Bonding Failure Help!

[Penelopig]

Hi everyone,

I know it's early days but I'm disappointed. A week ago I introduced our new baby guinea pig 'Violet' to our Penelope. To say Penelope hated her would be an understatement! So I then washed them & fed them together wrapped in a big towel. That seemed to do wonders!

Sadly though, for the last two days Penelope has started biting Violet again. Should I try the bonding again? Should I keep them separated? Do they need their own shelters? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks xx

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone,

I know it's early days but I'm disappointed. A week ago I introduced our new baby guinea pig 'Violet' to our Penelope. To say Penelope hated her would be an understatement! So I then washed them & fed them together wrapped in a big towel. That seemed to do wonders!

Sadly though, for the last two days Penelope has started biting Violet again. Should I try the bonding again? Should I keep them separated? Do they need their own shelters? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks xx

Hi! Is Penelope just nipping Violet, i.e. letting her feel her teeth as gesture of power without breaking the skin or is she really administering bloody bites? The first is a very normal form of establishing dominance over an underpiggy. It is NOT painful even though it looks it, especially as it is usually accompanied by dramatic sounding submission squeaking (which is NOT pain, just an expression of "don't be mean to me, I am no rival of yours"). Please be aware that adults can be quite harsh with babies at the beginning to firmly push them at the bottom of the hierarchy.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sow-behaviour.38561/

Have you separated the girls again? In this case, please restart the bonding in neutral territory again. Buddy baths may seem helpful to you, but what they do is subdue the piggies and actually prevent them from working through dominance and hence not really get on with bonding. Your girls are already bonded. They just need to get the opportunity to work through the small print without interference, so they can then settle down to become friends. Once Penelope feels safe in herself, she will mostly stop chasing and nipping Violet, unless she is experiencing a strong season.

Please make sure that both girls have each their own hidey and bowl, and if necessary water bottle or hay access if the top piggy is blocking it. Only use hideys with at least two exits during the dominance phase, so the underpiggy cannot be cornered. Throwing an underpiggy out of a hidey and keeping it away from a food bowl is part of normal dominance behaviour. You have to sit out this part.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/

 

[Penelopig]

Hi Wiebke,

I haven't noticed any blood on Violet and can't find any actual bite marks. So I'm thinking it may be nipping. It's so horrible to watch though ... however, I will put them back together & use your suggestions about the hidey holes and separate food bowls.

Thank you for the links also. I'll read them now.

Jenni

 

[Wiebke]

Hi Wiebke,

I haven't noticed any blood on Violet and can't find any actual bite marks. So I'm thinking it may be nipping. It's so horrible to watch though ... however, I will put them back together & use your suggestions about the hidey holes and separate food bowls.

Thank you for the links also. I'll read them now.

Jenni

Nipping is not nice to watch, but it is part of dominance, so you will have to sit it out. Just give Violet a chance to get away and to have her own places and bowls well away from Penelope's and see whether that makes a difference. Things should hopefully settle down more after a few days. If not please contact us again.

 

[Penelopig]

Thank you