Female bonding not going well

[JennaG]

Hello, we sadly lost one of our two female piggies a couple of weeks ago. At the weekend (2 weeks later) we brought home another female piggy from a rescue to try and bond with our remaining girl. We set up side by side enclosures for them and swapped bedding and hideys around so they could smell each other as much as possible. The new piggy seemed like the most sociable and dominant while our original girl seemed less interested, but when they interacted through the bars they seemed curious but ok.
So last night we put them together into a large neutral space. For the first 5-10 minutes they seemed pretty ok and while there was a bit of rumbling and nose butting they were eating together. But the situation deteriorated and eventually our original piggy behaved like a total bully and was chasing and intimidating the new piggy so that she was terrified.
Our piggy was submissive in her previous pairing but she now seems to want to be dominant, and I think the new piggy might also want to be dominant so I don’t know if this will work or whether they need more attempts. They are next to each other again and they both sometimes rumble at each other and don’t seem to be showing any particular signs of friendliness. Is this a normal part of the bonding process or is this a pairing that’s not likely to work out? They are both a similar age (about 3.5 years) but our original girl is a lot bigger. Should we try them together again? We’d be so sad to give the new piggy back to the rescue, she is a gorgeous little thing, but they do need to get along.
Sorry for the long post, any insights are most welcome! Thanks.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, we sadly lost one of our two female piggies a couple of weeks ago. At the weekend (2 weeks later) we brought home another female piggy from a rescue to try and bond with our remaining girl. We set up side by side enclosures for them and swapped bedding and hideys around so they could smell each other as much as possible. The new piggy seemed like the most sociable and dominant while our original girl seemed less interested, but when they interacted through the bars they seemed curious but ok.
So last night we put them together into a large neutral space. For the first 5-10 minutes they seemed pretty ok and while there was a bit of rumbling and nose butting they were eating together. But the situation deteriorated and eventually our original piggy behaved like a total bully and was chasing and intimidating the new piggy so that she was terrified.
Our piggy was submissive in her previous pairing but she now seems to want to be dominant, and I think the new piggy might also want to be dominant so I don’t know if this will work or whether they need more attempts. They are next to each other again and they both sometimes rumble at each other and don’t seem to be showing any particular signs of friendliness. Is this a normal part of the bonding process or is this a pairing that’s not likely to work out? They are both a similar age (about 3.5 years) but our original girl is a lot bigger. Should we try them together again? We’d be so sad to give the new piggy back to the rescue, she is a gorgeous little thing, but they do need to get along.
Sorry for the long post, any insights are most welcome! Thanks.

Hi

It sounds like the bonding has failed. By far not all sow bonding work out, and there is likely quite a bit of fer-aggression in play. Unfortunately, once sows have made up their mind that they do not want the new piggy to be part of 'us' (even if 'us' is just a group of one), then they are not going to change their mind.

A failed bonding is totally gutting, as I know myself with having lots of them on the way to find companionship for my difficult to bond stuck in rescue adoptees. Please try to see it as giving the newbie a chance at a happy home but that by handing her back you are giving her another chance to find that elusive home eventually.

I would recommend that you try - if possible - one or better two rescue born baby girls that cannot challenge her and that will elevate her status to group leader. It has done the trick with my totally over the top fear-aggressive Dryw 'Wren' when time was running out with her by then ca. 8 years old 'daddy boar' Pioden 'Magpie' who passed away from old age just three weeks later once adoption became a bit easier again after the pandemic. My two rescue little baby cousins Llinos 'Linnet' and Lleian 'Smew' stopped growing at 6 months and are just about touching 600g on a good day eve though they are now 2 years old.


Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics (also has a chapter on fear-aggression)
A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours (includes a entry under fear-aggression)

 

[JennaG]

Thanks for your reply. I’m so sad that it doesn’t seem to have worked out this time. Hopefully a baby will be the answer, as you say

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for your reply. I’m so sad that it doesn’t seem to have worked out this time. Hopefully a baby will be the answer, as you say

If there is an option and you have got the space, try a bonded couple. The acceptance rate is higher that way.

A failed bonding is always guttingp; but it is not your fault. All you can do as a loving owner is giving them the choice to have their own say, which is one of the biggest gifts you can make them.

The longer I have piggies (going back half a century with my childhood piggies) and the more bondings I am doing (well over a century by now), the more complex personalities they become. Human dating has nothing on piggies!

 

[JennaG]

Unfortunately we don’t have space for 3 fully grown piggies so we’ll only be able to get one baby. The rescue place near us has a baby girl so we really hope that it will work out. I never expected our piggy to be so vile! Thanks for your help.