conflicting bonding advise from rescue

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Dusty_bugs

Dusty_bugs

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Hi guys,

I have been advised by my vet to look into a new partner for Leeland ASAP to get her back into her food and lift her spirits.. or she wont eat or heal at a reasonable rate for the foreseeable future. They gave me a number of a lovely lady to ring who they know rescues piggies.

During the phone call I was a bit concerned that she didn't ask me any questions, it was all one way.. I therefor mentioned I had a ferplast 140 for Leeland, and a 90/50cm cage backup. My bonding plan was that I might put the new piggy in the 90/50cm for say 4 days until it settles.. put the two cages side by side during this period so they can talk and smell each other.. And from days 2-4 bring them out for bonding and play together, eventually integrating into the ferplast (which will be completely scrubbed out).

The lady then said she would probably put them both in the 90/50cm as it is completely neutral from day 1.

I am taking Leeland to the rescue tomorrow and hopefully we can have an hour and a half of dating to see who she likes. The woman said she had a nautered male, and young and adult females.. so there should be a few.

I'm just worried that her advice might not make sense to me :/ I've read the forums dating and bonding pages and have agreed with everything on there.. just wondering what people thought about this 90/50 idea she had. Bit of a small cage to me and from day 1?

I don't want to break them up too much aswell, which is what I'm guessing is her idea.. but will 3 days of play dates be too much disturbance before sticking them both together?
 
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Every rescue will have their own way of doing things - I use as large a cage as possible and do not remove them from it for at least 48hrs, preferably a week, unless they have to be separated due to falling out. I certainly would not place two males in a small cage and expect it to work.

If you read the thread on introductions and the Boar Dating Service thread it will give you lots of info and ideas (I hope). The BDS thread is very long but it does cover an enormous variety of dates, with pics and vids.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38562

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=59233

HTH

Suzy x
 
Suzy, Leeland is a sow I believe. ;) Dusty bugs was hoping there wouldn't be any upsets with a neutered boar, she's worried about Leeland's recovery if there was a lot of bossing about and sniping by the new piggie. Here's the original thread that everyone seems to have missed ( I've been missing threads too, don't know what's going on with the forum) http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=98400
Andrea x
 
The advice applies to male or females really - I bond each in the same way :D

Apologies to Leeland, :))

Suzy x
 
Andrea Jane, my Leeland owes you a smooch ^) for keeping up with her news.

And thanks for the advice suzy, at least I know there are more than one way of doing things if all rescues have their own practiced methods. And don't worry, my vets still call Leeland a he.. AND even asked me how my dead piggy was doing even though it died on his operating table 5 days ago. He's a lovely man, just a bit.. busy rolleyes

The only thing I was thinking was a quarantine aswell. If he/she has the slightest little snuffle, Leeland might pick up on it.. so I 'm thinking 4 days would be a good period of time for me to get my eyes down on the newcomer, listen to the chest, play with the poops :)>>>

Then the bonding for 4 days can begin. I can see how they play for 2/3 hours a day supervised.. so she isnt being rushed off her sore feet whilst they weigh each other up. Then on the last day, put them together in the 140 cage in the morning and watch like a hawk until bed time.. if no squabbles I'll leave them overnight in the room next to me.. I'll hear if she squeeks.

..then there's always... the bonding bath drooldrooldrooldrooldrool - if she can even have it when she's underweight!
 
IF you are adopting from a reputable rescue the pigs will have been through their quarantine period before being made available for adoption.

If they are not a rescue that effectively quarantines all their animals then you are not doing yourself any favours by using them and all I could say is to keep looking for a good one. Quarantine is a minimum of 2 weeks in a separate area (different rooms at the very least, preferably in a different building) as transmission via the air and on clothing is a very real problem, especially for fungal, bacterial and viral spores.

Suzy x
 
Good idea! I am meant to be ringing her tomorrow at 10.30am to organise a time to go over. I will ask her then what her quarantine policy consists of. If she hasnt got one I'll have to turn her down then and there for Leeland's sake!
 
Every one has their own way of bonging, there is no right or wrong, although i think the 90/50 is too small, i would also just put them straight together as that is my preferred way of doing it, I'm not saying it's right though. Like suzy said if she is a reputable rescue her piggies will have been quarantined and health checked so should pose no heath risk to Leeland.

I hope she finds a friend!
 
Crossing everything for Leeland finding a friend and hoping she's back to full health soon. x
:laluot_29::laluot_29::laluot_29:
 
Also find out what their policy is on returning animals - what if Leeland and new pig don't get on? If she won't accept the animal back, you'll then have two single pigs and be no further forwards.

I've had two huge successes with residential dating at two different rescues, and wouldn't do it any other way now!
 
I had to bond my two spayed sows to my loan boar Bumble last year - I was advised to put them all together straight away - please dont freak out if there is lots of squeaking ,rumbling and humping - my boar was always chatty to me ,but the ladies can sqeal for england when they want to,its just there way of talking! but I did find it very stressful because it just wasnt what I expected,there was no biting or teeth chattering,but a lot of chasing and squealing - it took about a week to settle down completely as Bumble was trying to get 2 girlies in order,so hopefully yours will be easier - what I am saying is dont worry if things get noisy,thats normal - but saying that you could well find that everything goes fairly smoothly - xx
 
Thanks Tan, that's a relief to hear! I decided against the lady from the Northwich place.. I rang her again and asked if she wanted to ask me any questions.. and she replied "you've had guineas before you know what they're about".. well before I came on this forum I had had guineas but I was also keeping them in too small a cage and I had no idea how important hay was as the BULK of the diet.. I just put 2 fist fulls in twice a day.. now I top up whenever I go past and make sure none of it is wet, so it's edible.

It's the details that count, so I wasn't really impressed by that one comment. Though she does give ivermectin shots herself, she said she's had all pigs for at least 6 weeks.. when I asked what she had in (I was hoping for personality types, age distribution etc.) she said "lots".. I was a bit dissapointed because I had mentioned how important a quieter/ maybe shy personality and an older pig was important to me.

Never mind, I'm in touch with the potteries now so will be a little more patient and be sure to have a better idea of the piggy we will be getting for Leeland!
 
The potteries were fantastic with me. Found a quieter male for my boy, we're there if I had any questions. They tried Barnum with Mack for a few hours lots of humping but no biting so they said for me to try them at home and if it didn't work they'd have Mack back! Thankfully they were great I kept them in an 8 panelled puppy pen for about a month so they had lots of space. For the first week there was lots of rumbling and humping but it was just Barnum telling Mack whose boss. Now theyre in a big c&c cage and are great snuggle up together and everything! I can't recommend the potteries any higher they are amazing! You're in safe hands with them!
 
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