Adding another pig

C

ClaudetteDoom

New Born Pup
Joined
Jan 8, 2022
Messages
35
Reaction score
51
Points
185
Location
UK
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
 
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?
 
Piggies&buns said:
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?
Click to expand...
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!
 
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.
 
Piggies&buns said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
Piggies&buns said:
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?
Click to expand...
Sorry to come back to this. Side by side wise, so I don't have to unable tie and completely break down the end of my existing cage yet, it's separate, but side by side rather than a divider (so there are two grids and around 3cm separating). Is that OK?

The correx side is there too at the moment. Shall I cut it flat immediately, or wait a few days after she arrives?
 
A separate cage side by side rather than divider is absolutely fine.

Re the correx - I would see how she goes.
 
Tank arrived today, and she is most certainly Tank by name and by nature. This biggest pig I have ever held for sure! She has understandably had a very nervy day, pretty much sticking to her hide. I've covered a lot of the cage because she is used to a hutch with a roof and she has definitely nibbled some hay, grass and a little veg.

Her neighbours seem suddenly to have realised she is there 😂 I have now moved the towel well put of Hyacinth's reach.
 

Attachments

  • 20250301_143423.webp
    20250301_143423.webp
    101.8 KB · Views: 1
Sorry to treat this as "diary of a new pig" 😂

Tank has been a bit skittish, but eating and drinking well. I thought that maybe if she saw the other pigs couldn't care less about us wandering around, she might chill a bit so removed the correx.

I know that through the bars isn't a perfect indication of how intros will go, but everything seems very positive. She has been much more confident and has been going to eat her hay when her neighbours are in their hay box. There was a vague hint of a rumble from Almond (the boar of the herd) but less than he has to use to keep one of the girls he shares a cage with in line so 🤞
 

Attachments

  • 20250304_171419.webp
    20250304_171419.webp
    95 KB · Views: 2
Aw Tank is beautiful ❤️ Well done for offering her a home. I hope your other four guinea pigs welcome her with open paws and that you have a successful bond

I look forward to hearing more 🙂 x
 
Good luck with the bonding. We would all love to hear how you get on and how your lovely piggies are doing in the future.
 
Dignified Sir George and his companion Mischievous Master Boris thoroughly approve ♥️
 
So things started really positive (see attached pics) although Tank came out fairly dominant, she's the one who stationed herself in the middle of the pile of hay.

After a couple of hours, unfortunately she faced off against the boar of the group. He stood his ground and it went from 0-60 in around 0.5 seconds and he has bitten her deeply on her face.

A vets trip later, Tank has some painkillers and antibiotics and is back in her granny annex next door to the main herd. I'm pretty sure due to her nature and this altercation, she'll never be able to slot in with the herd so we're currently thinking through options whilst she at least has company, albeit through the bars.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20250308_163727_Messenger.webp
    Screenshot_20250308_163727_Messenger.webp
    107.7 KB · Views: 1
Ok, so after the weekend I'm now ready to add more details and ask for some further advice potentially.

So during the bonding sessions the pigs were in a large area, with no hides and a large pile of grass and hay. Tank entered and was immediately to my mind attempting to assert a bit of dominance. She was deliberately walking between the other pigs and the hay pile, and parked herself very centrally on the top of the hay. The two younger sows (Tank is around 3, they are just 1) immediately submitted in a couple of minor "chin-offs". Hazelnut is very submissive anyway, Coconut was a little more reticent. Hyacinth who is also 3 and current top pig, did not confront Tank, but also didn't submit. She's a very calm dominant pig generally, I think the age gap means she has never really needed to throw much weight around as the babies were just a few weeks old when they were introduced.

Generally, Almond (3 year old neutered boar) is a pretty chilled guy. Before there was a sow hierarchy around him, and he and Hyacinth lived as a pair there was only minor rumbling the first week, and they settled really quickly. Coconut occasionally tries his patience, but will accept a quick hump and get back in line! Early doors in the session, Tank and Almond had some mutual bum sniffing, but then pretty much stayed as far from each other as possible. After a hay top off, they were interacting, and I waited wanting them to sort it out. Very suddenly, Tank lunged at him, and he bit her face.

The current herd are a very settled and happy in their ways, so I'm really unwilling to try and bond her again with any combination of them. I cannot imagine that she and Almond will ever accept each other. She has had two hutch mates historically, other sows, but I'm not sure how well they really got on. They are outside piggies (with a terrier in residence), and I'm sure things have been missed behaviourally. Also, I know under stress they can 'bond' with piggies they don't particularly like for pragmatic survival.

At the moment she is next door to my herd, there is no aggression through the bars at all. Is this ok for a happy life? I'm slightly reticent to add another pig, with the concern that even after dating at a rescue, issues may crop up later.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top