[Gpdd] ANNOUCEMENT Newcomer Questions

[marykiera at hotmail.com]

Dear All

Hello my name is Mary.  I am the proud parent of 4 recently acquired  meerscweinchen.  Meerscweinchen is Guinea Pig in German.  I currently live in Austria, but I am from the west coast of America.  Hanz Jergen and Franz Joseph were my first two GP.  I purchased them in September.  All was well with the two little fellas until about two weeks ago they started fighting.  Hanz is bigger and older than Franz.  They are not brothers either.  So I made gentlemen (castration) out of them, or so I thought.  The vet said it would take about two weeks for them to rid themselves of their hormones.  I kept them next to each other so they could see each other.  I was impatient, and felt that Franz was getting depressed.  He was continuously trying to get into Hanz's cage.  So I arranged two couples.  Sissy Hapsburg, and Josephine.  My question is was this the right thing to do?  They are both happy.  If I would have waited would they have gotten along?  Hanz and Franz loved to be petted.  Franz falls asleep right in your lap.  For the new owners which I have been reading about it just takes time.  I am home, and do not work so they have the run of the house with me.  They are potty trained pretty much.  Franz even jumps off of me to unfortunately pee on the couch.  We are still working on it.  Hanz is a bit rude sometimes to Sissy.  She has no bites... I check.  Is this normal.  He can't live with out her, but he does not share his food very well, and he does not let her into his house.  She has her own, but want's to be in with him.  Is this normal??  She is littler than Hanz, so should I wait a bit until she can hold her own?  She does get plenty of food.    I apologize for the long note, and for it possibly being the second time.  I was not sure how to use this at first.  I will have more questions, but will keep it shorter. 

Gratefully,

Mary Kiera