen. Emma and Frida had a nasty spat the one and only time I tried to introduce them. With this recent intro I knew that Frida was dominant, Nellie was recessive, and Mama Pig was neutral. Their personalities made this transition easier.
2) SALAD - Food makes everything better. When we first put Nellie in with Mama and Frida we put a giant plate of lettuce in with them. They cared more about food and less about fighting.
3) GRAB A TOWEL - Have a towel handy in the event that things get nasty. NEVER use your hands to break up a piggie fight. Blood will be shed. Throw the towel on the pig causing the problem.
Our trio's intro went pretty smoothly. After a quick nip in the butt Nellie assumed her recessive role. Even though we got through the first hurtle of the introduction, we had to make sure they continued to tolerate Nellie. The next few days involved a lot of Nellie be chased around the cage, Nellie being scared, Nellie screaming bloody murder, and lots of Nellie crying on my shoulder (literally). Here's what we did to help Nellie adjust to her new buddies...
we gave her extra treats and oodles of extra attention. We also had a hiding place with four walls that only she could fit in, so she had a place to go where she felt safe. Of course Crippie had to put the pig that was chasing her (which was usually Frida) in "time out", which involves putting them on their backs (vulnerable position) and saying BAD FRIDA! I might seem like a crazy guinea pig lady for that but Frida knows when she's being naughty.
Everything simmered down after a few days and Frida stopped chasing Nellie and blocking her in corners. Now everyone sleeps in the same general area, eats together, drinks together, and most importantly no one bites anyone else! Now for pictures! I wanted to add more, but my computer is being stupid and won't let me... I'll probs edit this post once it lets me.
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| MY BOWL IS EMPTY... FIX IT - Mama Pig |
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| The Blur of Fury that is Frida |
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| Mama Pig is so photogenic... she either tries to eat my camera or pose |
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| Mama Pig in a hay ball |
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| Nellie checking out my camera |
Crippie's Tippie - Guinea pigs are not simple pets to raise... cannot stress that enough.
We luf learnin bout your piggies! They are quite adorable. Glad to hear they are gettin on well.
ReplyDeleteWow - I never knew there was so much to piggies before. I'd like to feature this post on Mario's page maybe even next week - and on a Saturday when we do a big blog hop. Would that be okay with you? This is so informative for anyone thinking about getting piggies. Like any other animal, they need to do their research before deciding on a piggie so the piggies don't end up in the anipal shelter. Just let me know if that's okay with you. You can either leave a short message on Mario's blog or on my PD one. You do know what you are doing with them that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteGlad we came over. Mario told us all about you and you pigs. It does sound really interesting. We have never had guinea pigs and probably won't since we have so darn many other animals here. I bet they are really cute. Take care.
ReplyDeleteAw, your guinea pigs are SO cute! I love guinea pigs! Mario Cat sent me over. Nice to meet you!
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