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Post by 3piggles on Sept 9, 2015 20:18:35 GMT
I rarely put in a good word for any product, but I'll make an exception in this case. GPM is a magazine about guinea pigs, and everything there is to know/ask about guinea pigs. It is published in the UK, and has quite a collection of guinea pig-knowledgeable people on staff either as full time employees or contributing writers. It is a bit pricey, but the quality and usefulness of the information is worth the money. Subscriptions are available at WWW. guineapigmagazine.com. UK is 4 pounds per issue, US is $6.20/issue, Australia is $8.15/issue and Canada is $8 per issue. I think an annual subcription is available for less per issue. GPM is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and is a great place to discuss guinea pig issues. The latest issue, #28, contains the first of a two part article on bonding different types of pigs (same age sows/same age boars/younger boar or sow to older boar or sow/and recognizing the more subtle signs of bonding going well or going badly. It also deal with understanding guinea pig interaction, from the obvious to the very subtle uses of vocals and body language. I've had guinea pigs for almost 15 years, and have paid a great deal of attention to how they interact with each other and with me. I learned a lot from the article, and look forward to the second part. I was totally misreading one very common vocalization. I won't anymore  GPM is avaible at Pet At Home in the UK, and Petco/Petsmart in the US. I highly recommend it. They also have an archive, so if you're interested in a specific topic, you can get a copy of that issue. |
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Post by Bean on Sept 10, 2015 9:36:08 GMT
It does sound great although I've never read it myself. Do you get it online or in the post? It looks like if you're happy to read it online, you can save a lot of extra postage charges, especially if you're overseas.
I took out a year's subscription to Rabbiting On when we started fostering buns. It's the magazine the Rabbit Welfare Association publish and was an enormous help giving us lots of extra knowledge when we started out. I didn't renew it as we tend to only have one subscription at a time (just to help us budget) and there was something else I found interesting. But this magazine does sound great and I've heard people enthuse about it before.
Just out of interest, what was the vocalisation you were missing?!
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 10, 2015 18:01:11 GMT
I've had a subscription for the past few years, and the magazine has gotten better and better over the years. I've been more impressed with each issue, and decided to pass on the information. I follow GPM on Facebook, but they don't post the articles. I don't know if the articles are available on YouTube, but since I get the magazine, I haven't checked.
I misread the extreme wheeking that Oodles was doing. It's a sign of subservience/acceptance of the dominant pig, so the dominant pig will stop pestering her for acceptance. I thought it was fear, but since it's only happened with Oodles, and I kept rescuing her, which meant Noodles hadn't finished getting her dominance accepted, and went after Oodles again. Now that I've backed off, and am letting Oodles scream her acceptance, Noodles doesn't bother her as much. It can be very hard to distinguish normal behavior from bullying, with guinea pigs.
The same article covered doing intros for different combinations of pigs. It said it's extremely important with boars of the same age to let them complete the bonding process in a neutral place, without interrupting it and putting them back in their cages. So many people on Facebook have commented on the putting their bonding boars together for a few hours a day, then putting them back in their cages. Not good!
Basically, subtle indications such as going from chinning face on to each other, to one pig chinning slightly to the side, indicates the side one is backing off and granting the other ones dominance. Once they lay down together, it's okay to put them in the cleaned cage. Until then, it's best to keep them in the neutral area, and wait for that to happen.
There's also a very interesting article on recognizing the signs of heart disease. One major sign is the pads of their feet start losing color, get sores that won't heal and often develop Bumblefoot. Seeing the pictures of the foot pads, my only thought was what about pigs with black foot pads. I will post the question to them on Facebook.
I haven't finished reading this issue, but if I find more things to post about, I will.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Sept 10, 2015 18:47:00 GMT
That sounds a great magazine, I will have to google it. I don't think there is any other one which deals exclusively with guinea pigs. I have Rabbiting On Bean love and it is always a good read and I love the pics of the bunnies. I also love Small Furry Pets magazine.
Hugs
Jo xx
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Post by Bean on Sept 11, 2015 8:38:41 GMT
Ah that's interesting about the extreme wheeking - I remember one of my old pigs doing that. I was initially concerned they were hurting her, but on closer inspection saw they weren't even close to touching her! The others would almost treat her like an instrument for a while, but it all settled down. I hadn't thought she looked stressed, just that she was a drama queen! Good to know that provided no one's being hurt, it's best to leave them to it so they can sort out their hierarchy, rather than intervening to rescue anyone.
With the chinning thing, I remember reading ages ago that it was almost a contest to see who could raise their head the furthest. But I've always found it to be the other way - that it's one trying to get the other to raise their head up - sort of like exposing their jugular and conceding they are the one in the vulnerable position. It's always been the submissive one who's raised their head highest.
It does all sound very interesting anyway.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Sept 11, 2015 17:34:13 GMT
Oursa all stretch their necks when they know food is coming, sometimes I think they are going to loose their heads LOL!!
Hugs
JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 11, 2015 20:41:07 GMT
Apparently it's not really about who raises their chin the highest, but about who raises it head on to the other pig, for the longest time. The first pig to start chinning to the side, is conceding dominance to the other pig.
It is good to know not to yell at Noodles for making Oodles scream. The chasing and screaming are all part of the dominance dance, and since Morty is out of the dance completely (Noodles couldn't even move him if she tried), it's all Noodles and Oodles. Hubby used to yell at Noodles to stop bullying Oodles. Now we know he needs to just do a firm OKAY, so they know when he's had enough. He has to let it go on to a certain point, though, or it just starts again after a short lull. Noodles has to finish her dominance display, period!
The feet issue with the heart disease was fascinating. First thing I did was check all my feeties, and make sure they showed good blood flow to the extremities. I would never have known to look for that!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Sept 12, 2015 19:33:11 GMT
Ha ha, the piggy way of pushing in, I love it LOL!!
Hugs
Jo xx
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