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It’s official: Dot’s introduction has been anything but normal. From her unexpected fights with Buttercup to fidgety personality, Dot is turning out to be quite the little, fuzzy challenge.
As you may remember, The Humans suspended introduction attempts in August after Dot suddenly attacked Buttercup. This came as a shock, since Dot had been living peacefully alongside Hammy, Buttercup, and Feebee for a few days.
After over a month of waiting it out, Dot was introduced for a fifth time last weekend. It lasted only 15 minutes.
Background
Since introductions were suspended, Dot has been living inside the HappyCavy Forever Home separated by a double-layer of cage grids. The other guinea pigs are quite wary of Dot, probably with good reason. Dot is the one who, after all, left quite an impression on Buttercup last month.
Needless to say, everyone was a bit nervous about this most recent introduction attempt: Human and fuzzy alike.
The Situation
Each pig was placed in a neutral introduction area, with pigloos and enough room to hide if they felt threatened or wanted to escape. Meanwhile, The Humans waited with towels in hand to throw on any aggressive piggies.
The first ten minutes were spent in silence: the pigs ran into their respective hiding areas once they were placed on the floor. No noises, no chattering…just silence.
Then Dot decided to explore. She went around to each hiding area, sniffed the pig inside, and went along her merry way. “Could this be,” The Humans thought, “the beginning of a successful introduction?”
Hammy emerged. She walked around the introduction area, making every attempt to avoid Dot. But then they met.
Chattering immediately began. Then rumble-strutting. Then, surprisingly, Hammy took a lunge at Dot and managed to rip some hair from her back end.
Hammy has never displayed aggressive behavior, but it isn’t a complete surprise. Hammy is the #1 pig of the HappyCavy Home, and it seems as if she took it upon herself to conduct a preemptive strike against Dot to prevent any aggression she thought might arise from Dot’s presence.
In what has become an all-too familiar routine, The Humans immediately separated Dot and decided that enough was enough. At their wits’ end, the Humans feel that “waiting it out” wasn’t an option. A bloody lip was enough to learn a precious lesson the first time.
So the Humans began discussing what do to next.
Moving Forward
There are several options ahead, and here’s what they look like:
“Traumatize” each pig and attempt re-introductions. This will probably be The Humans’ next step. Whether the pigs will get a collective pig bath or a long car ride, the heightened levels of stress may help the pigs bond and hopefully get over the introduction “hump.”
Taking time. If a bath or car ride doesn’t help ease relations, The Humans will simply try introducing Dot each weekend until she is comfortable. If, after a month or so of failed introductions continue, it’s on to…
Accepting that Dot is a solitary pig. While nobody wants to accept that their guinea pig may be happier living alone than with friends, Dot may very well be one of those special cases. This will involve a cage re-construction to give both parties enough room and amenities to live together, but they will be separated by a barrier of grids.
Conclusion
Do you have an experiences with a difficult pig you’d like to share? What are you doing to help introductions along?
Please share in the comment section below!
