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Post by shades on Sept 18, 2015 2:29:22 GMT
Hi,
I've got two male guinea pigs sharing one cage. They're both around four weeks old. One is very vocal but the other barely makes a sound.
It will come and eat from my hand and it will allow me to hold it. It doesn't seen to be nervous but I've never heard it make a sound.
Is this normal? Will it 'speak' one day?
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Post by bazookagoof on Sept 18, 2015 2:48:51 GMT
When I rescued my second guinea pig, he was silent for a few weeks. Gradually, he started to wheek- but in general, he's not much of a talker. Perhaps it might be the same with yours; just give it some time to see what happens.  |
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Post by shades on Sept 18, 2015 4:48:34 GMT
If I take his mate out of the cage, his mate wheeks but I've not heard the quiet one reply yet. I'm wondering if the more vocal one is the dominant one of the pair....
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 18, 2015 18:25:01 GMT
Not always. The dominant one often doesn't need to be vocal, and uses body language to make his or her point. The one with the loudest voice usually does the wheeking for the herd. Sometimes, having a great voice gives a lesser pig a higher place in the hierarchy, because they can call for treats better than any of the others. Quiet pigs either get everything they need/want without speaking, or are too shy to speak. If he wants to speak badly enough, he will |
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Post by jolovespiggies on Sept 18, 2015 19:12:53 GMT
We have just taken on a little boy piggy and he never wheeks. We have had him now for at least 6 months and he will be getting a lady friend soon. Hopefully he will be happier then and we will hear some wheeks. Lacy and Darcy however wheek for England LOL!!
Hugs
Jo xx
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Post by shades on Sept 19, 2015 3:15:07 GMT
Not always. The dominant one often doesn't need to be vocal, and uses body language to make his or her point. The one with the loudest voice usually does the wheeking for the herd. Sometimes, having a great voice gives a lesser pig a higher place in the hierarchy, because they can call for treats better than any of the others. Quiet pigs either get everything they need/want without speaking, or are too shy to speak. If he wants to speak badly enough, he will I love this forum. There's such a wealth of experience. When I first got the gps, the "quiet one" seemed to be the outgoing one. Now the roles are reversed. The vocal one is a little bossy, but I haven't seen any real power struggle yet. I haven't seen the bossy one stopping his cagemate from eating from the same food bowl, so that's good. I'm weighing them every week and so far so good. Sure they fight over food, they chase each other around, but it's more like play. They snuggle up like brothers. At what age can I expect the big showdown? |
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 19, 2015 19:36:26 GMT
Puberty is 2/3 months through 10/12 months. As long as only one is in puberty at a time, they usually do okay. If they are both in puberty at the same time, expect problems. If they start to attack, bully, are generally terrorize each other, separate them. Once they are finished with puberty, you can try reintroducing them, and see if they can get along then. If they have long enough to fight and develop a lot of animosity toward each other, they don't seem to forget that. Even just a divider in the C&C cage so each has half a cage, and they can smell, see and interact through the grids, just not so that either can get to the others territory.
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Post by shades on Sept 20, 2015 9:40:14 GMT
Putting a divider in their cage wouldn't be difficult. I'm thinking about making a removable divider with tunnels for their 'play time'.
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Post by melgo on Sept 20, 2015 14:09:14 GMT
I agree with 3piggles that it could be related to puberty stages (hopefully they are at separate times). Also, here is a guinea pig vocalization guide that I use to "debunk" what my little ones are saying that might help you out too |
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 20, 2015 19:42:25 GMT
Either leave them together in one cage, or divide the cage and keep them separated until they finish puberty. Taking them back and forth between being together and being separated just makes them start establishing dominance again, each time they are together. If they could do that easily and get along, you wouldn't be separating them in the first place. If being together doesn't work, and they start fighting, you won't be able to get them together once they've finished puberty. They will keep the hostility that started before they were separated. Let them grow up, then try again |
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Post by shades on Sept 21, 2015 10:18:27 GMT
I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. The boars are only six weeks old at the moment. Puberty it's just around the corner...
