Introductions Urgent Problem: Jealous Guinea Pig

Hi Everyone,

I have a serious problem. We're babysitting two sows until New Year's Eve. I won't say their names because their mom is sometimes on the forum (in fact, that's how we met). My own piggies, Crackle and Poofters, are extremely jealous. Crackle and Poofters are a mother and daughter. We humans made a very bad mistake during introductions. Crackle and Poofters had met the two a couple of times before, but the other two had been in an enclosed space in the middle of Crackle and Poofters' room. Crackle had been very friendly and interested in the other piggies. Then we had a sleepover with them, and had another floortime with a divider. We had ignorantly decided to skip the "neutral territory" thing, which didn't seem a problem at first because things had appeared to be going well. Then the next day we put them all on the floor together. Huge mistake! Crackle suddenly became very territorial, and her fur was sticking out all over. Poofters was almost the same. Then they started chasing the other two. The other two got so upset that one bit the other and my friend had to take them to the vet. During floortime that evening, Crackle was so happy to have her entire room back that she kept walking back and forth where the others' cage had been and then coming over to me.

Three days ago, it was time for us to babysit the other piggies for real. We set up their pen in Crackle and Poofters room, as we had before. I do a separate floortime, and put the other two on the floor before ours. Crackle and Poofters have their room, the hallway, and part of my office for their floortime space. I've been quietly sneaking the other piggies into my office for their floortime. The first couple of times, we didn't remove all of the others' floortime things before Crackle and Poofters had their floortime, and Crackle and Poofters got very upset. Then today I removed everything, and Crackle and Poofters were fine. They got upset in their room, though, because their floor space was so much smaller. They usually eat from a big pile of hay in the middle of their room during floortime. Crackle has a tendency to get gas and bloat, and has been having diarrhea ever since the others came. Now this evening she has some bloat. I had to give her her medication, and now I'm just waiting to make sure it's working. I'm prepared to go to the overnight emergency vet if necessary.

Crackle gets very upset if I pay attention to the other piggies, and Poofters has been rumblestrutting constantly. The rumblestrutting is also upseting Crackle. My husband thinks that we should put the other two piggies into a different room. The only other option is my office. I'm worried, though, that Crackle and Poofters could get even more upset if they can hear me talking to the others, but can't see them. Crackle is the sort who likes to know everything that's going on. She is also deeply attached to me, and even gets put out at me if my husband and I have human company over or go out for too long. Poofters is the same way about my husband.

What should I do? Should I move our guest piggies' pen into my office, or leave things as they are and hope that Crackle and Poofters get used to having company?

Thank you for any advice! I'm feeling desperate right now.