First attempt of bonding...

[jenniferanneharris]

Well today i thought i would attempt to bond Honor and Haven as i now have 2 weeks off work for xmas.
I set up a portable run... put a old sheet down inside.. and a few little things for them and plenty of hay and some veg.
I put Haven and Honor inside and for about 5 mins they ignored each other... Both were happy munching on the hay. Later Honor got adventurous and started going over to see Haven. She eventually reached Haven and Haven was un-phased still munching on her hay while Honor sniffed her.
Honor eventually left Haven but started teeth chattering ever now and then. That was fine she would stop and munch some hay and later start again. Still Haven was pretty unphased and sat in the pen munching away at the hay.
But after about 15 mins.. Honor was almost constantly teeth chattering and was looked ready to lung for a while.. would stop and start again. Eventually after about 20/25 mins together Honor got into a squabble with Haven and they were all over the place with lots of squeaking. So at this point i broke up the fight with a dustpan and thew a blanket over each one and picked up Haven and checked her over. She was un-harmed... no bite marks and blood etc.. even no hair out of place really.... I gave her a quick cuddle to calm her down and put her back and did the same with Honor and put her back.

Do you think i did the right thing breaking them up or should i have just let them. I was worried Honor would harm Haven.
I want to try again in a few days,... this time i was thinking maybe bathing them both as i know Honor doesn't like this and always used to cuddle upto her old cage mates when bathed.

Any advice will be appreciated. Am pleased that they were fine for about 15-20 mins....

Here are a few snaps from the first 15 mins or so...

 

[gogoguineas]

It sounds like it started ok then it went off a bit! I would perservere and try the bonding bath, normally works quite well, good luck!

 

[piggyfan]

Aww look at those two cuties!

 

[Dusty_bugs]

I had this exact situation.. only we ended up with fur flying (no cuts though). You might find that letting them get to the stage of a squabble is almost important in working out who is boss. They might have the same level of domination so it will take longer, but breaking up the fight before their statuses can mature might make it take longer.

That said, I spent 3 days in a large play pen sitting in the middle, so that they could chase and be chased but also I could put my hand out if one of them was pushing their luck TOO much (I know that Leeland would have nipped Vincent if he'd been allowed to hound her too long). The key is PLENTY of room.. as much as you can afford. That way they can run it out and not end up cornering each other. If one gets cornered it will square up and a fight is almost inevitable! And keep yourself close by and lift your arm out if you see it turning ugly.. A distraction is better than splitting them up as it halts escalation, not starts it over if you see what I mean.

I'm quite lucky in that my girl and boy were sharing a cage after 4 days, from all out fights at the worst of it, to Leeland calling for him just 10 seconds seperation!

 

[CrawleyGuineaPigRescue]

There are so many different ways of bonding piggies, its trying to find the right one, sometimes with the barest of pens is best, sometimes with lots of neutral hidey holes, not sure if the bed and log roll are brand new but if not they will have the scent of someone on them, i would use cardboard boxes with holes cut out for doors, sometimes trying them for 15 mins a day, then 20 mins a day etc and build up, sometimes having a larger pen helps....oh the possibilities are endless, dustpan is always good to put between them, also you can gently move the pen back and forth which will get their attention for a minute and get them to forget they were teeth chattering. Def keep hands away, good luck!

 

[pigtaker]

I think you did the right thing, if that gives you a good idea(: