The Importance of Piggie Friends
One of the first things many of us learn when we first come to own guinea pigs or first come to learn about modern care methods is the mantra: guinea pigs need guinea pig friends. Guinea pigs are one (of many) animals that should never be kept alone except in very rare circumstances.
Guinea Pigs: A Herd Animal:
This is primarily because guinea pigs are a herd animal. The wild cousins of the guinea pig live in small herds, usually made up of one male and a handful of females. With safety in numbers this is sensible, and this feeling carries over to the humble pet piggie. Even once our piggies trust us completely, there is a level of safety and calm that only comes with guinea pig companionship and reassurance.
Dominance:
Guinea pigs have a dominance hierarchy, one guinea pig is the boss of the others. This is also very reassuring to all the piggies, they know their place, they know they are looked after, they know they are safe. My dominant piggie is Rosie (my avatar pig) and her influence is such that I take her with any other pig who needs to see a vet. Rosie herself is well experienced with vet trips and sees them as a chance to sexy leg out and enjoy her own personal hay stash. But when a scared piggie is with her she will snuggle them and let them know they are safe, and the experience for the other pig is a lot less stressful as a result.
Adolescent pigs spend a lot of their time establishing and reinforcing this hierarchy. Boars in particular can get very hormone driven at this time, but both males and females take part in the dominance dance. This involves rumblestrutting (making a deep purr while swaying side to side and walking slowly forward) and mounting each other. Females also do this to each other when in heat. Pigs will also "attack pee" each other if boundaries are not respected! Chattering teeth at each other too can let others know a disagreement is happening. It's not really something to be overly worried about, it's all totally normal and the piggies soon settle down again.
Butt sniffing is all the rage.
Speaking Pig:
Equally important is the fact that guinea pigs have a well developed vocal language. Guinea pigs talk to each other all the time, my girls are only ever completely quiet when they are asleep! Body language is used just as often, and this constant interaction is something that we humans just can't provide. Guinea pigs are incredible social animals.
I adopted Purdie as a pig who had always lived by herself, she was a quiet shy little thing. After her quarantine we moved her cage above the main cage and she was overcome with excitement, running to try and peer down whenever she heard the other pigs moving about. The introduction was incredibly hard work - Purdie couldn't speak pig! Her integration took a long time and a lot of learning for the other pigs, slowly they realised that Purdie was "special", and that she didn't know correct piggie behaviour. All the time though, Purdie was the happiest little thing, even popcorning when she was being chased away for being rude. Now she lives in bliss with them, and because they still see her as "special", they let her get away with murder! Oh, and now - we never get a moment's peace from Purdie's constant commentary on life with the girlie pigs :)
My girls duly giving an example of their vocal talents.
Human Bonding vs Pig To Pig Bonding:
Guinea pigs bond with each other very quickly, this is one of the reasons introductions must be done in one go while long, drawn out, separated introductions are traumatic. Now this doesn't mean that every piggie couple spend all their time in cuddled up bliss, that is something that is completely down to the two (or more) personalities. Some piggies like to snuggle, some enjoy chasing each other, some just like to know the other is about somewhere close.
A bond between two guinea pigs also has little to no effect on a person to guinea pig bond. While it's true that a single guinea pig may bond to a human more closely or faster due to having no choice, it is equally likely that the pig will end up more skittish and less human friendly due to feeling unsafe and depressed. And even if a person was to spend every minute of the day the guinea pig was awake (which is impossible due to how few hours in a day they actually sleep), we humans still can't talk to our pigs or show correct piggie body language. Imagine being alone with no one to talk to your entire life - it's little wonder that companionship is so important. Lone guinea pigs get both depressed, and terribly, terribly bored - no matter how many nice toys they are given as compensation.
Once when Rosie was very ill we had no choice but to remove her from her herd. Normally a pig can stay with her cage mates through illness but this was an exceptional case. We set her up a cage near to the other girls so she could still talk to them and smell them. Her illness aside, she was miserable. While her health improved, her depression was awful to witness. And while we gave her as much attention as we could, and while she bonded with us even more, it was clearly no match for the comfort that her fellow pigs could give her. As soon as she was healthy enough we managed to get her back into the herd and the difference was incredible. Not only that, but the other girls were happier again as well! Without their dominant pig they had fallen into squabbles that Rosie soon sorted out without any fighting at all. And Gracie was back to licking at Rosie's ears to make her feel better again :)
"Don't worry" says Purdie, the littlest pig in the herd to her piggie boss Rosie, "I'll look after you!"
A Joy To Watch:
As an owner, I can't imagine that looking after two piggies was terribly more hard work than looking after one. I do concede that with five of them, I might have a harder job now! Especially with those vet bills! But it is so much fun to watch a herd interact, to watch them piggie train (follow the leader) around my living room, the way they groom each other either for cleanliness or for cheering each other up, the way they challenge each other to eat their share of the veggies the quickest, or daring each other to be the first to try and walk on the slippery kitchen floor.