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Post by Bean on Sept 21, 2015 11:05:18 GMT
Some boy pairings go through puberty fine, so fingers crossed you'll be lucky. Although I have brothers who just didn't get along, even post puberty (so ended up getting neutered and now live happily with wives), we recently fostered a pair of brothers who despite being in the middle of puberty, got along beautifully. I don't think we, or the rescue, ever saw a cross word between them over a period of months.
Like you say yours are doing, they will be chasing, mounting and having lots of fun, but provided they have lots of space (which is the key with boars) there's every chance you won't need to think about separating. If food is an issue, adding in extra food bowls and water can really help. And if they start arguing over hideys, cut an extra hole in so one can always slip out rather than facing a stand off.
It's always good to have a back up plan though, so good call plotting the divider!
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 22, 2015 20:32:17 GMT
As Bean said, some guinea pig behavior seems very mean to us, but it's normal to them. My sub pig squeals and carries on when her dominant sister chases her around, but starts popcorning once her dominant sister has left her alone. The girls got into a chase/be chased situation the other day, and both of them totally trampled poor Morty, who was minding his own business. He sorted himself and went back to eating. So it can be difficult to know when there is a problem, and when they're just going through the dominance dance, and will be back to normal in a little while. I think we both got confused about the cage divider I meant, if puberty turns out to be a disaster for them in the same territory/cage, put a divider in the cage, and keep them in separate territories until they finish puberty. Too often we try to get them to get along, only to end up with them harboring long term animosity against each other. If they are put in separate territories before they develop the animosity,either by putting them in totally separate cages or by dividing the existing cage, they stand a chance of accepting each other better once they finish puberty. Again, it's really hard to tell when there is animosity, or when they're just going through the dominance dance. Good luck with that, and I really hope they don't need to be separated. |
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Post by shades on Sept 27, 2015 11:21:57 GMT
The silent one finally gets a voice. Not loud but it's coming along. Loud enough to tell his mate he's not happy!
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 28, 2015 14:42:09 GMT
Ah, the dynamic is changing I hope it all goes well |
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Post by shades on Oct 23, 2015 9:40:53 GMT
One month on and still very little noise. Both guys talk to each other in their own way. There's lots of moany squeaks, chutterings, and rumblestrutting; not much in the way of wheeking, except first thing in the morning when calling for breakfast!
But I'm not overly concerned. They're active, they play around, they're eating OK. They're healthy pigs.
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Post by irina13 on Oct 23, 2015 14:04:28 GMT
All Piggies that I had until now (6),now I have two,were very vocal as babies.as they turned 1they stopped weeking . I mean they stand on two feed when they see me going towards them,rearly make any strong sounds. Only when I "torture" them,when I open the food take it out ,and of course they are impatient as hell |
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 23, 2015 20:09:33 GMT
That is good Shades love that piggies are healthy. I know what you mean about vocals, we once had about 20 piggies in the house and when they heard a rustle, they all wheeked, It was deafening.
Hugs
Jo xx
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 23, 2015 20:32:35 GMT
Of the 10 pigs I've had, 3 were wheekers, and 7 were not. Both girls wheek, now, but Morty never does. LG/Harlequin was a wheeker and a singer. Otherwise, none of them wheeked. After Dakota died, his cagemate Dallas was so lonely, he'd start to cry every time I left the room. That's why I got Zippy so soon after losing Dakota. I worked as a freelance newspaper reporter, and I had to go out and had to go to my office to write. Poor Dallas was just miserable, and the sound he made was so mournful, it broke my heart. Zip was the last pet store pig, as I started adopting from a rescue in the next state, after that, but my store pigs were wonderful pigs.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 25, 2015 21:21:35 GMT
It is my experience that the ladies seem more vocal but that is probably just the piggies I have had (no rude comments from our male friends thank you LOL!!)
Hugs
Jo xx
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