Bonding Adult Guinea Pigs with 8 week old Guinea Pigs

[Womble]

I have three 8 week old Guinea Pigs. They have been in Quarantine for 2 weeks.
I am bonding them at the moment with my three other Guinea Pigs. They are a neutered male he is just over 1 years old. A female she is nearly 3 and another female she is nearly 1
I have put them in neutral territory in a run 2 hours ago. They have all met each other. But the babies are so scared they have hardly moved. One of the adults have chased them and bit them. The other two are okay.
I'm worried what to do. I don't want to put them all in the same cage and stress the little ones out. What should I do.

 

[Siikibam]

What you see as biting may just be nipping - it doesn’t break the skin or draw blood. Two hours is still quite a short time. Have they been eating at all? Or moving around?

 

[Womble]

It's just nipping and chasing. They haven't bitten them. They are just starting to relax a bit now. And eating some hay so that's a good sign

 

[Wiebke]

I have three 8 week old Guinea Pigs. They have been in Quarantine for 2 weeks.
I am bonding them at the moment with my three other Guinea Pigs. They are a neutered male he is just over 1 years old. A female she is nearly 3 and another female she is nearly 1
I have put them in neutral territory in a run 2 hours ago. They have all met each other. But the babies are so scared they have hardly moved. One of the adults have chased them and bit them. The other two are okay.
I'm worried what to do. I don't want to put them all in the same cage and stress the little ones out. What should I do.

Hi

Please place a sheet over the op and just leave the sides open; this will make them feel more protected. Give them more time. If necessary put a separator in for overnight and continue tomorrow.

Nipping is normal mild dominance behaviour; it is a very carefully judged gesture of power, just letting an underpiggy feel the teeth without breaking the skin.

Here is our step-by-step bonding guide, which takes you through all stages with their attendant behaviours: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)
A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours

All the best.

 

[Merab]

Hope the bonding works out well.
It can be stressful for the humans though.
I recommend coffee and chocolate - those are my survival tools for bonding as well as the forum

 

[Womble]

Hi

Please place a sheet over the op and just leave the sides open; this will make them feel more protected. Give them more time. If necessary put a separator in for overnight and continue tomorrow.

Nipping is normal mild dominance behaviour; it is a very carefully judged gesture of power, just letting an underpiggy feel the teeth without breaking the skin.

Here is our step-by-step bonding guide, which takes you through all stages with their attendant behaviours: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)
A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours
See
All the best.

Hi

Please place a sheet over the op and just leave the sides open; this will make them feel more protected. Give them more time. If necessary put a separator in for overnight and continue tomorrow.

Nipping is normal mild dominance behaviour; it is a very carefully judged gesture of power, just letting an underpiggy feel the teeth without breaking the skin.

Here is our step-by-step bonding guide, which takes you through all stages with their attendant behaviours: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)
A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours

All the best.

The adults are constantly chasing the babies. I don't want them to get stressed out. They won't leave them alone

 

[Wiebke]

The adults are constantly chasing the babies. I don't want them to get stressed out. They won't leave them alone

Then please separate and see how things go tomorrow. Things will either work out or you will have to accept that the bonding has failed if the chasing is start up very quickly again.

 

[Womble]

I have just separated them. The chasing and humping was constant they wouldn't leave the babies alone. Everytime the babies tried to get away they would just chase them all over the place The babies were getting really stressed. Should I try again