Wilber and Grady

[Sef]

You're more than welcome to post a clear picture here or on GL of Wilber's "privates" if you want an opinion in the meantime. I'm usually pretty accurate, and I know they are on GL as well. You can confirm at the vet to be 100%.

[renonvsparky]

It's not a bad idea to have the vet look Wilber over, so I'm just going to go with that. It only another day and a half and $38. Well worth it to not have to post guinea pig genitals on social media for the despicable trolls to comment on.

[Sef]

Well, you can actually attach photos to any message here by using the Reply button vs. Quick Reply (eliminates the need for an image host). But it's entirely up to you. Fingers crossed for some good news on Tuesday.

[renonvsparky]

Thanks. I'm a little bit of a mess emotionally right now. I have zero tolerance for what you have to put up with on social media. My brother in law has stage 4 cancer, 2 of my granddaughters and their father tested positive for covid and on top of all that, I've lost 2 of my guinea pigs in less than 2 months. I'm very happy to have my friends on here and GL. I'm content to just wait until Tuesday to find out about Wilber and make the decision on how to proceed from there. I might not return Wilber to the pet store if it turns out he's a female. I might go with getting someone fixed, and if I do, it'll be the female because that's one very young pig vs 5 other males with ages ranging from 1.5 to 5 years of age along with Grady.

[Sef]

I'm sorry you're dealing with so much, renonvsparky. That is a lot on your plate, for sure. Just know that we are here to support you, whatever you decide to do. Depending on what you find out on Tuesday, you might give yourself a day or two to think it over and decide vs. making a decision right then.

Take care and keep us posted!

[janlovingcavies]

So sorry everyone is going through a hard time. This is why I rarely do social media. If I want contact I do it on forums or emails.

Hoping all goes well at the vet and wishing all the best for your family. Sending you both hugs! People forget behind the screen there is another person who has feelings and problems too!

[renonvsparky]

There's something about Abbies. I swear Grady is a reincarnation of Scruffy. He's very impetuous like Scruffy was. He sits on top of his house, pulls on my shirt and nips when he wants back in his cage. He's getting comfortable with us too. He will come to the front of his cage for treats and he lets me pick him up as long as I let him go to his spot. He's also quite the little wheaker too. He's actually as loud as Gilligan now.

Wilber is coming along too, but not as quickly as Grady. He won't come to the front of the cage, even for food, but will poke his head out and grab it from my hand if I open the door and reach in and hold it out. He's actually easier to pick up than Grady and sits a lot more still when I'm holding him. He does this soft, content little squeak and snuggles too. I hope it turns out that he is a male, but if not, I have to figure out a way to make things work. Wilber has come a long way with us. It would be a shame to have the progress we've made go for nothing.

[janlovingcavies]

How has the vet visit gone or am I too early? Roughly 9.30am in USA yesterday, it is 1.30am tomorrow here. Have paws crossed here!

[renonvsparky]

So the verdict is in. Wilber is a boy. So how to proceed from here? They were fine together for the first week I had them. Right after I changed the fleece for the second time is when the trouble started. BJ was in the cage before them and Gilligan and Skipper before him. I cleaned and sterilized it thoroughly so I know leftover scent isn't it. Could it have been scent from one of the other pigs left in the clean fleece even though I washed it twice? I can eliminate that with the brand new, never used fleece I have. Are they just establishing dominance?

I'm sure I don't want to just put them together and let them have at each other. I think a new reintroduction is the way to go. Grady is a very impetuous little Abby. Could be he isn't meant to have a cage partner. If that's the case, I'll have to rearrange again to make sure all of my lone piggies have a neighbor to socialize with.

[janlovingcavies]

So glad Wilber is a he and not a Wilma. Though if Wilber had been a Wilmer you could of sent her to me.


What I did with Joy and Jay is I halved their pen with one on each side. Then the next day I would put Joy on Jay's side and Jay on Joy's side. I would also have second pen where we'd put heaps of hay and food and let them have floor time. Pen was around 8ft by 4ft and could fold away. After a week they were together until we found out Joy was blind and Jay was picking on her.


Hoping it works out for you and the boys. We and the girls have paws crossed for you all! Keep us posted!

[Sef]

Whew! I'm so relieved! I know you are, too.

Hope you are able to work out the cage arrangement to everyone's satisfaction.

