Taegijoon
Junior Guinea Pig
We have a total of 4 sows. Unfortunately we lost a pig and are currently in the process of introducing a baby. So far I've done 3 attempts, I do struggle with the introduction process a bit and often wonder if i'm doing it correctly. My struggle is knowing when the pigs have finished. The first attempt didn't seem to go well, a lot of shooting pee and the baby was interested and going up to the other 3 sows but near the end she became withdrawn and would squeal anytime a pig came near. We have a sow named Chai who i believe has fear aggression, she always nips, chases, rumbles, and is quite difficult to introduce to. The second attempt I put them in our tub and I figured the playpen we used probably carries the pigs scent and may be why our intro's don't go so well. This time things went better, Chai seemed to get along with one of the sows (Latte)she has been living with since December. Chai doesn't show much signs of acceptance though, she sniffs the girls bums but i don't ever see her groom or even nip ears as I thought she was the more dominant pig by her behaviors. I noticed Mochi, who i thought was the most submissive, groom the other pigs and even nip their ears. She tried to do the same to Chai but Chai would react with aggression, nips and all! Is this Mochi trying to be the more dominant pig? Meanwhile, the baby is completely on her own, shows no interest in the other sows and vise versa unless the adult sows are near her and then they would just nip. Mochi sniffs the baby's chin and seems more accepting of her. Latte and Chai are the sows that nip at the baby or chase her off. This intro in the tub was cut short as the bathroom was needed but we had them in there for i'd say an hour or more. I tried a 3rd attempt, again Chai seems to accept Latte, Mochi was trying to sneak in her ear nips, and the baby was not interested except for a moment where she came up to Latte and climbed/laid on her back and Latte allowed this. My main concern is Chai, her fear-aggression makes intro's hard. Is there any way I can help her feel comfortable with other pigs? I would hate to put in a divider. I'm not sure why Chai and Latte seem to dislike the baby, i held the baby near them yesterday and both of them began to teeth chatter pretty intensely. Does this mean they absolutely want nothing to do with the baby? Should i keep trying introductions? I know you can't make a sow change her mind, but i can't tell if Chai gotten the time needed to get to now the baby as they rarely were near each other and the same for Latte and the baby. I think maybe the baby lost her confidence after being treated "harshly". Thanks for any advice given! ![smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60a.png)
![smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60a.png)