Piggies in pairs or groups tend to have less "bad" habits. A lone pig will often have more vegetables that she won't eat, or she might not even know how to eat vegetables. Some pigs don't know how to use water bottles. Sometimes we can teach them this, with a lot of perseverance, but pigs learn best from pigs. My first two pigs would never touch bell pepper, they acted like it was the ickiest thing in the world. After our next two pigs joined the herd, two pigs that quite liked bell pepper, suddenly our first two pigs decided that they simply had to eat bell pepper too! When our fifth and final pig joined the herd, a pig who absolutely loved bell pepper, well what do you know but all pigs decided they had to eat the bell peppers first before any other vegetable. A bit of healthy competition!
When Purdie was in her quarantine cage we soon noticed that she had a little trick of walking under the hayracks, suddenly jumping up underneath them with her whole body, and knocking the hayrack onto the ground where she could lay in the hay while eating it. Not two weeks after joining the herd, Brie and Gracie suddenly knew this trick as well!
And while Purdie, being near blind, didn't know that sometimes goodies were to be found on the roofs of houses, she soon got the hang of Gracie's favourite trick.
Brie reaps the benefits of her new skill. (All hayracks are now secured to the cage and made safe!)
That's A Myth!
There are some myths surrounding guinea pig companionship, as there are with much of modern guinea pig care as we now know so much more about these lovely little animals. Firstly, it is not true that boars cannot live together. Boars can and do live happily together! The only difference between male and female guinea pigs is that males tend to need more than the recommended cage size. They are, in general, more territorial and thus the more space, the better they will get on - particularly when there are more than two pigs.
For the best chance of success with boar pairings, it's best that they don't hit adolescence at the same time as this is when they are at their most territorial and hormone charged. Thus, a young boar and an older boar are a perfect match.
It is also untrue that neutering a guinea pig will change their behaviour. Neutering a boar has no effect on behaviour of any kind. If your pigs are in a same-sex herd, neutering is not needed unless for medical reasons. If your herd is mixed (male and female(s) - more than one male doesn't tend to work if there are females present) then of course neutering is required. Male neutering is safer than female spaying.
It is almost always untrue that you have a piggie who prefers being alone. Introductions can be notoriously difficult, though much harder on us onlookers than the pigs themselves, but with a large enough cage, a large amount of patience, and a lot of reading the introduction guides, it is very very rare that you actually have a pig that hates other guinea pigs. It can happen, but it is hugely rare. Rescue workers have many stories of pigs who have lived alone, have been labelled "totally unsociable" or aggressive, but with a lot of patience and hard work have found them a piggie that they get on well with and are happier as a result. Even if a pig has been alone for over 5 years, they can and will enjoy having a piggie pal!
Introductions can be hard work, my longest introduction took over 4 hours on neutral ground! But that hard work pays off when after a few days tensions begin to settle and after a few weeks the pigs are all bonded together as a herd or pair.
Back in 2007, Rosie grooms newbie Frisky only a month or so after their introductions nearly turned my hair grey!
Guinea Pig Bereavement:
Sadly for some of us the time comes when we choose not to keep piggies any more. And the sad truth is that for those people, they will end up at some point with just the one piggie left to care for. Of course whenever possible I encourage people to keep looking after piggies! There are too few good owners out there and far too many piggies. But it is also sensible to stop if we feel that the time is right.
So how best to take care of our remaining pig? Firstly it's important to remember that the loss of their companion is very traumatic for the pig. You need to pay a great deal of attention to her immediate health, weighing every day and monitoring behaviour. Grieving pigs are very prone to depression, and will be grateful for lots of extra love from their human. Make sure your piggie is in a high traffic area of your house so she gets the maximum socialisation. Make sure to change everything around in the cage regularly to give her new things to explore.
You could also think about adopting a retirement pig from a rescue. Guinea pig lifespans are often quoted as being 4-8 years. While this by no means make a 4 year old piggie old, it does mean that adopting an older piggie of 6+ is an idea for those with one remaining pig. While it is upsetting for us owners to say goodbye to our piggies, an older piggie will love the chance to live out her years in peace with an experienced owner and a friend to talk to.
Or, you could consider helping out your local rescue by having a foster place or two. That way your piggie will have new friends coming to stay, but you won't have any new obligations to keep owning pigs past the life of your remaining pig.
Either way, do what you feel is best for your piggie - by this time in her life, you know her best.
In Conclusion:
So to recap, guinea pigs are a social, herd animal who need each other to feel safe and content. Keeping piggies in pairs or groups will result in happier, healthier, longer lived piggies who are more fun for owners to watch and interact with. All this is why piggie friends are so very important.
