Challenges finding a buddy for pig with head tilt

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Gessika

Post   » Sun Mar 31, 2019 11:34 am


Has anyone had issues finding a good match for a boar with a head tilt?

Melvin is about a year and a half old and has a head tilt (adopted with it so I don't know the circumstances). He's very active, curious, friendly, and it doesn't seem to bother him. I usually forget he has one because visually it's pretty minimal.

One quirk he has is that every time I interact with him, he gets very rumbly and will often try to mount my hand and/or nibble on it. Then he'll run around and popcorn, sometimes even tipping himself over. This stops when I go away.

The vet says that he does this dominance behavior because of the head tilt - he doesn't want to feel "bullied" so he goes on the offensive.

I wasn't able to pair him with another boar when I tried, but that could have been a basic personality conflict, I know.

So my question is, are pigs with head tilts potentially harder to pair? Anyone have success stories or tips? Do you think the vet is wrong in her analysis of his constant dominance behaviors? He literally rumblestruts every time I interact with him.

Thanks!

P.S. He's also an Aby, so there's some built in attitude there!

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Mar 31, 2019 4:33 pm


I don't know. I have a male who doesn't have a head-tilt but who has lived by himself his whole adult life as far as I know (certainly as long as we've had him). He is a sweet boy, but he doesn't seem to like being around other guinea pigs for any length of time (the best way I can describe it, is that he has sulked every time I've tried to pair him with another male).

Anyway, he does rumblestrut any time I pet him while he's in his cage, or even when I'm just cleaning his cage. He popcorns and seems to think it's all great fun, so I've never quite figured out the rumblestrut thing.

As far as pairing your guy with another male...I wonder if he'd do better with another 'special needs' guinea pig?

Gessika

Post   » Sun Mar 31, 2019 9:24 pm


Possibly. I don't see many special needs pigs up for adoption though. All the rescues seem to have bonded pairs, and the Humane Society probably doesn't pig "disabled" pigs on the adoption floor. Melvin apparently developed his tilt in the shelter and they didn't do anything for him because it was considered "not that bad" and it "doesn't seem to bother him" *eyeroll*

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Mar 31, 2019 11:04 pm


You could ask. Many guinea pig rescues will put any special needs guinea pigs into foster homes, since they assume they're not adoptable. It's just a thought. Maybe pairing him with a docile senior pig would be another option and has worked for us in several situations.

Gessika

Post   » Mon Apr 01, 2019 2:56 pm


I have a senior I will try pairing him with, thanks.

rjespicer

Post   » Mon Apr 01, 2019 3:16 pm


One of our Girls has a head tilt from an ear infection. She is quirky and rumbles a lot, she is curious about everything and skittish at the same time, she often has a nibble on my hand when I try to pet her. That said she gets on fine with our other two and they are all roughly the same age. She tries to mount teh other two on occasion but they all seem to do that at different times.

Not sure if boards have more of an issue with this but she seems happy enough and the other two dont seem to bully her.

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