Are they getting on?

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hayleyh

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I tried Ollie and Isiah together this evening in their play pen. I put two toys in there which they ignored and two piggy pouches.
Ollie is very interested in Isiah and sniffing him lots. Ollie is a very active piggy and ran around the pen a lot.
Isiah took cover in the first piggy pouch he could find - but this is normal for him even when he is alone - he doesn't move much and has very little interest in his surroundings unless he is in his cage.
Anyway, Ollie made lots of friendly advances towards Isiah but Isiah just kept turning his face away. He stayed quite still throughout.
Eventually Ollie got in the piggy pouch with Isiah but they were a bit squished as its a single one and Isiah is a fattie.
Still Isiah just sat there. He did look very puffed up and he did the whole hip wiggle thing. I heard some teeth chattering but not sure who it came from.
Isiah did yawn a couple of times.
When Ollie went into the other piggy pouch Isiah started to show some interest in him, sniffing him and coming out of his pouch a little bit.
I've just put them back in their bachelor pads and Isiah has just made a couple of sneezing sounds - not sure if it is just sneezing.
I am not sure if they are getting on or not. I have no worries that Ollie likes Isiah but I can't tell if the feeling is mutual and whether they will eventually be able to be housed together.
 
I'm not sure the yawning is a good sign, isnt that a sign of aggression....I'm sure someone will correct me on here if I'm wrong?
 
I'm not sure the yawning is a good sign, isnt that a sign of aggression....I'm sure someone will correct me on here if I'm wrong?

Well I think it is but I'm not sure if Isiah is just yawning - he does yawn a lot anyway. He doesn't show any aggression towards Ollies at all - mostly just disinterest.
 
I recently introduced Alan and Oscar and Alan yawns alot. Oscar is constantly nosing Alan but he is just not an agressive piggy so rather than them squabbling he'll give him a gently kick and then life his head up showing his teeth and then yawns. This really worried me so kept an eye on them....

The next thing you know they're lying snuggled next to each other!
 
I recently introduced Alan and Oscar and Alan yawns alot. Oscar is constantly nosing Alan but he is just not an agressive piggy so rather than them squabbling he'll give him a gently kick and then life his head up showing his teeth and then yawns. This really worried me so kept an eye on them....

The next thing you know they're lying snuggled next to each other!

Thanks for this - it gives me some hope.
 
Puffed up and yawning are both signs of aggression. The next step is lunging please keep a towel handy should this occur. I have witnessed a Guinea Pig's fighting 3 times now.

What can I say my aim wasn't very good. If you watch this video, you can see exactly where Bette takes her position. Mega annoyed pig, it cuts off at the end as I had to intervene.

The below pigs - where introduced on neutral ground and had been together for 4 hours before this happened. It was a boy/girl pairing.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWl_tMXRD9M[/ame]
 
Puffed up and yawning are both signs of aggression. The next step is lunging please keep a towel handy should this occur. I have witnessed a Guinea Pig's fighting 3 times now.

What can I say my aim wasn't very good. If you watch this video, you can see exactly where Bette takes her position. Mega annoyed pig, it cuts off at the end as I had to intervene.

The below pigs - where introduced on neutral ground and had been together for 4 hours before this happened. It was a boy/girl pairing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWl_tMXRD9M

Oh dear :-(
 
You can see from the video her coat is puffed up - they puff there coats are to make them look bigger.

Boys do tend to give more warning - but all the signs in the above video aren't good. What pushed Bette over the edge was Milo's constant chasing.
 
I have them together again in the pen at the moment so I can sit and watch them. Isiah is sat out of his piggy pouch this time and not puffed up. They are both currently munching on the veggies I put in for them. More than anything now it just seems like total disinterest in each other.
I haven't noticed any yawning or hip wiggling this time.
 
Keep perservering with a watchful eye, have you bathed them together? This can work really well sometimes, it forces bonding and makes them smell the same.
it sounds more positive than the introductions i have tried! We tried a new pig with a couple of our boars (seperately) and it was instant hate and fighting within 10 mins! You never know, they might accept eachother :)
 
I'm happy to say that I put the boys in their pen again this evening and they got on really well together. Isiah came out of his shell much more and was more interested in Ollie.
The only thing I noticed this time was that Ollie was tugging at Isiah's fur - is this normal behaviour?
 
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