Bonding advice, please help!

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I have two female guinea pigs, named Pepper & Ginger. Both were rescued from homes where they were kept alone, and in very bad conditions.

I adopted Ginger first, then Pepper a few months later. When I first brought Pepper home, I set up a quarentine cage in another room. However, when I was away my younger sister took the two pigs out and put them in her hamster's play pen together. Then pen is very tiny, and they began fighting with eachother. So, she got scared and took Pepper out.

Now, whenever I attempt to re-introduce the two, they start out chattering, then lunging at eachother. I always seperate them when the lunging starts, for fear of a full-on fight.

Is there any chance that the girls could somehow get along? Is there anything I can do? Please help.. 8...
 
Bonding Advice

Hi.

There are several things you could try. You could let them out somewhere neutral together, keeping a very close eye on them to separate them at signs of trouble. If you try to put one in another's cage this can cause trouble.

It might also be worth putting their cages close together to get them used to each other so that they see, smell and hear each other without them being able to get to each other. Or you could try splitting a large cage ( I have a Ferplast Rabbit 160 and a puppy pen which mine are in) into 2 with some chicken wire or something similar and letting them live together like that for a while. It could take a while for them to get used to each other.

My older girls once had a huge fight that was completely out of the blue. There was fur everywhere and it really scared me. I took everything out of the pen except one box and their water, hay and dry food, as it seemed that every time that they ran away and hid from each other in separate boxes that it started again when they saw each other. We grabbed a towel to throw over them (Peter Gurney book says to do this, better than using your hand and get bitten). It took over 2 hours before they calmed down and stopped sharpening and chattering their teeth at each other and eventually they stopped walking round like michelin women! It was pretty tense and I never want to go through it again. In the end I turned off the kitchen light and hoped for the best. 10 minutes later I went in. They were sat in the same box looking at me as if to ask "Whats the matter with you"?

They had lived with each other for about a year before the fight and are absolutely fine now and are coming up to 5 years old now.

You might find that they just never will accept each other, just like some people don't get on with each other. As long as they can hear, smell and see each other then they will be ok if they have to be separated, but obviously it's better for the piggies if they have company. You could always try to put each girl with a neutered boy if you have the room.

Hope my rambling reply helps.

Good luck. Bee
 
Thanks so much for the reply.

The girls live 'together' in a cnc cage that I seperated with left-over grates. I've tried introducing them in every room of the house, each time in a new place they've never been in, and they still fight.

If all else fails, I know they'll be ok living as neighbors at least..
 
I find a bath really helps to bond them together as they share the experience and end up smelling the same. :)
 
I've tried that too...
Bathed them together, bathed them seperatly then 'introduced' them.. each time it was the same outcome.

A few people have suggested getting another pig to help settle the girl's differences, but I'm unsure about this..
 
Mmm. Not sure that will help matters, it might make it worse. Have you got a room in the house where neither of them have been before? You might find that if you let them have a run around in a strange place that this might help the bonding process. You might want to have a word with a Rescue that offers piggy dating to see if they could get them to bond with each other in a completely different environment.

Good luck, its a shame when these things happen. Our piggies dont always realise that we do these things for them to make their lives better and happier. I am like an over protective parent with mine (have had many dramas!) so I know how you feel.

xx
 
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