NB: I feel that introductions, quarantine, cage size and finding your new pig are big enough topics by themselves - so I'll be writing entries up on those shortly. I hope this one is helpful! :)
Guinea Pigs: A Herd Animal:
This is primarily because guinea pigs are a herd animal. The wild cousins of the guinea pig live in small herds, usually made up of one male and a handful of females. With safety in numbers this is sensible, and this feeling carries over to the humble pet piggie. Even once our piggies trust us completely, there is a level of safety and calm that only comes with guinea pig companionship and reassurance.
Dominance:
Guinea pigs have a dominance hierarchy, one guinea pig is the boss of the others. This is also very reassuring to all the piggies, they know their place, they know they are looked after, they know they are safe. My dominant piggie is Rosie (my avatar pig) and her influence is such that I take her with any other pig who needs to see a vet. Rosie herself is well experienced with vet trips and sees them as a chance to sexy leg out and enjoy her own personal hay stash. But when a scared piggie is with her she will snuggle them and let them know they are safe, and the experience for the other pig is a lot less stressful as a result.
Adolescent pigs spend a lot of their time establishing and reinforcing this hierarchy. Boars in particular can get very hormone driven at this time, but both males and females take part in the dominance dance. This involves rumblestrutting (making a deep purr while swaying side to side and walking slowly forward) and mounting each other. Females also do this to each other when in heat. Pigs will also "attack pee" each other if boundaries are not respected! Chattering teeth at each other too can let others know a disagreement is happening. It's not really something to be overly worried about, it's all totally normal and the piggies soon settle down again.
Butt sniffing is all the rage.
Speaking Pig:
Equally important is the fact that guinea pigs have a well developed vocal language. Guinea pigs talk to each other all the time, my girls are only ever completely quiet when they are asleep! Body language is used just as often, and this constant interaction is something that we humans just can't provide. Guinea pigs are incredible social animals.
I adopted Purdie as a pig who had always lived by herself, she was a quiet shy little thing. After her quarantine we moved her cage above the main cage and she was overcome with excitement, running to try and peer down whenever she heard the other pigs moving about. The introduction was incredibly hard work - Purdie couldn't speak pig! Her integration took a long time and a lot of learning for the other pigs, slowly they realised that Purdie was "special", and that she didn't know correct piggie behaviour. All the time though, Purdie was the happiest little thing, even popcorning when she was being chased away for being rude. Now she lives in bliss with them, and because they still see her as "special", they let her get away with murder! Oh, and now - we never get a moment's peace from Purdie's constant commentary on life with the girlie pigs :)
Click to viewMy girls duly giving an example of their vocal talents.
Human Bonding vs Pig To Pig Bonding:
Guinea pigs bond with each other very quickly, this is one of the reasons introductions must be done in one go while long, drawn out, separated introductions are traumatic. Now this doesn't mean that every piggie couple spend all their time in cuddled up bliss, that is something that is completely down to the two (or more) personalities. Some piggies like to snuggle, some enjoy chasing each other, some just like to know the other is about somewhere close.
A bond between two guinea pigs also has little to no effect on a person to guinea pig bond. While it's true that a single guinea pig may bond to a human more closely or faster due to having no choice, it is equally likely that the pig will end up more skittish and less human friendly due to feeling unsafe and depressed. And even if a person was to spend every minute of the day the guinea pig was awake (which is impossible due to how few hours in a day they actually sleep), we humans still can't talk to our pigs or show correct piggie body language. Imagine being alone with no one to talk to your entire life - it's little wonder that companionship is so important. Lone guinea pigs get both depressed, and terribly, terribly bored - no matter how many nice toys they are given as compensation.
Once when Rosie was very ill we had no choice but to remove her from her herd. Normally a pig can stay with her cage mates through illness but this was an exceptional case. We set her up a cage near to the other girls so she could still talk to them and smell them. Her illness aside, she was miserable. While her health improved, her depression was awful to witness. And while we gave her as much attention as we could, and while she bonded with us even more, it was clearly no match for the comfort that her fellow pigs could give her. As soon as she was healthy enough we managed to get her back into the herd and the difference was incredible. Not only that, but the other girls were happier again as well! Without their dominant pig they had fallen into squabbles that Rosie soon sorted out without any fighting at all. And Gracie was back to licking at Rosie's ears to make her feel better again :)
"Don't worry" says Purdie, the littlest pig in the herd to her piggie boss Rosie, "I'll look after you!"
A Joy To Watch:
As an owner, I can't imagine that looking after two piggies was terribly more hard work than looking after one. I do concede that with five of them, I might have a harder job now! Especially with those vet bills! But it is so much fun to watch a herd interact, to watch them piggie train (follow the leader) around my living room, the way they groom each other either for cleanliness or for cheering each other up, the way they challenge each other to eat their share of the veggies the quickest, or daring each other to be the first to try and walk on the slippery kitchen floor.
