Bonding Piggies Keeping Us Up At Night

Laaaauren

Laaaauren

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
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Location
Truro, Cornwall
Hello everyone, my partner and I are in the process of bonding our two piggies: a sow and a recently neutered boar. They currently live side by side and are both young piggies so they’re very excited by one another. Due to lack of space in our house at the moment they live in mine and my partner’s room which would be fine, but their persistent bar biting is keeping us both awake. We’ve tried placing a piece of cardboard in between them but it doesn’t work.
From the interactions we’ve seen so far during their playtime they’re very happy/excited by the other which is why we assume they’re bar biting (to get to the other) but it is preventing us from getting a good night’s sleep, and as me and my partner both work we definitely need it.

Is there anything we can do to stop the bar biting? Will perhaps placing one piggy in another room for the night work, as they’ll be unable to smell one another? Any tips would be greatly appreciated (from two very tired owners!)
 
You say ‘happy by their playtime’. Have they had physical contact in the same space at any point or have they only met through bara? guinea pigs don’t do playtime, so they should not be put together at all until you actually do the bonding and then they need to remain together from then on - don’t introduce and separate and it is stressful and interrupts the processes. How recently was he neutered? Boars cannot have physical contact with sows until they are six weeks post neuter.

They will bite the bars if they are frustrated about not being able to be together (and some still do it even if they don’t have a a reason to, it can become a habit). What would concern me is moving one to another room and then moving him back in again constantly, could become stressful for both the piggies. If he still has a long time to wait post neuter, then they will need to be kept alongside each other for the company until they can actually meet.
 
Count off those sleepless night on the calendar sleepyheads 😴
Could you move the amorous singletons into the hall, bathroom or kitchen overnight?
 
Piggies&buns said:
You say ‘happy by their playtime’. Have they had physical contact in the same space at any point or have they only met through bara? guinea pigs don’t do playtime, so they should not be put together at all until you actually do the bonding and then they need to remain together from then on - don’t introduce and separate and it is stressful and interrupts the processes. How recently was he neutered? Boars cannot have physical contact with sows until they are six weeks post neuter.

They will bite the bars if they are frustrated about not being able to be together (and some still do it even if they don’t have a a reason to, it can become a habit). What would concern me is moving one to another room and then moving him back in again constantly, could become stressful for both the piggies. If he still has a long time to wait post neuter, then they will need to be kept alongside each other for the company until they can actually meet.
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“Playtime” is just our way of phrasing their exploring time outside of their hutches. At the moment they’ve only been able to interact through the bars as it’s still not yet been six weeks but we make sure they’re always kept close where they are able to see, smell and properly interact with one another without the risk of them getting amorous. We’ve read up the links on here about bonding and how long to keep males away from females post-neutering so we know all the details about that. During the day and their floor time they aren’t bad, very rarely biting the bars.
 
Bill & Ted said:
Count off those sleepless night on the calendar sleepyheads 😴
Could you move the amorous singletons into the hall, bathroom or kitchen overnight?
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Our house that we’re in at the minute is quite small, hence why they’re in our room. But I think we’re going to have to move them both into the kitchen during the night - that way we can keep them together while being able to get a good night’s sleep. 😴
 
Laaaauren said:
“Playtime” is just our way of phrasing their exploring time outside of their hutches. At the moment they’ve only been able to interact through the bars as it’s still not yet been six weeks but we make sure they’re always kept close where they are able to see, smell and properly interact with one another without the risk of them getting amorous. We’ve read up the links on here about bonding and how long to keep males away from females post-neutering so we know all the details about that. During the day and their floor time they aren’t bad, very rarely biting the bars.
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Just wanted to check! We get posts from members who don’t know that the ins and outs so we always like to clarify!
They are likely to continue to bar bite while they are apart unfortunately, moving them is going to be your only option really
 
Know your pain! When my Luigi had to wait after his neutering at the rescue to join Jess next door it was all I heard for ages in between his wheeks! Thankfully in my living room but my bedroom’s next door (I’m in a flat) and it was so loud! Hope you can get peace and a good night’s sleep soon!
 
Piggies&buns said:
Just wanted to check! We get posts from members who don’t know that the ins and outs so we always like to clarify!
They are likely to continue to bar bite while they are apart unfortunately, moving them is going to be your only option really
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Of course - it’s always best to check so that the piggies best interest is put first!
 
alpacasqueak said:
Know your pain! When my Luigi had to wait after his neutering at the rescue to join Jess next door it was all I heard for ages in between his wheeks! Thankfully in my living room but my bedroom’s next door (I’m in a flat) and it was so loud! Hope you can get peace and a good night’s sleep soon!
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We’ve had plenty of wheeks and popcorns which is always a good sign and we absolutely adore hearing/seeing those - it’s just the bar biting that keeps us up. 😣
Thank you, we really hope so too!
 
Laaaauren said:
Our house that we’re in at the minute is quite small, hence why they’re in our room. But I think we’re going to have to move them both into the kitchen during the night - that way we can keep them together while being able to get a good night’s sleep. 😴
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We have a small bungalow and we kept Bill and Ted in the kitchen/conservatory for 3.5 years. We got rid of our double bed in the spare room this year and got bunk beds instead so the Boys take pride and place in the spare room along with all their belongings! they have definitely taken over our house this year 🤣
 
Bill & Ted said:
We have a small bungalow and we kept Bill and Ted in the kitchen/conservatory for 3.5 years. We got rid of our double bed in the spare room this year and got bunk beds instead so the Boys take pride and place in the spare room along with all their belongings! they have definitely taken over our house this year 🤣
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I’ve told my partner that when we move I want our piggies to have their very own room - he just had to agree because he knows how much I love to spoil them! 😂
 
Merab's Slave said:
When Micah was neutered he lived next door to his future wives.
6 weeks of bar biting and excitement!

Be warned - when they first get to live together the excitement level goes off the scale!
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From all the interactions we’ve seen so far our Cookie and Casper get on very well and are eager to get to know one another properly so we’re definitely excited for that day!
 
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