Bonding - Would you attempt it?

[happybunny]

Hi,

I am hoping someone could give me some advice about wether we should attempt any further bonding.

At the moment we have 3 groups of piggies:

1 - Jasmine, Harriette and Dougal
Jasmine (female - approx 5 years) has frequent chest infections
Harriett (female - approx 6 years) has up and down health issues
Dougal (neutered male - approx 5 years)

2 - Maisey and Shandy
Maisy (female - approx 3 years) no major health issue
Shandy (female - approx 2 years) no major health issue

3 - Maddy, Mable, Pepsi & Titch (recently lost their beloved neutered male Rascal)
Maddy (female - approx 3 years) no major health issues
Mable (female - approx 1.5 years) no major health issues
Pepsi (female - approx 1.5 years) no major health issues
Titch (female - approx 1.5 years) no major health issues

Do you think it is a good idea to try and bond all 3 groups together?
Would it be best to leave group 1 alone due to age and health?
Is a group of 6 females asking for trouble?

Any other thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Stacey]

Me personally wouldnt. If they are happy they way they are then i would keep it that way.
In each group there is already going to be the top dog, if you mix them all together they will need to go through the whole process of working out who is going to be the boss, which could only lead to trouble.

If you were going to try and bond them together, you will need to do it somewhere neutral.

Thats just my opinion tho

 

[happybunny]

HI,

Thank you for your reply.

I am not totally happy with the way things are as groups 1 and 2 are in the same room but seperated by a partitian. If they were bonded they could have double the room. Also Dougal is constantly trying to break the partitian to get to the other 2 girls. I think he would like 2 news girlies (as the 2 he is with don't let him get away with anything).

If we did attepmt to bond them, it would be done corerctly with neutral territory and superviosn ect.

All the best

 

[Connie]

I would have too say it can be dangerous, because all three have an established dominant one. Usualy when expanding herds the new piggies are put in one at a time, so i wouldnt just put them ALL together right away, perhaps try groups one and two first, then the thirds a couple of months later. :/ However I'm not a bonding expert, just my opinion.

 

[Stacey]

HI,

Thank you for your reply.

I am not totally happy with the way things are as groups 1 and 2 are in the same room but seperated by a partitian. If they were bonded they could have double the room. Also Dougal is constantly trying to break the partitian to get to the other 2 girls. I think he would like 2 news girlies (as the 2 he is with don't let him get away with anything).

Its your guinea pigs happiness that counts tho and if they are happy the way they are why change it? Why dont you just introuduce Dougal to the girls instead of all of them, if he's the only one thats bothered.
My 3 boys live alone, and as much i would love them to get along, ive had to accept they dont and need to live alone.
If you think about it, its not really going to be double the room as there will be 5 piggies all together instead of 2 or 3.

Let us know how you get on if you do decide to try and bond them.
All the best x