bonding help

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jay3ttp

jay3ttp

Junior Guinea Pig
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Rothwell Northamptonshire
I just posted this in guinea pig chat but think it was the wrong ares, sorry. After many different ideas and arangements we thought we had finally solved the problems, but unfortunatly not completely!
back in Feb/March I was considering rehoming my piggies as we were moving from Cornwall to Northamptonshire, luckily my brilliant mum and dad allowed me to get them to theres and had them for a few month while we found a house. The house we had to take is tiny, we had a huge house when we got all the piggies now it is minute. After lots of moaning and various ideas we finally came up with 2 large hutches in the kitchen/diner each double with 2 piggies at top and 2 at the bottom. We then had two 120 cages on top for our two piggies that seem to hate other piggies, this way they can se each other but can't fight. This arrangement all depended on my other 2 lone boars becoming friends...........they didnt, we left them together for as long as we could but it ended with other half having to grab one and there was a small amount of blood on ones ear Anyway I am now left with a large empty hutch and two single piggies still in there old cages so I can keep hutch neutral. I cant stay like this for long as they are taking up too much floor space.
I have come up with some ideas but not 100% on what to do, I can either get both a baby friend, move one pair into hutch and the other pair could go elsewear in the house (but i worry fighting in the future will result in more problems), get both neuterd and move one in with my existing two sows and get the other a girlfriend (this option means I won't need to find more space in the house but will mean waiting for ages befroe intros) help what would you do. I thought they were pretty chilled piggies but last night I saw they are not lol x
 
How old are the males? Would be my first question. Hormones run rife pre 18 months and even then they can be funny sticks.A male adult piggy won't fight a baby and nearly almost always intros go smoothly but the problem arises when the baby hits puberty. A lot get through it fine as the older pig is in charge but some will try to be top pig and that's when problems arise. Out of all the babies I have introduced to adults I have had to split 1 and he is now in with another piggy. Its a tricky dilemma but males can fall out with females too and females can fall out, its hard to know what to do for the best. Do you have any rescues nearby who do boar dating?
 
Hi we have just tried one of the piggies from yesterday with one of the piggies who i said hated other pigies and OMG they like each other! At the moment they are on the table in a run, everytime one sniffs the others bum they popcorn! They have eaten a carrot and shared some hay. There has been no teeth chattering at all, but they are kind of making a kind of squeaky noise. I just looked up and they are laying down together? I assume this is all good?
I have a brand new hutch for them in my kitchen so there is no smells in there, how will i know when I can move them in there. They seem fairly chilled but I am not too experienced with this so any advice would be great x
 
If they can get through the first nap together and its still quiet then I would say its a success. I always leave them for a couple of hours then move them to the cage. I then watch them and assess how its going. A little trick I have found that works is if there is initially teeth chattering when they go in the cage and it doesn't quieten down after 15 minutes is to take them back out and into the neutral area then after another hour if all is fine again try the cage. I find it can take a couple of attempts for it to be peaceful but it sounds good so far. I have a pair who I introduced on Thursday and we are on day 4 and still going well. I always add two food bowls etc for first few days aswell to make sure there is nothing to squabble over :)
 
They are still in run and there still hasn't been any teeth chattering but one is chasing the other a lot and trying to hump him, the other is running away squeaking a lot, then thy just stop and either eat hay or lay down! I am guessing this is normal just hoping it good too x
 
Keep them occupied with plenty of food, is there's more than enough then no reason for them to fight over it. My local rescue uses lavender oil on there backs which can have a calming effect. As long as there's no blood or mouthfuls of hair, you're on the right track.
 
As you are in Northamptonshire and have one of the best piggy vets in the country with lots of neutering experience well within your reach, I would seriously consider going down this route, which I normally wouldn't recommend as the first option, as it very much depends on having access to an experienced vet.
Simon Maddock at the Cat&Rabbit Care Clinic (who I use myself): http://www.catandrabbit.co.uk/html/contact_us.html

You could also consider splitting up the girls so each can go with a boy, so you don't need to change your living arrangements. Other members have done this successfully with fallen out boys of theirs. Cross gender bondings (provided initial acceptance happens) are the most stable of piggy relationships and can be very loving indeed!

Please be aware that your boys will need a full 6 weeks post op wait to be 100% to go with girls. I have a very beautiful surprise baby from an over 5 weeks post op boar (not one of mine), just to prove that particular point.

Alternatively, there is a new good standard guinea pig rescue in Northampton in case things don't work out. Best of luck anyway!
 
jay3ttp said:
They are still in run and there still hasn't been any teeth chattering but one is chasing the other a lot and trying to hump him, the other is running away squeaking a lot, then thy just stop and either eat hay or lay down! I am guessing this is normal just hoping it good too x
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How are things now? If there has been no teeth chattering with all the humping then its early days but so far so good, the next few days as they develop a friendship and hierarchy is very important if they can get through the next week and its still all quiet then you can relax a little. I always watch them for the first week or so :)
 
They seem to be ok at the moment, they are both sleeping next to each other. The humping seems to have died down although I guess they will do it again. Even my most established pair who get on great have their humping moment lol. Will keep you all informed and thank for all the advice and support x
 
jay3ttp said:
They seem to be ok at the moment, they are both sleeping next to each other. The humping seems to have died down although I guess they will do it again. Even my most established pair who get on great have their humping moment lol. Will keep you all informed and thank for all the advice and support x
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Yes they all do, some of mine are worse then others :)) If they are sleeping next to each other that's positive :) x
 
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