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Introductions Almost time for them to meet!

  • Thread starter LuvCavysLuvCats
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LuvCavysLuvCats

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YAY!!! Almost ready for introductions! *sigh* Penelope had her check up and we've decided it's from all the massive amounts of dust in my house (farm house) so I now have two air purifiers in there. She's doing great now! :D

Maybelline is still on pregnancy watch and I'm 80% certain she's not pregnant unless she's just having one baby. So... We'll see.

The last thing I'm waiting on is the grids for their floor time area, which will also be their introduction area.

I just want to be certain about a few things because I'm quite nervous.

I know I need a huge pile of veggies in the middle but what about hay. Should I have a pile of hay too? Two water bottles? Or just a pile of veggies for intros?

I have an area picked out they've never been in before.

I have two hidey house's with two exits.

I'm going to put a dab of vanilla extract on their noses before putting them together.

I know I need to keep them together unless they draw blood.

The thing I'm confused about is the bath situation.

Some say to give them a bath separately before they meet so they don't smell like themselves anymore. Some say to do a buddy bath after if they aren't getting along.

Obviously I can't do both because that would dry them out. So do you think the dab of vanilla on their noses and then a buddy bath afterwards would be fine? (I'm going to do the buddy bath regardless if they get along or not just to "seal the deal" and they also both need a butt bath anyways.)

I need to keep them together in the introduction area for around seven hours, right? Or am I totally off? Lol.

I'm going to wipe down everything really well and they'll have a new fleece liner and uhaul pad in their cage plus Penelope only had her loft for a couple days in the beginning before I took it out because it wasn't necessary so I'll put that back in and it'll be like a completely new cage to her as well. Hopefully haha.

I have one more question about the fleece though. It's about Penelope's liner that she has had since she's been here. They'll have a new one but eventually I'll want to use the one I already have again. So how do I wash it to get her smell out completely? I normally wash it with fragrance free detergent and a little dawn dish soap with a cup of vinegar. Will that be enough? I don't think it will, so what should I do? Wash it twice? Get something specific to use on it?

Thanks everyone! :)
 

piggydaddy1

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I use about the same thing minus the dish soap on my fleece, cuddle sacks, etc and the smell has come out every time. Maybe the trick is washing it on hot like I do (which I learned to do in the fleece section of this forum).
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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Well I do use hot water and the smell does come out to my nose but I'm not sure it'll be enough for a piggie nose. I guess when I eventually use the old fleece they'll be very bonded by then anyways so a little Penelope smell isn't going to bother Maybelline. Haha. So yeah, I guess just washing it twice will be fine. :)
 

Pico911

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A buddy bath does not have to be taken together but it should be done within minutes of each other. Also make sure its with the same shampoo that way the smell like each other. Don't be nervous, you got this. You seem very prepared. :)
 

piggydaddy1

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It sounds like you are very ready for this to happen.
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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Thanks, I am. :) I'm just a perfectionist so I'm very anal about everything. Haha. I want to make sure every single detail is correct.
 

piggydaddy1

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Thanks, I am. :) I'm just a perfectionist so I'm very anal about everything. Haha. I want to make sure every single detail is correct.

I'm the same way when it comes to the guinea pigs. Your should see me when I'm changing the fleece out and putting the new set in. The fleece has to be in the cage just right even though I know 10 min after I put them back in, there will be poop and hay all over.
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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I'm doing this tomorrow!! Really excited but still EXTREMELY nervous. Any last advice? ...[MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION] lol.
 

PiggieWigglies

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If you want to get rid of any smell, on the rinse cycle add 1/4 cup of vinegar to the load. It sounds like you are prepared. Good luck
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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Oh one more question! Lets say they don't get along (blood drawn), so I give them a buddy bath. Do I put them BACK in the introduction area to see if it worked or do I just put them in the fresh clean cage? [MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION]
 

Party Guineas

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I've had to do intros a few times (and reintros after surgeries). It's good to have both veggies, hay, and water. Two water bottles is good because there's less likely to be a scuffle about it. Leave the pellets out because bowls can cause contention. It's not really necessary to do a buddy bath before. Introductions can go many ways, some might take just an hour, some a lot longer. You might notice that they'll eat, run around, maybe do some dominance displays, but then break up and sleep for a while. They'll do that on and off because it can be a tiring new thing for them. Just leave them until you're happy that they're fairly settled and not going to break out in all out war. They'll start up with the dominance again, most likely, when you put them in the clean cage, so leave extra time for that to watch them. Your washing situation sounds great and should be just fine. If you've already used the intro area, you'll most likely need a new clean area after the buddy bath. Personally, I'd use a new intro area because I wouldn't want to risk things going wrong in the cage and having to change that! I've never had to dab anything on my piggies noses and some intros were quite nerve wracking, but it all ended well. But I think that comes down to personal preference and what yours are like. Good luck! Sounds like you're prepared!
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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Thank you so much [MENTION=26471]Party Guineas[/MENTION]!
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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Did the intros yesterday and OMG IT WAS THE CUTEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN. Haha! Maybelline was SO excited and Penelope was terrified in the beginning then an hour in they were sleeping in the same hidey house together! Gave them a bath then put them in there new cage and again very excited. Lots of rumbling and chasing today from both pigs, yesterday it was only Maybelline. Neither of them have even chattered or nipped though so I think it's going great so far!!

The only thing they are getting territorial over is the loft kitchen if both of them are up there. Only took them a few hours to figure out they could walk up and down the ramp without dying. Such smart piggies. *proud momma* :,)

I got a video of them yesterday like ten minutes after they were introduced, I'll post it later if any of you are interested. Maybelline looked like a pom pom romping around with her floppy long hair, it was SO CUTE. My mother and I were dying.
 

janinehunt

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Good for you! It's lovely to hear they are getting along so well! :D
 

Rywen

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That's great :)
 
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