Behavior Guinea Pig Introduction

[guineamom2023]

Hi all! I had two bonded females. One passed away at age 8 and I have one adult female left. We tried introducing a new female and it resulted in bad fighting even though we followed all the rules. We returned the other female and have another more docile pig now. We let them live beside one another and after a while tried introducing which went okay. There was a little bit of lunging but they broke it up themselves. We tried again and everything was going fine and then they started rolling around. There was no biting or anything. I bought a divider to put up in the big cage. Should I put the divide up in the big cage and let them live side by side for a while before trying introductions again? I would love some suggestions! We have them meeting on neutral ground with lots of hay and resources so that isn’t an issue.

 

[MyPigs=MyLife]

From my experience, putting them at a divider for about a day, or a night when you can’t watch them, is a good idea.

If you want tricks on how to help them bond, a buddy bath may be a good decision. Fill you bathtub with a rug or mat at the bottom with a bout and inch or two with warm water and a few drops of piggy safe soap. Let them walk around and you can wash them a bit. Once they are out dry them next to each other so the snuggle a little. If you want you can also put a drop of vanilla on their booties. This and the bath helps them smell the same, so they think of them as a friend already, rather than some random pig. Hope this helps! Best of luck to you! Let us know how it goes

 

[guineamom2023]

From my experience, putting them at a divider for about a day, or a night when you can’t watch them, is a good idea.

If you want tricks on how to help them bond, a buddy bath may be a good decision. Fill you bathtub with a rug or mat at the bottom with a bout and inch or two with warm water and a few drops of piggy safe soap. Let them walk around and you can wash them a bit. Once they are out dry them next to each other so the snuggle a little. If you want you can also put a drop of vanilla on their booties. This and the bath helps them smell the same, so they think of them as a friend already, rather than some random pig. Hope this helps! Best of luck to you! Let us know how it goes

Thank you so much! I’ll give it a try this weekend

 

[Guinea_Pigs_Are_A_lifest]

Hi all! I had two bonded females. One passed away at age 8 and I have one adult female left. We tried introducing a new female and it resulted in bad fighting even though we followed all the rules. We returned the other female and have another more docile pig now. We let them live beside one another and after a while tried introducing which went okay. There was a little bit of lunging but they broke it up themselves. We tried again and everything was going fine and then they started rolling around. There was no biting or anything. I bought a divider to put up in the big cage. Should I put the divide up in the big cage and let them live side by side for a while before trying introductions again? I would love some suggestions! We have them meeting on neutral ground with lots of hay and resources so that isn’t an issue.

I am very sorry for your loss, I know losing a beloved piggy can be tough! Now bonding can be very stressful, and it is important to know the behavior of what is OK, and not OK. I know it is tough, but do not throw a towel over them/separate them, unless they are in a ball attacking each other. As they will need to get up close to sniff, hump, and establish dominance. And even if they do attack each other/go on a ball, the bond can still work! Just give it a week or two before trying again. But if blood is drawn the likes of it working are very very low as they will likely be traumatized. Some people have different opinions of this, but teeth chattering is OK! (well, it is just a piggy saying they are not happy) so do not be alarmed or separate them. It is OK. Let me know if you’d like some extra tips on bonding

 

[MyPigs=MyLife]

We’re a couple weeks out now. How’d it go?

 

[Guinea_Pigs_Are_A_lifest]

We’re a couple weeks out now. How’d it go?

Ok… there is still some chasing and teeth chattering, but never any blood drawn