Bonding

[RealTears2110]

Hello again, I’ve had a second guinea pig now for two week and my eldest one is still low rumbling around my youngest but is no longer mounting him. Would it now be safe to place them in the same cage together or would you recommend keeping them separate. Thanks in advance

 

[Piggies&buns]

It sounds as if you have been putting them together for meetings and then separating them again after each time?
if so, then this isn’t how you carry out a bonding. They need to be put together in a neutral territory bonding pen, left for several hours and then if all is well, move them to the cage (which has been cleaned out so no longer smells of the original piggy) together on the same day. Once they have been introduced successfully once, they should not be separated ever again. If you continually separate them, you interrupt them every time so they never completely finish bonding.

Please put them into a neutral territory pen again, leave them for several hours. While they are in the bonding pen then thoroughly clean down the cage they are going to live in. If all goes well in the bonding pen, then move them to the cage together And Leave them together permanently. They will then be in a two week period of finishing establishing a hierarchy.

You will see mounting and rumbling throughout their entire lives as it is a normal behaviour. You only ever separate piggies if there is a full on blood drawing fight.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[RealTears2110]

Thank you I got told when I bought my second piggy to meet them gradually and keep separating them

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you I got told when I bought my second piggy to meet them gradually and keep separating them

Unfortunately you were given incorrect advice there. Particularly if your piggies are under four months of age, they must never be alone as babies and need constant companionship even more so

 

[RealTears2110]

I can see why now ones 8/9 month old and the other is 6/7 month old but thank you for everyone who has given me advice

 

[Piggies&buns]

I can see why now ones 8/9 month old and the other is 6/7 month old but thank you for everyone who has given me advice

Its still not the correct way to do a bonding regardless of their ages. Bonding is always a one time thing for any piggy.

As they are both above four months and if the new piggy was not from a reputable rescue ,then he ideally should have been quarantined in a separate room for two weeks to ensure no illnesses can be passed to your existing piggy. You then carry out the bonding as per the procedure I described - a one time bonding, not bit by bit in neutral territory - after the quarantine time. Piggies under four months of age cannot go through the quarantine process and must be immediately bonded and live in the same cage with another piggy on the same day that they come home.

However, bonding two teenage boars can be very tricky as they both are both hormonal.
Please go ahead and put them into neutral territory and leave them there for several hours. If all goes well, clean out the cage they are to live in so it is also neutral. Then after a few hours you can move them to their cage. Do not put one piggy into the cage of the other piggy without going through the neutral territory and cage cleaning first. If you put one piggy into another piggy's cage it will be seen as a territory invasion and cause problems.
It will then be a further two weeks of them living together for them to fully form their hierarchy.
Ensure the cage is big enough for two boars - ideally 180x60cm (but no smaller than 150x60cm) and that all hides have two exits.
Please do read the guides I linked in my previous reply