Bonding Advice Please

[hartleyhare]

I decided to go ahead with trying to bond Dougal and Gilbert ( as he is now called ) now rather than wait for the 2 week quaratine period to be up. I'm not beng irresponsible, but I feel I have to make the best choices possible for Dougal and Gilly appears to be quite healthy. He is gaining weight and his hair is looking much better. Anyway, I read up on the bonding advice before starting as I've not tried two boars together before.

Dougal and Gilly have been together for 3 days now. There has been no fighting ( that I'm aware of ). There was a little bit of mounting and circling and some yawning from Dougal but not from Gilly on day one but that has now stopped. Dougal is still rumbling and grumbling and if Gilly tries tries to approach him he will chase him away. Gilly appears to be trying his best to make friends. I'm certainly no expert on pig behaviour but it looks to me as if he is being submissive, trying to lick or kiss Dougal, trying to sit with him, etc. Dougal is having none of it. They will eat together but thats as far as it goes. Is this normal behaviour ? Is it likely to improve and they will develop a friendship? When I bond rabbits or rats they sometimes take to each other straight away or sometimes it can take days or weeks. Some advice would be appreciated.

 

[Wiebke]

Your bonding is not a fail. Your boys are still very much in the dominance phase and Douglas is making it clear that he is boss pig. Things may relax a bit more later on; at the moment, Douglas is very much insisting on his personal space.

 

[hartleyhare]

Thank you, that is a relief to hear that Is there anything else I can do to ' encourage ' them or should I just leave them to sort it out themselves?

 

[VickiA]

It's all down to personalities, so little you can do to help except making sure there is as little as possible to fight over. Ideally all hideys should have 2 exits and if space you should aim for one bed each with one spare. It's also good to have separate feeding areas etc so that one pig cannot dominate everything. If there's no serious falling out then I'd say it's looking promising but these things do take time.

 

[hartleyhare]

Well, things are still the same, they don't appear to be making any bonding progress.Dougal is still chasing him away, , nipping at him, yawning and teeth chattering. Hooper ( change of name ) seems to have given up trying to be friends and just does his own thing now - which is mainly trying to keep out of Dougal's way. So where do I go from here ? I'm considering taking away all of their beds, blankets, toys, etc and just leaving them with one large hay box and shutting the door to the crate. In effect forcing them to ' rough it ' for awhile. I sometimes do this with rabbits and always with rats. It does work but guinea pigs are not rabbits or rats. Some advice would be appreciated.

 

[helen105281]

Have things improved at all since you posted this?

 

[hartleyhare]

No, still the same. They are not fighting ( not that I've seen ), sure there would be injuries if they were. Everytime Hooper tries to approach Dougal his expression changes and goes completely deadpan ( Dougal that is ) and he just stares at Hoops. If Hoops doesnn't back away he will chase him away or nip at him. Still lots of teeth chattering and grumbling going on. Oddly Dougal will eat from the same bowl without any issues.