Adding another pig

[ClaudetteDoom]

Hello,

I have a fairly settled group of four rescued guinea pigs (3 sows and a neutered boar). Two of the sows were added as babies to an existing bonded pair last year.

My husband's aunt has been stuck in the guinea pig cycle for a while. She also now spends more time away, and her pig savvy neighbour has moved so care is more difficult. One of her pair passed last week, leaving a single female guinea pig. She has asked me to take her on. I cannot take her immediately, as we need a cage extension first so it won't be until next week.

I've read the bonding guide over a couple of times, and I know this comes with risks. We would have space to either split the group, or keep the existing group as they are and find the new madam a cage mate if it does fail.

I just have a couple of specific questions:

- in my situation would you put a divider in the cage, leaving a less than idea amount of space for a day or two first so she can get used to being in the new space before bonding in a neutral run? She is also an outdoor piggy, and will be joining our piggies indoors.
- is there anything else that I would need to keep in mind?

Thank you

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ideally they are kept side by side for as long as is necessary for her to settle in before carrying out neutral territory bonding. What you don’t want is to try to bond her while she is feeling scared and defensive - in that scenario she may overreact and disrupt the chances of a successful bonding through fear. Leaving her to settle, even if it takes a couple of weeks, is wise.

With that in mind, while the others being a bit smaller than ideal cage a short period is ok, depending on what size you would need to make the cage, it would all come down to whether said size would be ok if it ended up being a couple of weeks?

 

[ClaudetteDoom]

Ideally they are kept side by side for as long as is necessary for her to settle in before carrying out neutral territory bonding. What you don’t want is to try to bond her while she is feeling scared and defensive - in that scenario she may overreact and disrupt the chances of a successful bonding through fear. Leaving her to settle, even if it takes a couple of weeks, is wise.

With that in mind, while the others being a bit smaller than ideal cage a short period is ok, depending on what size you would need to make the cage, it would all come down to whether said size would be ok if it ended up being a couple of weeks?

Thank you, that's really helpful, I wouldn't have thought about it being that length of time.

Permanently it will be a C&C 2*7. I think, temporarily, we could do a 2*8 to leave the existing group in a 2*5 and the single in a 2*3 whilst she settles. To be honest, she is currently in hutch with a smaller footprint than that, so I'm not so worried about her in the short term. We couldn't 2*8 permanently unfortunately. I would rather go wider than just long, but the space we have means I cannot do that without losing a doorway!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I would think the four in a 2x5 and her in a 2x3 would be ok as a temporary.
Hopefully she will settle in quickly and you can do the bonding but there is no real timeline - it all comes down to how she is. I certainly wouldn’t do the bonding until after she has been with you, and therefore getting to know the neighbours, until the earliest after she has been with you for a week.

One more thought - quarantine. You may choose to forego quarantine as know her background and health status, but I thought I would just mention it.

 

[ClaudetteDoom]

I would think the four in a 2x5 and her in a 2x3 would be ok as a temporary.
Hopefully she will settle in quickly and you can do the bonding but there is no real timeline - it all comes down to how she is. I certainly wouldn’t do the bonding until after she has been with you, and therefore getting to know the neighbours, until the earliest after she has been with you for a week.

One more thought - quarantine. You may choose to forego quarantine as know her background and health status, but I thought I would just mention it.

Re: quarantine, I do know her background, but I'll be extra vigilant to anything out of the ordinary. Thank you for the reminder.

Up to a few weeks would be absolutely fine, it just involves some furniture in silly places. If the bond fails, we'll have to have a second set up somewhere else which will be less of an issue I think.