Bonding Advice!

KatieM

KatieM

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Dec 25, 2024
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Location
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Just welcomed a new boy home today….I had him in a split cage with my other boy. The new boy is very, very shy and nervous at 7 months old because of minimal socialization with pigs or humans. I’m laying down when I hear a slight disturbance from the pig cage. No crazy wheeking just running I go to check and well…my boy had broken into the side with the new boy and was chasing him around sniffing.

I separated them and am holding my boy now but shall I let them go ahead and try to bond? I was going to give new boy a couple days to decompress but my boy hasn’t had a cage mate in a few weeks he’s a bit excited it seems! I haven’t witnessed this new little guy eat or drink yet so I want to make sure I’m giving them both what they need!
 
Yes… I thought I had their divider super secure with Zip ties…my guy is not small I have no idea how he got to the other side. I can only assume manage to push the guess up a bit and go under?
 
KatieM said:
Yes… I thought I had their divider super secure with Zip ties…my guy is not small I have no idea how he got to the other side. I can only assume manage to push the guess up a bit and go under?
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Reinforced the divider and set them back in. Watching them on our camera since newcomer is scared of people. New boy (Spot) moved his hidey around the cage staying in it and eating (yay eating!), then he came out and greeted my boy and zoomed around. Retreating back to the hidey once more. Hopefully OG boy can take a chill pill and let this guy settle a bit more! He worried me busting in like that 😅
 
Glad you managed to stop the territory invasion!
Hope everyone settled down& no more escapees.

Fingers crossed all goes well when you do decide to try bonding your boys.
 
AidaB said:
Glad you managed to stop the territory invasion!
Hope everyone settled down& no more escapees.

Fingers crossed all goes well when you do decide to try bonding your boys.
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Thankfully no more escapees since! Underestimated how sneaky my older boy could be if he wanted to!

Thank you, I’m just kind of waiting and seeing how the younger guy gains confidence being around humans and pigs and hopefully I can bond them someday!
 
You can try to bond as soon as you like if either is in desperate need of company.
Ideally you would leave them side by side for a week and then carry out the bonding.

How he acts around humans or in a side by side cage is not giving any indication as to how the bonding will go.
Side by side is merely so the new piggy can settle in and then so they can get used to each other before bonding day
 
Piggies&buns said:
You can try to bond as soon as you like if either is in desperate need of company.
Ideally you would leave them side by side for a week and then carry out the bonding.

How he acts around humans or in a side by side cage is not giving any indication as to how the bonding will go.
Side by side is merely so the new piggy can settle in and then so they can get used to each other before bonding day
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Thank you! I guess I could say I’m waiting for him to settle in more than I am to gain confidence. My boy is more than ready for company but he’s the most social pig I’ve ever met so I’m not surprised 😅 The new pig came from a hoarding case with wounds on his back end from letting bigger pigs bite him (he was a baby at the time and they lived in a tiny cage, no surprise) so I want to make sure he feels secure!
They are still both very interested in meeting eachother so I’m going to start cleaning some two exit hides and getting ready for the big day!
 
KatieM said:
Thank you! I guess I could say I’m waiting for him to settle in more than I am to gain confidence. My boy is more than ready for company but he’s the most social pig I’ve ever met so I’m not surprised 😅 The new pig came from a hoarding case with wounds on his back end from letting bigger pigs bite him (he was a baby at the time and they lived in a tiny cage, no surprise) so I want to make sure he feels secure!
They are still both very interested in meeting eachother so I’m going to start cleaning some two exit hides and getting ready for the big day!
Click to expand...

Keep us posted on how it goes.
(Don’t forget, you don’t put hides in the bonding pen)
 
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