A Bonding Question

Merab

Merab

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I now have 2 new adopted girls, both 4 years old and both real characters.
They are very happily bonded.
I had hoped to bond them with Priscilla and Micah but am not certain if this will work.
Priscilla may have mellowed but she’s still a diva at 5.5 years old.
She and Micah who is nearly 4 have a good bond

My questions are - if I try to bond the 2 pairs how will it impact Micah who will meet the new girls then get separated again if they don’t get on with Priscilla?
Is it better to leave the 2 pairs as they are and only think of bonding Micah when we lose Priscilla?
The assumption is that at her age she is most likely to go first, but she’s in excellent health.

I do have a Plan B so I’m really just seeking wisdom from experienced forum members as to the best way forward.

Thanks
 
Sending you my very best wishes for a good bond. It would be wonderful if your 4 would live together. I can't help at all as I've only ever bonded boys!
 
Thanks.
When I last bonded piggies, Phoebe was a baby and Merab was clearly herd leader so the fun was between Priscilla and Jemimah sorting out their place in the herd.
This is different setup!
 
Can they meet each other side by side for a bit first? It's not a full on meeting but you might get a better idea of Priscilla's feelings towards the new girls that way.
 
They’re already living in adjacent cages but showing minimal interest in each other.
Apart from Priscilla coming to snaffle hay through the grids.
 
Stephv123 said:
Is it possible to bond a male with his three week old baby boys when I separate them from their mother?
Click to expand...
You may find it better to start your own thread @Stephv123 .
It would be unfortunate if your question were overlooked in this thread which is a different type of bonding.
Sorry I don’t know the answer for you.
 
Good luck with the bonding Heather. It may be alright. Piggies can surprise you. You will know whether it's going to work or not by the body language. Have the oven gloves ready just in case!
 
Hope it goes well! Hope their personalities fit. I’ve learnt from my lot that bonding is always a possibility, even with those I thought would never get on.

Mine have definitely mellowed with age too
 
In my experience you can only try it out to see if it will work.
My girls are always Masters of the Universe and bonding adult females was always a struggle with my piggies (except in one case of a 1 to 1 bonding of 2 older girls), but I only had two massive failures and one optional bonding that didn't work out and one of the failed bondings involved a piggy lady that was very very very special. :yikes:
Since Micah lives next door to the girls and doesn't sit by the grids all day or tries to get to them at the moment, I don't think that it will be a major problem to seperate them again. It's quite interesting that Priscilla shows more interest than Micah.

I know my piggies' personalities pretty well, but in a bonding situation it is always a big surprise what will happen. You can only try it out and react quickly if necessary, but don't Interfere too quickly. And try to get your own mindset into a positive mood before starting. Piggies with a good 'bonding' to their human pick up emotions from us. This can make a bit of a difference during the first phase of bonding. Of course if they really don't like each other you can think all the happy thoughts in the world and it won't help.
 
Good luck with the bonding. I totally get your apprehension about Priscilla and Micah though. 🤞🏻
 
Hi

I agree with @Viennese Furbabies . All you can do is give it a try and stop as soon as you notice things are not going the right way but before any stress is coming down between already bonded piggies.
At the best, it will work out and at the worst you won't be any worse off than you are now. What you can never do is predict the outcome or the dynamics during a bonding.

All the best.
 
Oh it’s so nerve wracking. But all you can do is try. Fingers crossed every pig plays nicely x
 
Exciting times! I might ask Priscilla's opinion first, as Micah will undoubtedly love any new ladies, possibly far too much. I have seen Theo previously disrupt a very subtle negotiation between 2 high ranking ladies during a bonding, by sticking his bum between them and wiggling it!
But by the end of the day they will either gel, or they won't, or there might be an uneasy truce you have to watch for a couple of weeks to see how the ladies relationships develop. You have a huge home for them, and Priscilla will remember happy times being a group of 4, so paws crossed it works out x
 
i agree you can only try and see.in my experience it depends on the top members of each group,if one is willing to loose top position.Gloves to hand ! i hope all goes well.
 
You can only give it a try, if it doesn’t work out then last least you know, whereas if you don’t try you will be always wondering.
I’d love my four to be bonded but Hector was a young thug and upset Posh and Ginger’s bond briefly and Kiki rattles her teeth if she smells Posh and Ginger in the lounge so I clearly aren’t going to try. Hector has mellowed alot but Kiki clearly sees the girls as intruders in her “lounge” (where Hector and Kiki live)
 
Thanks everyone.
There was a conversation between Priscilla and Naomi through the bars today, ending with a fairly tame lunge and wheek.
I think I will see what the vet has to say about Naomi’s lump tomorrow and hope the new correx arrives in the next few days.
I will hope to try bonding either Thursday or Friday afternoons and see how it goes.
I have a plan for a new cage arrangement if bonding works which will add a small extension. If bonding doesn’t work both pairs will have sizeable cages side by side.
I will use this thread for the bonding adventure when it happens.
 
My vet is going to have a chat with the exotic specialist on Friday and then call me to discuss the lump.
Hopefully the advice will be to leave it unless it becomes troublesome.
It’s not causing Naomi any pain or obvious discomfort.

I think it will be better to leave bonding until after that discussion just in case we need any further vet investigation.
 
Decided to go for it today!

New cage arrived and set up. Dividers can be removed if all goes well.

So far it seems ok.
Lots of noise at the moment, mostly caused by Micah going into hormonal overdrive.
He’s been nuzzling Ruth when he could
Some lunging but fairly tame.
Lots of wheeking from Naomi when Priscilla goes near her but otherwise she’s spending a lot of time just lying quietly. Priscilla isn’t threatening or attacking so hopefully it’s Naomi accepting that Priscilla is going to be to pig.

We’ve had washing and hay munching.

Have I mentioned the noise!

Priscilla is looking longingly out of the bonding pen as if to say she’s had enough now.
 
Oh my. It’s sounding positive. Having recently bonded two boars I can only say I know what you mean about the noise 🤣
 
Looks like Micah is enjoy all those girlies 😆 hope it’s still going well 🤞
 
Still looking positive.
Micah still causing chaos!

Every time it looks as if Naomi and Priscilla want to chat he’s there causing trouble!

Decided to move the divides and create a single large cage.
Micah and Priscilla’s part now cleaned out ready for the 4 to live together.
Definitely a calmer bonding than Priscilla and Jemimah- except for Micah’ contribution.
 
Decided to put them in the newly reorganised cage together.
So far everypig is fine.
Micah is ecstatic with 3 girls again.
I do hope he calms down soon and gives them a break.

Lots of tunnels and the joys of a hay bag will have to wait until I’m sure they’ll be ok.

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