On Apr 3, 3:55=A0am, Ted <Heather_pell...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On Mar 31, 7:46=A0pm, Scorpio <mwhit...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Apr 1, 7:06=A0am, Ted <Heather_pell...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > > On Mar 31, 7:57=A0am, Scorpio <mwhit...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > > > On Mar 31, 7:42=A0pm, Kelvyn <mess...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > > > > Yes it sounds like you need to keep them seperate all the time,
an=
d if
> > > > > possible try to find a new home for one of them. If you have a
mal=
e..do not
> > > > > get a female..or you will have guinea pigs everywhere....all
femal=
es are
> > > > > the best choice.
> > > > > kelvyn.
>
> > > > > No Guinea Pigs were harmed during the writing or sending of this
p=
ost.
>
> > > > they are both males. =A0My boy wants us to get another hutch and
run=
coz
> > > > he doesn't want me to get rid of one of them. =A0At the moment one
h=
as
> > > > the luxury apartment, the other is in economy.
>
> > > Just has another thought, after the bath it could be a good idae to
> > > put the little one back into the hutch first and them put the bigger
> > > one in quite a bit later. Don't give the big one the idea that he
has
> > > priority in the house.
>
> > All good stuff. I bought some shampoo yesterday. =A0I'm not keen to
try
> > the bath thing but I know I have to do it sooner or later. =A0My
partner=
> > agrees there is a chance to get them used to each other. =A0If you
check=
> > my other ng (ARAC) you will see a post from "****rley". =A0She knows a
> > lot about animals. =A0She had some interesting views. =A0I never
thought=
> > there would be so much psychology involved with little old guinea
> > pigs.
>
> > Megan- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Hi Megan - where do I find what ****rley says - which discussion topic
> was it in? Heather- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Scorpio wrote:
> Off topic a bit but not really because I am blaming myself.
Tchah! We can't have our Meggie doing that!
> We have 2 guinea pigs. Only had them for a few weeks. Lately the
> bigger one is attacking the smaller one. I have had to split them up
> just to keep the little one safe. It's getting to the point where I
> don't like the bigger one now. He won't even let me touch him. I
> haven't handled him at all coz he's always been quite stand-offish. I
> figured I would give him some time to trust me but now he's gone and
> got all agressive.
From my long ago cavey owning days, I think you have inadvertently
gotten two males. The females are quite peaceable and don't do any
real fighting. They may have little spats over some particularly
favoured goodie but they mostly get along very well.
The males, however, can be different. The larger the male, the more
likely he is to bully any other male and try to drive him out of the
home territory. In the wild the other male would move on. In the
average pet home, of course, the other male can't get away and leads
a fairly dismal existence being bullied by the larger male.
They are the opposite of dogs. In dogs, a big discrepancy in sizes
usually makes for a more peaceful pack. In cavies, it's just the
opposite. Two males can kind of get along (though they're never
quite happy together) if they are the same size but if one is
larger, eventually the larger one turns into a bully.
Sometimes the smaller male will actually start acting like a female
in order to deflect the abuse. Which is, of course, enormously
reinforcing to the bully.
Now, when I say bully, it sounds like the larger male should be able
to learn to behave better than that. They really can't and bullying
isn't quite the proper term for it. The males are driven by their
instincts when it comes to dealing with each other. They really
can't learn any better, at least not the way humans can. You can
train them to ignore each other while you are there and giving out
the goodies (tiny bits of carrot often work wonders) but the instant
you leave, they go back to their instinctive behaviour. They cannot
help it, they can't stop the way they act any more than most humans
can stop a cough. You might be able to suppress one or two coughs
but eventually you just have to cough, no matter how much it hurts.
The larger one may never have been extensively handled. Or you may
be trying to handle him with the scent of the other male on yourself.
> I just thought you Coyote and ****rley are good with animals maybe you
> might have some answers. I am wondering why he would be like this.
> Is he hungry? Not happy? Bored? I thought guinea pigs were gentle
> creatures. I blame myself. I think he isn't happy at Megan's farm
> and doesn't want to be here. How's that for co-dependency? (See, I
> am on topic).
Well, I think he isn't happy but it's naught to do with you, just
with the way his instincts make him. The females are quite peaceable
together and a pair that is a male and female will get along quite
well (but keep making baby cavies). The larger the territory he has,
the more likely he is to be willing to tolerate another male but the
less likely he will tolerate handling. You have to really make an
effort to handle them every day if you give them a large yard, for
instance, or you'll never see them again.
Two males together are like oil and water. You can shake oil and
water up together and make it look mixed but it separates out again
quite rapidly. It has nothing to do with how the cavies see you,
they're not even thinking about you! They're just thinking about
each other.
****rley
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