Harassing behavior

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ClemmyOddieIndy

Post   » Sun Jun 28, 2020 3:16 pm


So, I posted in the emergency forum about my Bambi being lethargic and I’m starting to realize I think it may be rooted in the behavior of her cage mate Piper. Piper isn’t aggressive but she is constantly up in Bambi’s space; if Bambi is eating Piper will come take whatever she’s eating away. Bambi never fights her for it, she’s just super passive. Last night, Bambi was eating hay and the next thing I looked and Piper is in the spot Bambi was and is now eating hay. I placed a huge pile of hay and the pellets in the bowl for Piper and then a small pile of hay outside the pigloo Bambi was in and Piper left the big pile and went to the small pile for Bambi and started eating it. I just gave them both lettuce while they were in their pigloos and Piper went to Bambi’s and stole her lettuce. I guess I’ve never paid that close of attention because they seem to always get along. I’m wondering if Bambi is having nutritional issues because she’s not getting what she needs because Piper is stealing from her.

I’m not sure what to do now. I’m not sure if that is at least part of the problem with her illness. But it is at least a problem when trying to deal with Bambi being lethargic and not wanting to eat. Here she was chowing down on lettuce and it was taken from her.

Suggestions? I’ve never had a pig as passive as Bambi, she was a perfect fit for my previous pigs that all had health issues but with a young healthy pig like Piper she seems to get run over. They’ve been together for 3 years in November.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:20 pm


If you take her out and give her alone time to eat her food/vegs, will she do so?

ClemmyOddieIndy

Post   » Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:58 pm


Yesterday I kept pulling her out and feeding her but it was causing stress. She was eating hay, but I’ve noticed today she is willing to eat when she’s in her pigloo and left alone way better then when I tried to feed her out of the cage yesterday.

I saw her drinking water and Piper came running over and chased her off. I now know why she eats and drinks in the middle of the night, Piper isn’t really all that active at night.

Carefully watching them today just reinforced that I think Piper is part of the problem.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:35 pm


Ah, then you pull out the other guinea pig to let her eat. Later return Piper.

Shake up the cage with visual partitions (fringed fleece strung across a cage blocks visibility). Make it larger, add maybe another couple eating areas.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:14 pm


Agree. I would give that a try for a few days and see what happens.

ClemmyOddieIndy

Post   » Tue Jun 30, 2020 1:23 pm


I've been separating them, and that does seem to have helped.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:51 am


My two paired boars used to do the same thing. Even though Dean is the dominant pig, Sammy always seemed to steal lettuce, hay and whatever else there was to eat from Dean. Dean just let him get away with it for a bit, but he eventually started scolding Sammy for that and it stopped. They both get equal shares of everything now. I think Dean's own hunger finally drove him to defend his food.

The paired girls race for food too, but they also wind up with pretty equal shares. Ginger eats so fast that MaryAnn doesn't have much of a chance to steal her veggies. As far as the hay goes, I keep enough of it available so there's always plenty for both.

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