Bonding new boars

GusandPeanut

GusandPeanut

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jun 27, 2016
Messages
85
Reaction score
67
Points
220
Location
Liverpool, UK
Hello all,

One of our guinea pigs, Peanut, passed away at the end of April, leaving behind Chester, 5. It's been incredibly difficult to find a new companion for him for some reason, though he has been as happy as a pig without a companion can be.

We've now adopted Bertie and we're seeing if we can bond them. Bertie has an excellent temperament, he's very inquisitive and energetic but also gentle.

We got Bertie yesterday evening. We've put them in the cage together with one of everything, but bars to separate them at least in the short term. Last night they had some sniffing through the bars. Chester is very energetic and chewed the bars to try and get towards Bertie; and Bertie did the same a little himself, too.

Last night we put them in a neutral area on fresh blankets, with hay, to start bonding. Chester is definitely trying to assert dominance, and chased Bertie a lot. There was initially some chattering, and lots of nosing, but towards the end Bertie was making more regular noises that I've read and have experience were from the submission/dominance game. Lots of humping round in circles - Bertie isn't quite 'accepting' it but he isn't getting angry either. Unfortunately we had to put them back in the cage for the night, albeit with the bars separating again in case.

Today we've put them back out onto the floor and we plan to have them there all day and night. So far so good, and there have been no fights or chattering - but every time Bertie is out of his hidey, Chester does chase him around and try to hump. Again, Bertie isn't too offended by this, but it does ultimately end up with him back in his hidie.

I'm hoping for a bit of guidance on how we should go about bonding, signs, etc. I've read the guides but it's sometimes good to have a bit of perspective.
 
As long as there is no fighting then leave them to it, there is going to be chasing and humping while they sort things out (the whole process of which takes two weeks). The fact you had to separate them yesterday means they are starting from the beginning again today. You can leave them in the bonding pen for as long as is necessary and until you are sure they are ok with each other before moving them into a thoroughly cleaned out cage to continue bonding,.

Please remove all hides from the bonding pen, there shouldn't be anything in there except a pile of hay. Having hides in the bonding area can cause problems.
 
Piggies&buns said:
As long as there is no fighting then leave them to it, there is going to be chasing and humping while they sort things out (the whole process of which takes two weeks). The fact you had to separate them yesterday means they are starting from the beginning again today. You can leave them in the bonding pen for as long as is necessary and until you are sure they are ok with each other before moving them into a thoroughly cleaned out cage to continue bonding,.

Please remove all hides from the bonding pen, there shouldn't be anything in there except a pile of hay. Having hides in the bonding area can cause problems.
Click to expand...
Ah, I didn't realise that putting them in the cage was considered a separation. My bad. Thank you for the tips :)
 
It was the fact bars were used to separate them after they had already been introduced which interrupts their bonding.

The bonding pen is perfect. Leave them in there for several hours now. Once you are confident things are ok between them - you are still going to see dominance behaviours and that’s fine - then clean out their cage and put them back into it. Leave them together permanently now unless there are clear signs of failure
 
Piggies&buns said:
It was the fact bars were used to separate them after they had already been introduced which interrupts their bonding.

The bonding pen is perfect. Leave them in there for several hours now. Once you are confident things are ok between them - you are still going to see dominance behaviours and that’s fine - then clean out their cage and put them back into it. Leave them together permanently now unless there are clear signs of failure
Click to expand...
Thank you. We are planning a long session, until probably midnight, before we need to get to bed.

Typically, if we go all day without any of those real clear signs of failure/fighting, etc., we'll be safe in putting them into the cage and getting to bed?

In conscious that they've both been in the cage, in their own halves, and will have marked them up with their respective scents etc. We don't have another sawdust pack right now but could put the fleeces/blankets in for them tonight.
 
That’s fine, the longer they are in the pen the more of the initial stages they will get through.
Yes, you can then put them in the cage and be relatively assured things will be ok.
It’s the own halves which is the issue - as soon as they have made each half their territory then if the other enters the respective halves this is when problems can occur. Best to put fresh bedding in, fleece is fine, the cage before you move them into it.
 
Thank you all. Early days but there's been no fighting at all. Lots of chasing, lots of attempted humping, a good bit of hay sharing, and just now our new guy initiating contact through some mouth-sniffing, which Chester actually got too excited about and ran off to popcorn and then lay in a corner. They also both took a nap earlier, albeit in opposite corners of the pen, and woke up without any fighting, so fingers crossed!
 
Good news as overnight was completed without any injuries and the boys are still interacting as they did yesterday. There's very little chattering now, very rare, touch wood, though the same chasing games persist which I believe they will for two weeks? The cage was very thoroughly cleaned but I suspect Chester still has some geographical dominance - we removed a house he usually sits in and put in cardboard boxes with escape routes cut into them, and Chester is very jealously defending his box on the left hand side of the cage. He is content to allow Bertie to sit at the opposite end, and in the middle, but does occasionally go and shove him out for a minute...

I was just wondering if anyone has a view on their floor time now - do we want to keep up with the bare bonding pen, nothing but hay, so they can continue to play their bonding/dominance games, or do we want to put some cosy areas/hidies etc. in now?
 
Chasing and dominance will continue for the next two weeks but in reality its going to be lifelong!

As long as they are ok together in the cage, then they can have hides in there.
Regarding floor time, I personally would not do it just yet. I'd leave them in the cage for at least the next week and ensure they really are settling together before changing their environment.
 
Great, thank you. We'll continue with the bonding pen during the day, then - they made themselves very content by squishing themselves into the corners when they wanted to, anyway. God knows how having a metal cage pushing into your fur is comfortable but guinea pigs eh :D
 
Thank you!

Update after one week and it all seems to be going well, touch wood. There's still a little bit of humping and chasing on Chester's part, and the occasional chatter-off, but honestly it's all in line with the behaviour we saw with our two initial boars, even after 3 years, and then how Chester and his previous partner interacted. In fact, Chester is backing down and giving Bertie space when he needs it which is nice to see.

They are eating well together, not stealing, able to coexist and enjoy eachother's company easily wherever they are - cage, floor, when they are other areas of the home. Fingers crossed but it looks like they're going to be great buddies
 
Brilliant news, you can take a big well deserved sigh of relief 😆 So lovely that they are happy in each other's company x
 
Another update.

Still going well, but Bertie has been quite defensive the past couple of days - chattering and so on - but he's still very interested in Chester. Sniffing him backside etc., which Chester is happy to allow. They are still eating hay together, allowing eachother to eat, drink, laying together, majority of floor time is peaceful. When we bring a treat like a little bit of veg or when the water is refreshed they're basically glued to each other as they sniff for it - without getting into a tussle. No fights or anything, just a little squaring up and light chattering...hope they can get over whatever stage this is in their dominance play! It's only two weeks (probably less considering we inadvertently split them).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top