[Gpdd] BEHAVIOR: My Piggies Hate Each Other

Sasha Yates raya07 at mac.com
Tue Apr 27 07:04:59 EDT 2004


Dear Janet,

    I know what you are going through.  Last November, I bought Cocoa and
decided I wanted to get her a friend so she wouldn't be lonely.  I got Mocha
in early December.  Cocoa and Mocha are both sows and were both about the
same age, 4 months old.  When Mocha came home we tried introducing them in
the bathroom because that's the only room in my apartment that neither had
been in before and one of the GP's couldn't claim it as their territory.
Never the less, Mocha lunged at Cocoa, teeth chattering, and ripped a big
chunk of hair out.  We tried this again the next day and Mocha again came at
Cocoa with such fierceness that Cocoa ran into a corner.  Mocha bit her hard
on the nose and blood was dripping.  Cocoa let out a long painful cry and
wouldn't stop for 3 minutes.  I was crestfallen.  I thought they'd never be
able to be cagemates.  I looked up all I could from the internet about
introducing two female GP's together (this was before I knew about the GPDD)
and there was not much info out there.  What little information I could find
said it takes about 2 months to determine compatibility between unfriendly
pigs. I made a playpen, like a C & C cage, using metal shelving grids that
you can buy at Kmart, Walmart, Costco, or Target and I seperated it into two
halves.  They'd sleep in separate cages at night.  During the day I'd place
Cocoa in one half and Mocha in the other half of the play pen.  They slowly
got used to each other's presence.  After about 3 weeks, I took away the
divider.  Mocha would chase Cocoa meanly around the cage chattering her
teeth.  I let them do that just for a little while and increased the time
they were together in their play pens.  When they got a little more used to
each other, after 4 weeks, they'd just sit at opposite ends of the pen
scowling at each other, I'd make the play pen size gradually smaller over
time until it was the size of the large cage I wanted to put both of them
in.  Finally, at the end of January (about one and a half months after
introducing them) I washed the cage, food dish, and anything else that would
have Cocoa's scent on it.  I then gave them both a bath together, so they
could share a traumatic GP experience together, and put them in the cage.
The first couple of weeks, they'd nip at each other in the cage but after
that, they've been inseperable ever since.  When they are seperated for even
a few minutes, they will call out to each other like best friends.
    I think Izzy and Lily could be cagemates.  Be patient and introduce them
slowly.  If after a couple of months they still want to tear each other
apart then house them seperately.  Until then, there is still hope.  Good
luck.  Cocoa and Mocha give their "wheeeeks" of encouragement to Izzy and
Lily.

    - Sasha and the Hawaiian piggies.





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