Piggies in pairs or groups tend to have less "bad" habits. A lone pig will often have more vegetables that she won't eat, or she might not even know how to eat vegetables. Some pigs don't know how to use water bottles. Sometimes we can teach them this, with a lot of perseverance, but pigs learn best from pigs. My first two pigs would never touch bell pepper, they acted like it was the ickiest thing in the world. After our next two pigs joined the herd, two pigs that quite liked bell pepper, suddenly our first two pigs decided that they simply had to eat bell pepper too! When our fifth and final pig joined the herd, a pig who absolutely loved bell pepper, well what do you know but all pigs decided they had to eat the bell peppers first before any other vegetable. A bit of healthy competition!
When Purdie was in her quarantine cage we soon noticed that she had a little trick of walking under the hayracks, suddenly jumping up underneath them with her whole body, and knocking the hayrack onto the ground where she could lay in the hay while eating it. Not two weeks after joining the herd, Brie and Gracie suddenly knew this trick as well!
And while Purdie, being near blind, didn't know that sometimes goodies were to be found on the roofs of houses, she soon got the hang of Gracie's favourite trick.
Brie reaps the benefits of her new skill. (All hayracks are now secured to the cage and made safe!)
That's A Myth!
There are some myths surrounding guinea pig companionship, as there are with much of modern guinea pig care as we now know so much more about these lovely little animals. Firstly, it is not true that boars cannot live together. Boars can and do live happily together! The only difference between male and female guinea pigs is that males tend to need more than the recommended cage size. They are, in general, more territorial and thus the more space, the better they will get on - particularly when there are more than two pigs.
For the best chance of success with boar pairings, it's best that they don't hit adolescence at the same time as this is when they are at their most territorial and hormone charged. Thus, a young boar and an older boar are a perfect match.
It is also untrue that neutering a guinea pig will change their behaviour. Neutering a boar has no effect on behaviour of any kind. If your pigs are in a same-sex herd, neutering is not needed unless for medical reasons. If your herd is mixed (male and female(s) - more than one male doesn't tend to work if there are females present) then of course neutering is required. Male neutering is safer than female spaying.
It is almost always untrue that you have a piggie who prefers being alone. Introductions can be notoriously difficult, though much harder on us onlookers than the pigs themselves, but with a large enough cage, a large amount of patience, and a lot of reading the introduction guides, it is very very rare that you actually have a pig that hates other guinea pigs. It can happen, but it is hugely rare. Rescue workers have many stories of pigs who have lived alone, have been labelled "totally unsociable" or aggressive, but with a lot of patience and hard work have found them a piggie that they get on well with and are happier as a result. Even if a pig has been alone for over 5 years, they can and will enjoy having a piggie pal!
Introductions can be hard work, my longest introduction took over 4 hours on neutral ground! But that hard work pays off when after a few days tensions begin to settle and after a few weeks the pigs are all bonded together as a herd or pair.
Back in 2007, Rosie grooms newbie Frisky only a month or so after their introductions nearly turned my hair grey!
Guinea Pig Bereavement:
Sadly for some of us the time comes when we choose not to keep piggies any more. And the sad truth is that for those people, they will end up at some point with just the one piggie left to care for. Of course whenever possible I encourage people to keep looking after piggies! There are too few good owners out there and far too many piggies. But it is also sensible to stop if we feel that the time is right.
So how best to take care of our remaining pig? Firstly it's important to remember that the loss of their companion is very traumatic for the pig. You need to pay a great deal of attention to her immediate health, weighing every day and monitoring behaviour. Grieving pigs are very prone to depression, and will be grateful for lots of extra love from their human. Make sure your piggie is in a high traffic area of your house so she gets the maximum socialisation. Make sure to change everything around in the cage regularly to give her new things to explore.
You could also think about adopting a retirement pig from a rescue. Guinea pig lifespans are often quoted as being 4-8 years. While this by no means make a 4 year old piggie old, it does mean that adopting an older piggie of 6+ is an idea for those with one remaining pig. While it is upsetting for us owners to say goodbye to our piggies, an older piggie will love the chance to live out her years in peace with an experienced owner and a friend to talk to.
Or, you could consider helping out your local rescue by having a foster place or two. That way your piggie will have new friends coming to stay, but you won't have any new obligations to keep owning pigs past the life of your remaining pig.
Either way, do what you feel is best for your piggie - by this time in her life, you know her best.
In Conclusion:
So to recap, guinea pigs are a social, herd animal who need each other to feel safe and content. Keeping piggies in pairs or groups will result in happier, healthier, longer lived piggies who are more fun for owners to watch and interact with. All this is why piggie friends are so very important.
NB: I feel that introductions, quarantine, cage size and finding your new pig are big enough topics by themselves - so I'll be writing entries up on those shortly. I hope this one is helpful! :)