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Introductions How long do I watch them?

Petlovr

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I adopted 3 girls, have done the quarantine, and am ready for intro's to my lone piggie. Daphne and Amber are about 11 mo. old, Sweet Pea is about 5 mo. old, and my original piggie, Daisy, is about 2 yrs old. They've seen each other through the cages, (they are on opposite sides of the room) and they've been wheeking to each other. The quarantine was just a formality since the 3 I adopted had been treated with 4 doses of Ivermectin due to a horrible case of mites they had when rescued. All their hair has grown back, and they seem perfectly fine & healthy since I adopted them.

My question-How long do I need to directly supervise them once I put them together? I want to make sure that they don't get into trouble with fighting; I've read everything I can find on intro's here and on Guinea Lynx, so I know what to do, except the time frame before I can be reasonably comfy with walking away from them once they are in their new 3 ft x 6 ft cage.

Also, they girls lost some weight between the time I brought them home, (the rescue lady weighed them right before we left her house and wrote it down for me) and 2 weeks later when I bought a scale to weigh them. I weighed them for the second time tonight, and 1 is back to her original weight, and the other 2 are on their way back up. I think I had their pellets too far away from their hidey for a while-now that I moved the bowl closer they are eating more pellets in addition to unlimited hay and excellent gourmet salads. So I think the weight loss was just scared piggies hiding in their piggie house in the beginning.
Thanks!
 

foggycreekcavy

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I usually watch them for a half hour or so, then leave and do stuff, then come back in a half hour, then leave for longer, then come back and check on them. Where is the cage? One reason it's handy to have the cage in a well-used area of the house is that you can observe them while going about your business.
 

Petlovr

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It's in my dining room, so I can do that. Thanks!
Is the small weight loss normal? They had been horribly abused prior to rescue, and they are getting louder and more vocal every day now, so I think they are settling in.
 

bpatters

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It's good to have a long period set aside for introductions in case there's squabbling or things you need to tend to. If you don't need it all, then that's well and good.

And, as foggycreekcavy says, you don't have to stay with them every minute if the first half hour or so seems to be going well.
 

Nicholle

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If your worried about them you can find or get a baby monitor so you can listen for any signs of fighting.
They are usually fine after 30 min. though
 
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