Help with a bully baby guinea pig.

[goingupinsmoke]

I have 2 new baby guinea pigs, they are in a large run and hutch with my older girl pigs

one of he babys is targeting the other baby one so I have one baby who's being chased and is having to run away all the time, she looks scared to drink or eat.

So what's the solution? remove the bully and put her on her own? or take the shy one out?

the older girls are fine with both of them no arguments there.

Thanks!

When you say 'bullying' what form does it take?
They will establish themselves with noises (chattering, growling,squeaking, purring). Face-offs where each one raises their heads higher and higher until one backs down.
There might be mounting, barging past each other, walking under or over each other.

If it was an adult targeting a baby there would be more potential for damage simply because of the size.
If you seperate them, it's more difficult to re-establish the group.

Best bet is to have enough hidey boxes. I always maintain 1 per pig + one spare. Then each one has 'get out room'. And if you give them boxes, make sure you have 2 doors so that one can't trap the other.

And enough bottles and food bowls, spaced apart.
They will get their pecking order established and when it is they are more settled.

If they really don't settle you might have to side-by-side them as 2 pairs.
But hopefully given time, they'll sort themselves out.

(I have 2 boars and one is definately the Big Brother. The other is more than happy to pootle along in his wake. They were a bit arsey over Guy Fawkes in their indoor cage, because of the reduced space. That's the number one factor in their happiness stakes. That and enough food)

Good Luck.

Did you introduce them on neutral territory?
It might all be too much of a change for your Little Miss Bossy Breeches to take on at one time.
Was she originally with the other baby ( littermates or same age).

Were they together at first before they met the Resident Pigs? Were they ok then?

Hello - Yes they were together for a week or so in a smaller hutch before both being put out into the big piggy world and I didn't notice any problems. They were bought together and carried home and introduced straight away.

The big girls just ignore the babys and squeak and chatter to themselves and just bumble around.

So the bossy baby is running at the shy one - so the shy one knows how to go upstairs in the hutch but the bossy one doesn't so every morning she is upstairs alone squeaking, if she ventures down and is in the downstairs space the boosy one will tolerate her for a while but will then spot her and run at her - the shy one bolts and dashes upstairs.

So I just feel this little shy one is being isolated, I'm making sure she has space, I give her a bowl of food, water bottle and fresh veg, she also has access to the hay, but she's just out on a limb a bit.

We have zillions of areas they have a double level hutch with a 5ft run, we have a runaround tube connecting another 6ft run, and 3 tunnels and houses, and the top of the hutch is all the bedding area.

I have loads of space hutches and lots of options to split them all up but it seems such a shame to have one or other on their own.

I think I'd hang in there for awhile. Piggies tend to work out their place on the pecking order over time. So long as the shy pig isn't being hurt by the other one, they should be okay. It sounds like quite an elaborate enclosure, so shy pig should have plenty of places to get away to if the other one is bothering her. So long as she gets plenty of cuddles from her human as well, I'm sure all will turn out fine. Sometimes pecking order can change a bit as pigs grow. It could be when she's older, she doesn't get bossed around quite so much. Good luck!

Hi -= agree with everything that has been said, sadly there is a pecking order and guinea girls are especially good at enforcing it! If you give them lots of options for 'escape' the bullied one will be able to run away safely if it allgets too much. Over the years I have had to divide their hutches, have separate runs, separate hutches at night etc, - one day I just let them all free range in the garden, and at the end of the day they were all hunched up together, more interested in the grass on offer than fighting each other. It is really when they are enclosed the problems start, and you feel so sorry for the little ones..... good luck!!

Thanks!!

She is living upstairs and has discovered from her vantage point when to come down and nibble the grass, so I think she's happy with the lions share of the hay at the moment.

hey do have rather a large run,, hutch combination with loads of space to play, I may have to bring them in for the winter all of the rain, but for now they are outdoor piggies.