Bonding Aunt with babies?

[ashlynm]

I have 6 guinea pigs. A year old boy, a 7 month old girl, a 7 month old mom with 3 babies (3 weeks) (2girls, 1boy).

The babies, especially the boy one, should be taken away from the momma at this time. The mom and her babies are in one cage, the girl is in one cage, and the boy is in another cage.

I was thinking I could just keep the mom and her two girls in one cage together, but then read that they wouldn’t be bonded really, plus the babies annoy momma. Can I try and bond the two girl babies with the 7month old aunt i have living alone in a cage? I tried to rebond the aunt and the momma after she had her babies but momma got scratched/bit in her nose and they got in a big fight. If they had gotten along, I would have just put all four girls together.

So my question is can I try and bond aunt with the 2 girl babies? She’s quite dominant so do you think 7 month old aunt will see the 3 week old babies as a threat? Thanks!

 

[bpatters]

If your cage is large enough and after the babies are six weeks old or so, you can put all the females together. If you separate two sows for one of them to give birth, you have to wait a while before putting them together. If you just leave them together, there's usually no problem.

I have no idea where you read that the momma can't stay with the babies because they won't be bonded, but that's utter nonsense. Pups always annoy the moms until they're fully weaned, but they get over it.

If you put the two males together, make sure they're in a large cage, and get ready for some puberty-related dominance struggles as they both get older.