[renonvsparky]

I'll give it everything I have. Pretty sure Grady will be the alpha pig if I can get them to live together. Wilber doesn't resist. He's a very docile pig. He runs and tries to hide, but Grady doesn't let up. He just keeps going after him, biting at him and mounting him. It looks like a bit more than dominance mounting. It looked like a serious attempt at mating, which is why I thought Wilber could be female. It was worth the $38 to find out for sure. I've never seen that before.

When I tried to pair Scruffy and Mr Bubbles, they fought to the point where they bit chunks out of each other's ears. Also Mr Bubbles was a single pig for over 5 months before I got Scruffy and tried to pair them. Wilber and Grady had been together from day one before Grady's aggression started. That's why I believe it was caused by the scent of the other pigs left over in the fleece. I'm washing the brand new unused blankets and when they're done, I'll try and get them together again.

[renonvsparky]

Wilber is really coming out of his shell now. He comes to the front of the cage and takes food from my hand. He's also picked up nibbling on the cage from the older boys. Luckily Grady hasn't picked up that bad habit yet, but he does come to the front of the cage to greet me with a finger nibble. Both are pretty good wheakers. They have good appetites too.

Grady doesn't drink a lot of water though. It might be that the water bottle makes it hard for him to drink. It does have a short spout on it that doesn't stick out very far into the cage. Mr Bubbles has the same water bottle but has no problem. Of course, he's a lot bigger than Grady. On the other hand, maybe Grady is getting enough water and isn't thirsty. Wilber drinks his fair share. He has a bottle with the longer spout on it. I'm going to try pairing them up again and if it's unsuccessful, I'll get Grady a better water bottle.

[janlovingcavies]

Hoping all goes well. Make sure with boys you have 2 of everything and hidies/beds with an entry and exit. Plenty of hay and food. Paws crossed for a good pairing!

[renonvsparky]

Tonight was my dirty jobs night. That means guinea pig cages and cat litter box get cleaned and changed. I have all new, never before used fleece for Wilber and Grady and it's totally different from the rest of the blankets so that I can tell them apart. I put Wilber and Grady together with a brand new blanket in a freshly cleaned cage. I also took out the houses with only one opening and put two freshly cleaned tunnels; one for each of them. I also put in two of the wicker balls so they each would have one. Lots of extra hay went in too.

I put Wilber in first to let him get his scent in there before putting Grady in. Grady wasted no time chasing Wilber around, but it was different this time. It was more like playing and less agressive. There was no biting and attacking and no serious mounting. Grady would let up after a couple of turns around the cage and through the tunnels and Wilber, instead of enjoying the moment of peace went over to Grady and it started again. It went on and off like that for about an hour as I watched them to make sure neither of them got hurt. I went ahead and fed them their night time veggies. They settled down long enough to eat and both got pretty much an equal amount of them.

Grady chases Wilber off and on for several minutes at a time, but so far it doesn't appear that either of them are in danger of being injured. The best way to describe whats going on is, Grady wants to establish himself as the alpha and Wilber doesn't want to have that conversation. He doesn't submit to Grady but he doesn't resist or fight back either. He just runs away from him. Grady is a very high energy, high speed low drag piggie. Impetuous is putting it mildly.

If I thought it would settle him down, I'd re-pair him with one of the adults, but I'm relatively sure he'd get seriously injured or worse. He's still so tiny. Dean would not tolerate him. Sammy might, but he'd play back and may inadvertantly injure him. Mr Bubbles is out of the question. He's been in his own big cage for 5 years and he's very happy. I would never do anything to upset that. Gilligan and Skipper play far too rough to have such a little guy around them.

The dynamics between my other two pairs are so different. I'm in uncharted waters with Wilber and Grady. Sammy and Dean get along very well. Every once in awhile, Dean reminds Sammy that he's the boss even though Sammy outweighs him and is bigger. Sammy gets too close sometimes or gets too bold and will get scolded, but it's done and over as fast as it starts. Overall, they have a strong bond. Gilligan and Skipper get in each other's faces a lot, but it's never more than a bunch of loud squeaking and a few seconds worth of face to face standoff before one of them, usually Skipper backs off. There's also the butt bump when one of them gets in the other's way, but all in all they are a good bonded pair who snuggle together when they sleep.

I've only ever tried to pair up guinea pigs one other time and it was unsuccessful. I'm doing everything you're supposed to do and watching them closely. I have high hopes but I'm totally prepared if it doesn't work out. Grady is just so wild. Must be an Abby thing because Scruffy was the exact same way.