bonding a 2 year old female ( adopted) with two 9 month old already bonded females

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ericb3323

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Hi All , I appreciate there are many scenarios similar to mine but I just cant seem to find the answer relatable to mine so I come to you all for guidance. We've got two 9 month old Guinea pigs ,well established and bonded . We got them both from the same Pet Store and they were already living together. Last week when buying more food from the same store we noticed a G pig up for adoption, all by herself so we thought we'd do the right thing and bring her into our family as we have the space for 3 pigs in the hutch we have built. Oreo the new pig is 2 years old, Honey and Peanut are both 9 months old. We kept them separate as advised . They could hear and smell each other as the hutch was divided into two floors (one with the Honey and peanut on, Oreo was on the top floor by herself).
After 6 days , we placed them into a neutral pen together , while we cleaned out the main hutch. They all got on great and as expected my two established pigs were inquisitive as was Oreo. So following guidance due to them all meeting we put them into the cleaned out hutch , it wasnt long until a full fight broke loose , Oreo being older trying to be dominant both younger females and oreo cut honeys nose ( shes fine) , so we separated them as i dont want any distress for any of the pigs.
Weve seperated them again but I'm stuck, do i need to buy a new hutch that has no scent in then try all 3 again, do i need to buy them all brand new hideys for the current hutch so that no scents are found? . I'm really at a loss , if they all dont get along then Oreo will have to go back as I'm not causing harm for any of them and Oreo will get lonely. I'm also conscious that more time Oreo spends alone she will become accustomed to it and wont evert bond with my other two. Thanks for taking the time to read this . Eric
 
I’m sorry to hear that.

When adding additional piggies, the best thing is to add a younger piggy so the existing hierarchy is not disrupted. A younger piggy would not challenge. An older piggy is going to try to rip the existing dominant out of her position which usually doesn’t go down well. Adding a single to a bonded pair is the bonding which most often fails.

Equally being in a split hutch one up and the other two down didn’t give them any chance to get to know each other. Single piggies must always be side by side with others, not one up and one down.
How long were they in neutral territory for? It had to be several hours and then the hutch also had to be neutralised.

With all that said a full fight means they don’t like each other and they will not bond if there is a hierarchy issue.

I’m sorry to say
 
Thanks for replying so soon, they were in neutral place for a couple of hours, no fighting or any of concerning behaviours displayed . We neutralised the main hutch however the current piggies hideaways were placed back in it so their scent would have been known. Understood about the side by side , we were given different advice from the store , without them being in a new hutch we cant get them side by side. We also separated them before any other damage was done as that's the last thing we wanted for any of them
 
I can order a C&C type cage and try them in that side by side if that would help with the bonding process, I'm worried about the amount of time Oreo is being left alone from any pairing. My other two are absolutely fine and I cant tell who is the more dominant one between them as they are 50/50
 
As a fight has occurred then there is probably not much chance of a second attempt working out. They don’t tend to forget previous issues

Your pair will know which one is dominant!
However if the new piggy is dominant then the dominant in the pair isn’t likely to take kindly to that.
 
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