HELP! Piggies not getting on?!

bbbarker · 01-23-2016, 12:22 PM

Hi everyone, if you have seen my previous thread you will know, as of yesterday I became a new Piggy owner.
Yesterday I left the Piggies to it, I talked to them the occasional time but other than that I wanted to leave them to settle in. Today Timothy the more confident one came out of their bed to get some veggies off me and Larry just stayed in bed where he has been everytime I come into the room.
So today my dad was doing a bit of work in our downstairs bathroom and so was making a lot of noise. It was so unplanned but due to a leak some work had to be done. I covered half of their cage and put more hay in their bed.
So tonight their cage needed cleaning, they are on newspaper with megazorb on the top. Since their pee had soaked through to the newspaper I needed the piggies out of their cage to clean, so I put them in their very large playpen with toys from their cage.
I was in tears when they starting chasing each others bums, Timothy was chewing Larrys hair at one point (Larry didn't react to this) a little bit of teeth chattering was happening along with other noises. They just seemed to be having a little argument, no biting was involved! I've contacted the rescue I got them from and am awaiting a reply. But I just needed some reassurance!
They are now back in their cages and I haven't heard a sound from them.
Was their behaviour due to the stress of the noise from earlier?!

flowerfairy · 01-23-2016, 12:37 PM

I know my two guinea pigs used to do this sometimes (a neutered male and a female). Keep an eye on them and make sure that they have plenty of hiding places.

Someone with more experience should be along soon.

bbbarker · 01-23-2016, 12:41 PM

I am sat in my room listening out for anything worrying. They are both in the same bed and aren't making any sounds. I am doing some research to try and find out what the noises were that they were making. One definitely did a little bit of teeth chattering

flowerfairy · 01-23-2016, 12:43 PM

Teeth chattering means they are cross! The guinea pig forum could be a good place for info. or the rabbits united forum (quick to answer and lots of people on there have guinea pigs).

bbbarker · 01-23-2016, 01:34 PM

I have posted on the Guinea Pig Forum and am awaiting a reply from some one. I am sat watching and have noticed Timothy the more confident one is out eating hay and veggies, Larry the more shy one slowly came out, grabbed a veggie and ran back to bed, Timothy then follow him and stop at the door to their bed and then went back and carried on doing his thing. Again Larry came out for some more veggies but ran back to bed when Timothy moved. It's hard to judge who's bullying who because Larry has just come out and as he did Timothy ran in bed and Larry followed him. I'm so confused and worried!

Piebald · 01-23-2016, 02:50 PM

I know nothing about piggies but I wonder if what we know about Robos is instructive? Two of everything and houses with more than one entrance/exit?

Jenibelle · 01-23-2016, 03:10 PM

Normal dominance behavior. They're in a new home, so they need to figure out who is really boss. They were also introduced to a new playpen.

Chasing, humping, teeth chattering, even nipping are all completely normal. Unless they draw blood, don't separate. It may look scary to us but it's normal to them.

Only separate for blood or if you catch them in a fighting stance.
Fighting stance: nose high on the air, mouth open, making a LOUD chattering noise. They will be facing each other, squaring up. If this is the case throw a blanket on them to distract and separate.

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but honestly if they keep it up more space as soon as possible is the best solution. I know you're planning on upgrading though! ^.^

bbbarker · 01-23-2016, 03:21 PM

Thanks for the advice, should I avoid interacting with them for now? Should I not put them in the play pen either?
I am going to be upgrading once my bedroom is decorated so next month. With us decorating we are having to move Hammies and Piggies into my mum and dads room which is smaller than mine so with a detolf, zoozone 2 and the piggies cage right now there isn't enough room for a C&C cage but once they can come back into my room I will upgrade.
May start looking at some C&C cages now, and starting measuring where it can go.
Do you know of any where that sells the cages with the coroplast included? Hopefully I've spelt that right haha

Jenibelle · 01-23-2016, 03:38 PM

Yes! Guineapigcages.com sells them premade, and there are also some listings on eBay.

This may sound strange, but is it possible to use the playpen as their permanent home until you can upgrade? My pigs home was a dog playpen.

bbbarker · 01-23-2016, 03:50 PM

Unfortuantely not, I have a dog and it wouldn't be fair to keep her out of my parents room where she sleeps on a night.
I'm thinking if I down size Judy (hamster) back in to a Zoozone 2 and get rid of the detolf, could I stand a C&C cage on IKEA malm drawers. The measurements of the drawers are 160cm x 78cm. There would be a hang over but would this be an issue?