Adding a new baby to a bonded pair

[Liviacraythorn2403]

Hi all, I’m new to this page.
I’m just looking for advice on a new piggie I bought on Wednesday. I would appreciate no nasty comments as it’s not necessary and I find that Facebook guineapig pages have far too much judgement and hate.
My new baby sow is 7 weeks old, she’s been fully health checked by a vet for illness so I was told she didn’t need to be isolated as it would cause her too much stress to be by herself in a new environment.
I already have two 1 and 1/2 year old bonded sows who I adopted in February.
I did a small introduction between the older two and the baby yesterday and swapped some bedding over so they could get used to the smells of one another and then let them sleep seperate for the night, however the baby didn’t move at all for the full 7 hours in her cage on her own, she also didn’t drink or eat.
This morning I decided to see whether my other two would temp her to eat and drink so I put them in a neutral environment (my conservatory) and let them explore each other for the whole day. One of my girls took to her straight away and was showing her the ways. The baby started eating and following both pigs around, all pigs shared some grooming with one another too. However occasionally my other pig seems to have a go at her.
People online told me that it’s not right to seperate them now that they have met because I would have to restart the bonding, so I’ve cleaned the girls hutch with bicarbonate soda and white wine vinegar to get rid of my older piggies scent and I moved things around so it looked like a brand new hutch. I’ve attached a run to the outside too for extra space.
I also bathed all three in the same shampoo so they smelt similar to one another.

I'm a little concerned about leaving all three together over night now but I don’t really have a choice. I haven’t noticed any conflicting behaviour between any piggies in the hutch environment however I did notice that they were leaving the new baby out and one pig was a bit nippy to the baby but not drawing blood. Should I be worried about this.
Sorry for the long story (it’s context)

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all, I’m new to this page.
I’m just looking for advice on a new piggie I bought on Wednesday. I would appreciate no nasty comments as it’s not necessary and I find that Facebook guineapig pages have far too much judgement and hate.
My new baby sow is 7 weeks old, she’s been fully health checked by a vet for illness so I was told she didn’t need to be isolated as it would cause her too much stress to be by herself in a new environment.
I already have two 1 and 1/2 year old bonded sows who I adopted in February.
I did a small introduction between the older two and the baby yesterday and swapped some bedding over so they could get used to the smells of one another and then let them sleep seperate for the night, however the baby didn’t move at all for the full 7 hours in her cage on her own, she also didn’t drink or eat.
This morning I decided to see whether my other two would temp her to eat and drink so I put them in a neutral environment (my conservatory) and let them explore each other for the whole day. One of my girls took to her straight away and was showing her the ways. The baby started eating and following both pigs around, all pigs shared some grooming with one another too. However occasionally my other pig seems to have a go at her.
People online told me that it’s not right to seperate them now that they have met because I would have to restart the bonding, so I’ve cleaned the girls hutch with bicarbonate soda and white wine vinegar to get rid of my older piggies scent and I moved things around so it looked like a brand new hutch. I’ve attached a run to the outside too for extra space.
I also bathed all three in the same shampoo so they smelt similar to one another.

I'm a little concerned about leaving all three together over night now but I don’t really have a choice. I haven’t noticed any conflicting behaviour between any piggies in the hutch environment however I did notice that they were leaving the new baby out and one pig was a bit nippy to the baby but not drawing blood. Should I be worried about this.
Sorry for the long story (it’s context)

Hi and welcome

Your piggies have successfully bonded and are now in the group establishing dominance phase where the youngster will be emphatically put at the bottom of the group. Guinea pigs live in a hierarchical group and that hierarchy has to be re-established with every change of personnel or territory, so dominance behaviours are a necessary part.
Please do not interfere and do not separate; especially not any youngsters under 4 months who are desperate to belong and for the guidance/protection that older piggies provide.

Ideally you remove all houses and cosies with just one exit during the ca. 2 weeks dominance phase and also sprinkle feed veg and pellets across the cage floor. Chucking under-piggies out of prime territory and off prime food sources is part and parcel of the process. The correct response from the youngster is loud submission squealing - which is NOT pain but the correct response to dominance nipping (which is a carefully judged gesture of power). It is necessary to make the group work as a bonded whole. You can now just put the youngster back into the cage with her new family; acceptance has long happened.

Please take the time to read these links here to understand better what is going on (you are now in the dominance phase). You will hopefully find these guide links both helpful and interesting:

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics (includes bonding with babies, sow and group bondings plus the different stages of the complex bonding process including the post-intro group/territory establishing dominance phase)

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts) (includes a chapter on typical sow dominance)

A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours

Personally, I have made the experience that bedding swapping is in the case of babies not necessary (need to belong) and in the case of teenagers/adults it is actually generally counterproductive.
Guinea pigs are territorial in their denning area. The smell is perceived as an intrusion and can turn a pair against a newbie before they have actually met; this the more with insecure fear-aggressive piggies. It contributes to rather than minimises a bonding fail. In well over hundred bondings I've tried over the years just about any of the 'sure-fire' bonding tips that make the rounds but have sadly found that most are not worth it.

PS: Please accept that we are NOT part of social media and that we have a friendly and supportive forum ethos. Mutual respect has to work both ways, though, in order to make it work. We are working hard to keep our forum a place where any questions can be asked and answered in a constructive way.

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

Hi, welcome to the forum. You have received some great advise above. I have recently bonded 2 boars together so understand your anxiety at leaving them together for the first night but everything worked out just fine.
The mods on here are very good at stopping at any nastiness so you should find it a friendly and helpful place

 

[Freela]

Sounds like it went well- some mild dominance behaviour is to be expected. Nipping but only at fur is a normal dominance behaviour meant to show the baby she's below that pig in the hierarchy. Congrats on your new baby pig and hope everything continues to go well!