First 24 hours together. Is this normal?

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Chocolatepig14

I recently introduced a 8 week old baby girl to my 5 year old sow who had lost her sister. It was a bit hairy to start with but they really started to bond with the older guinea taking on a mothering role. Sadly I then lost my old girl and my baby (now 10 weeks) has a new friend, another baby sow of the same age.

The newby seems very shell shocked. Her friends were bought the day before I bought her so she has been alone in a cage for 24 hours and seems unhandled. My girl was beginng to trust me but with the disapereance of her wise old friend seems to have gone back a few stages.

Their introduction was fairly uneventful with the newby staying mostly hidden in a tube and while my girl said hello. I've witnesesd no dominant behaviour or fighting from either BUT they refuse to sleep at the same end of the hutch. They each have a pile of hay to hide in. On the rare occasion i have startled them and they have ended up in the same corner one will soon move. They usually move when I'm out of the room so i'm not sure why one is moving. They have had floor time tonight and been fine with each other. In fact they don't really seem that interested in each other.

I have only had them together 24 hours and I know that they have both had a stressful few days for diffrent reasons. Is this fairly typical of guinea pigs in the beginning? I'm happy that (touch wood) there seems to be no arguing but I'm concerened that they don't seem to want to share the same space.

(by the way mabe we could start a thread about sucessful introductions and what the pigs were like at the start. This is the third pair I've introduced and I find quite stressful, happy ending stories would be great!)
 
Thats normal. As for introductions yes they are stressfull and dont always work out :(


I had 5 girls living together, one was pretty mean, but then she got agressive, so she was taken out. My first surviving girly then developed a head tilt and sufferd alot of seizures she then came down with a horrific allergic reaction that almost killed her too. She was seperated *at the beginning off all this* She has been on her own since november. Today her and the girls were on the bed together and they all just trundled into the big cage near my bed and have been in ever since with no problems, over than the normal chasing. So theres a story for you :) Ill be bonding some of my single boars over the weekend too! So may have another success story then.
 
I lost a pig last summer that my Felix was obssessed with, I had never seen two pigs get on so well. When I got him a new friend, he didn't seem to bother with him at all. He wasn't as good as the last pig to him, I am guessing. Over time though he has accepted him and they get on fine now.
 
Sounds pretty normal to me.

They will make friends in the end and both being so young will come round soon to you too.
 
I know really that I'm just being impatient. I introduced two adult boars about 7 years ago and I remember not sleeping for a fortnight but it ended happily. I'm not concerned about how long it takes for them to accept me as I really like the process of getting them used to you. I just feel like I can enjoy them more when I know they like each other.
 
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