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Bonding Reintroducing a previously bonded pair

SparkyTucker69

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Hello. My two guineas were separated about a month ago due to an illness. Now that the sick one is finally healthy again ($100 later), I need to reintroduce them. When I first introduced them (two years ago), dominance was found easily because one was a baby and the other was an adult. I'm a bit nervous this time because they're both adults. I briefly put them together to see if they remembered each other, and that was a big fat no. So what would be the best way for me to do this? The traditional blanket and food on the bathroom floor, or maybe a buddy bath? Please I really need this to work, I need them together so it's easier on my parents when I leave for school (and my second cage is not very big). Sorry for the length, and thanks in advance
 

pigger123

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Introduce them the same way you would introduce any two piggies. Treat them as if they've never met before. Neutral open area, leave them together for a few hours, then into a spotlessly clean cage. I would usually use the buddy bath as a last resort just because my pigs absolutely hate bathing, but you can go with that method from the start if you think it would be best.

Out of curiosity, what was the illness that required you to separate them?
 

SparkyTucker69

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Thanks for the advice! They've been together for about 3.5 hours and it's going pretty well. They have a pattern where they'll lay separately for a while, then meet up and bicker for a bit (so much humping). They seem fairly calm (though I'm still pretty stressed). When can I put them into the cage?

And to answer your question, they were separated because the older one was sneezing/coughing/breathing heavily. I took him to the vet, and she thought it was allergies since his cage mate wasn't showing any symptoms. So he was put on an antihistamine for 10 days, which didn't help. So I went back and got an antibiotic, which he took for 14 days and it helped tremendously. I'm guessing it was a uri and the other pig didn't get it due to having a stronger immune system??
 

SparkyTucker69

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Update: I put them into the cage after 4.5 hours, and the dominance behavior continued for a little bit. This morning, however, they're acting peaceful and normal, like they did for a whole two years before this ordeal. I'm so relieved
 

pigger123

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I'm glad it worked out! In the future, you probably don't need to separate your piggies for something like that. If the other pig doesn't already have the URI too, it's very doubtful that they'll catch it.
 

bpatters

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Ditto [MENTION=30060]pigger123[/MENTION]. URI's aren't all that contagious.
 

SparkyTucker69

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Haha that's what my vet told me but I was being paranoid and didn't listen. Hopefully there isn't a next time, but if there is, I won't separate them
 

bpatters

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Separating a pig for anything less than a very contagious organism or to protect one that's recovering from surgery or injury just stresses them out, and actually can be detrimental to the sick pig.
 
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