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Guinea pigs

Thank you, sorry I missed your message. It is very heartening to hear this from a very experienced piggy person. Truffle and Polo eat from my hand and come up to the bars for food, but stampede off at every and any unexpected movement. Sometimes they will let me give them head scratches while eating, and chin scratches while they are eating pellets from my hand. They come back out again after rushing off and take up where they left off.
 
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Eating cucumber is so nice that Polo pinches Truffle's piece, this wouldn't happen with any other sort of food!

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Polo is more confident, but is subordinate to Truffle. They seem to like some contact, but not contact that might lead to being picked up.
 
Lazy Saturday vibes!
 

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They're looking so adorable! I think they are actually smiling :-)
 
Thank you! They are good little boys. They bicker a tiny bit, but are also eager to please. They need to be humoured and distracted, like small children. Being loud or scary with guinea pigs does not work. Luckily, (touch wood) they love eating. Like all rodents, they are clever fellows.
 
They hate being picked up, but once on your lap, calm down, but become fidgety before long. Catching them isn't easy and needs care so that they don't get hurt as they bolt from your hands. I used my hamster skills, picking them up in tunnels and snuggle sacks. Older piggies may need to their bums washed and oiled with olive oil to stop their poop from building up.
 
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They need a lot of cleaning. I poop scoop twice a day and change their water at the same time, wash food bowls and give them fresh hay. Truffle should be brushed every day, but it's more twice a week. However I have sharp hair dressing scissors and the long hairs that get matted are nice and short. Using blunt scissors doesn't work well as piggies are sensitive about having mats pulled on and fidget and complain bitterly.
 
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Truffle keeps mounting Polo, so I think it's more than a cage clean behind this. They are both in good condition (touch wood) so hormones must be at play. They are in their bendy bridge hides currently and OK, but Polo is being very patient with Truffle's fumbling. I hope their friendship can outlast this hormone spike! 🙄
 
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Goodness it does sound like you have your hands full! Are you sure they're both the same sex?!
 
Indeed, things went a bit downhill this afternoon. So guinea pig jail is in business again ☹️
 

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Polo can relax in his own cage this evening. I am hoping that Truffle will accept the barrier and stop bar biting. They haven't drawn blood, but are now both bristling, hunching and Polo has started rumbling for the first time, even in out of cage neutral space. He is also openly challenging Truffle's control of the hay by approaching him and gaping at him briefly, but is still hesitant at the moment. I don't want them to actually fight as it can lead to nasty injuries. They may get together after some time, but I think the power balance between them might be changing.
 

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Oh dear that doesn't sound good! At least they are next to each other but divided.
 
Yes, if need be, they can live as neighbours with the bars between them. The alternative would be asking a rescue for a female, but neutering them first and swapping one of the boys for a girl. I would much rather keep them with me though as there is a chance they might get together, and also sending one on to as an unknown future would not be good at all. A lot of people keep boars in separate, but neighbouring cages and they do fine. Apparently their boars lie next to each other on either side of the bars, which is more than they do currently. Also, I think they have been eating better with less squabbling going on.
 
Socks: the things those gin gins get up to! I want to tell them to just stop it, but arguing with rodent hormones, even in ultra sound, is not easy.
 
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Things are tense between Truffle and Polo.

I wanted to stay standing, oven gloves and fleece blanket at the ready, in case they started fighting, and they were moving around between my feet. I didn't want one to be cornered against my ankles and possibly panic. Pardon the wonderful views of my bare feet 😄
 
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They look so healthy :-) And Truffle has such interesting hair markings on his back. And they look so big compared to a hamster :ROFLMAO: They are very sweet. It looked to me like Truffle was the slightly grumpy one and chasing Polo a bit.
 
Thank you! Truffle is quite fun to brush, but I have to clean up afterwards, especially after a hair trim. You are right, Truffle has been the dominant piggy and wants Polo to know he's boss. But Polo is slightly larger and heavier than Truffle. Truffle's little sideways swing on approaching Polo is apparently not such a good sign, and means he might be up for a fight. Truffle is making a sort of squeegee sound of irritation and at times Polo's quite loud teeth chattering is audible, also not a good sign, as in hamsters. When in their cage, they have a divider up as I really cannot be sure that a fight won't break out.
 
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Yes Truffle did look like he might be up for a fight! I do hope it settles down.
 
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