[Gpdd] [BEHAVIOUR] Guinea pig eating cagemate's poop
Sarah
secorneli at yahoo.ca
Fri Aug 13 13:48:25 EDT 2010
Thank you to everyone for your caring and detailed replies. So much to learn!
This female seems to be eating well (fresh veggies, timothy hay pellets and
timothy hay), drinking lots of water and active in the cage. The owner of the
rescue shelter gave me a LOT of research on diet so I feel comfortable that she
is getting what she needs now. The only thing is I don't know if she had
deficiencies when she was adopted a month ago. I will definitely keep my eye on
this little lady and see if it's dietary related.
After reading everyone's posts, my suspicions are it might be a dominance trait.
Since she is an adopted piggie, I don't know the real story behind her. I
suspect even the rescue shelter didn't know either. In the adoption ad it said
she was "shy and retiring", but I see none of that in her! She is the "boss
pig" of the cage and wherever/whenever she wants to eat or sleep, she gets it.
She even kicks them out of their bed, sniffs around, maybe lays down for a
minute, then leaves. Almost as if to remind them who she is. If she choses to
share, that is her choice not theirs. Fortunately, she only does this a couple
times a day and doesn't spend all her waking hours doing it. Over the last
week, the male was not moving out of her way and that's when the chasing and
stealing poops seemed to start. So maybe this was her way of asserting herself?
Instead of confronting the front (where the sharp teeth are) she would
approach from the back where things are more "sensitive"?
I haven't seen anyone with bites, but I have heard a few squeals of protest.
I'll have to watch and see if it continues. Even though they are in an 8 foot
cage, I plan on building a second level so everybody gets more room. Queen Pig
can't be in two places at once!
Once again, thanks for all your help and I will keep you posted.
Take care,
Sarah
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