Hi All,
Me and my partner adopted 2 female guinea pigs around 6 months ago who were mother (Betty) and daughter (Flora).
Sadly Flora passed away last week and although Betty had been coping fine, we thought it was best to get her a friend (Peanut).
When we got Peanut we placed her in her own run for around a day and a half in a separate room so that she could get comfortable with us. Yesterday, we decided to introduce the girls to each other by placing them in separate runs but next to each other so they could still interact. Although they both inquisitive at first, this quickly turned into teeth chattering which we knew is to be expected when asserting dominance. We later tried placing them in the same run but with a barrier in between them and it turned white nasty with both chattering their teeth and Betty chasing Peanut (with the fence still spreading them). At one point Betty also went to headbut Peanut but the barrier was still in the way. After this, I contacted the rescue centre about this and they suggested that they just want to meet each other and are being really inquisitive. As a result, later on when they were settled we took away one of the fences and placed lots of treats in the middle to try and distract them. Unfortunately Betty sprinted straight past the treats and ran to Peanut which very quickly lead to them trying to violent bite each other. Luckily this didn't last long as we managed to split it up very quickly but we have kept them separate since.
After this happened, Betty has basically been laying down at the front of her cage so that Peanut can clearly see her whilst Peanut is constantly sat at the back. Betty also chatters her teeth when Peanut get any attention.
It seems like Betty is clearly the more dominant one but Peanut is bigger than Betty and I am not sure if there is a way for them to actually safely assert dominance without Betty hurting Peanut. We obviously would like to keep both but we are more than open to sadly taking Peanut back as she was comfortable in the rescue centre with her siblings.
If anyone could help then that would be really appreciated!
Me and my partner adopted 2 female guinea pigs around 6 months ago who were mother (Betty) and daughter (Flora).
Sadly Flora passed away last week and although Betty had been coping fine, we thought it was best to get her a friend (Peanut).
When we got Peanut we placed her in her own run for around a day and a half in a separate room so that she could get comfortable with us. Yesterday, we decided to introduce the girls to each other by placing them in separate runs but next to each other so they could still interact. Although they both inquisitive at first, this quickly turned into teeth chattering which we knew is to be expected when asserting dominance. We later tried placing them in the same run but with a barrier in between them and it turned white nasty with both chattering their teeth and Betty chasing Peanut (with the fence still spreading them). At one point Betty also went to headbut Peanut but the barrier was still in the way. After this, I contacted the rescue centre about this and they suggested that they just want to meet each other and are being really inquisitive. As a result, later on when they were settled we took away one of the fences and placed lots of treats in the middle to try and distract them. Unfortunately Betty sprinted straight past the treats and ran to Peanut which very quickly lead to them trying to violent bite each other. Luckily this didn't last long as we managed to split it up very quickly but we have kept them separate since.
After this happened, Betty has basically been laying down at the front of her cage so that Peanut can clearly see her whilst Peanut is constantly sat at the back. Betty also chatters her teeth when Peanut get any attention.
It seems like Betty is clearly the more dominant one but Peanut is bigger than Betty and I am not sure if there is a way for them to actually safely assert dominance without Betty hurting Peanut. We obviously would like to keep both but we are more than open to sadly taking Peanut back as she was comfortable in the rescue centre with her siblings.
If anyone could help then that would be really appreciated!
