Guinea pig Bonding Problem

[alloragxn]

Hey so i got Alani first but i noticed alani always like begin by herself she don’t like other guinea pigs or people when i was at the pet store picking out a guinea pig i noticed alani was by herself just hiding i assume but all the other guinea pigs was moving around playin and squeaking but anyway i took her home in i say she was by herself for like 2 months before she met my aunts male guinea pig Hersey. i noticed she only tolerated him and not anyone else my aunt and i ended up getting 2 guinea pigs which was a boy and a girl from a breeder. i didn’t know mines was a boy she had told me it was a girl so i put him with alani and she attacked him and his sister mutiple times i was even injured trying to help but that was before i realize he was a male so he ended up chilling with Hershey. he did end up dying a day after i got him the breeder claim that it was because he wasn’t ready to leave his mom and that he was the last batch so he still needed his mom. and the whole thing with alani and a new home it was a lot for him i assume. i noticed he was like so sleepy but i never thought anything was wrong i thought it was cute he only wanted to fall asleep on me. but he did end up dying the next day i got him but alani still doesn’t like his sister they fight every time they see each other alani ear was bitten from a fight she had with her .but alani ended up pregnant by Hershey and she had 3 babies two girls one boy i removed the male after 4 weeks instead of 3 cause he was still drinking from her. my aunt and i agreed that she have one and i have one and share custody of the other one. she ended up choosing the boy and i got one of the girls and we share the other girl. but it was like after 2 1/2 months alani started attacking them she started begin mean towards them so i ended up putting the girls and they own space. which then after a month they got tried of each other and started fighting so they were separated. wynter is her daughter name that i got when i put her and alani on the floor just to run around stretch and stuff alani does be mean some times. they’ll chase each other run around together hide together but when they like run into each other face to face she jumps at her. i be seeing people with cages of pigs that get along and stuff and i just wonder why she like that. it’s okay if that’s her personality or how she feels towards others. i’m the same way i rather be by myself don’t wanna be bothered with people necessarily.

 

[Siikibam]

It may just be that Alani doesn’t get on with the piggies you have tried to put her with. Have a read of the guide below on behaviour to see where they are. What exactly does she do to show you she doesn’t like her most recent housemate? Because sometimes dominance behaviour can sound like being horrible. You also have to bear in mind that young piggies are very vocal. She. You put Alani with other piggies, was it on neutral ground or did you just put them straight in her cage?

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

The other thing is that you said you do shared custody. Do you mean she lives with you and other times lives with your aunt. I'm afraid you can’t do that, if that’s how it’s working. She can’t be put with one lot of piggies and then put with another.

I would have a read of the guides below as well.
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Bonds In Trouble
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

Lastly, is your aunt housing the sow and boar together? If so, she could become pregnant. And how much did the boar weigh when you separated him from Alani and the other sows? If he was 250g+ then you’ll have to put them all on pregnancy watch. Boars can reproduce from 250g/3 weeks.

Hopefully the guides above will help you work out what is going on.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Alani sounds very fear-aggressive; i.e. she is over the top dominant because she is totally afraid of other guinea pigs. Ideally you keep her alongside other piggies but with her own space if she is not even accepting babies. Unfortunately, once piggies have made up their mind that they don't like other, they will never go together.

Please read up on fear-aggression in the relevant entry in these links here:
A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities

Illustrated Sexing Guide

How old is the boy your aunt is keeping with a sow? Boys can start making babies from 3 weeks/250g weight (whichever comes first) and sows can get pregnant from 4 weeks onwards - basically as soon as they are weaned and they come into season again within hours of giving birth. Considering that your breeder piggies do not seem to have the best inheritance and background, it is not a risk I would recommend taking at the cost of more loss of life.

I am very sorry about the little boy; he was clearly already dying and should have never let go to a new home in the first place.

 

[alloragxn]

Okay so i saw you all had a few questions… Alani does better with just her and her daughter i decided to keep i’ll let them run around they might bump heads but then there fine they’ll chase each other popcorn on the floor i can tell there excited when together running i do have them separate cages next to each other for communicating i guess they’ll be side by side just talking and squeaking at each other … when i hear teeth chatter i know there’s a problem and i should deal with the situation but it’s been a min to where that comes involved… The thing about snickers is that me and my aunt hold i scustody my aunt has been living with me since snickers wynter and midnight was born snickers would be and our living room with the other guinea pigs my aunt have snickers did get pregnant by midnight in me personally do not know if she did it intentionally but i hope not snickers does have her own cage with her babies which the father/brother has been removed and is and his own cage … midnight the boy my aunt is keeping was born with wynter and snickers on september 24 2021 snickers had her babies about 2 3 months ago which are all healthy and so is she… i separated the boy when i noticed alani was begin mean only towards him when he started to hump or when he’ll chase them around the cage i was nervous for alani and the others so i removed him which i think was well overdue i looked up it said i should removed him at like 3 weeks i removed him i say mabey 4 weeks just to be sure. my aunt currently doesn’t live with me and she decided to just let me have snickers and one of her babies which i named Amina … i think alani begin mean is just because she doesn’t like them she doesn’t like other guinea pigs and she was like that since she was a baby since i saw her in the pet store she was n her own space so it could just be how she is in it’s apart of her personality i assume i don’t blame her cause i’m the same way but as long as she health and happy that’s all that matters to me she’s not by herself she had two other guinea pigs that are of mine that she can plan with and not feel lonely if alani chooses not to be around them then that’s her but it’s not if she is the only guinea pig or that she practically by herself which is not true alani does social with who she chooses to … it might not be long and eventually she’ll get tried of wynter and just go in her cage but she perfectly fine she’s just doing Alani

 

[alloragxn]

by the way it was more of a free roaming thing to get excercise and for them to get to know each other i looked at bonding videos and tryed to react but it’s just not alani to be nice i guess

 

[Siikibam]

If you decided to separate them then they can’t have floor time together. They’re either together or they’re not.

Just to be clearer, please can you list which piggies live together and any that live apart. Is it this way?

• Alani and M
• Snickers with her babies
• Another pair of piggies?

 

[Princess Dustmop]

If I understand correctly, you have:
Alani (your initial sow) and Wynter (one of Alani's daughters)
Snickers (Alani's other daughter) and Amina (Snickers' daughter)

And your aunt has:
Hershey (aunt's initial boar) and Midnight (Alani's son)
The rest of Snickers' litter? (You didn't specify number of genders.)

Where is the girl from the breeder whose brother died? I lost track of that piggy in your story.

Your aunt's piggies are no longer living in the same house, yes? If so, we'll just focus on your piggies.

You mentioned that Alani does best with just her daughter, by which I assume you mean Wynter, not Snickers. You also say that Alani doesn't always get along with Wynter. Is this just rumbling and mounting, or would she actually try to bite? Biting is decisively a failed bond (and in sows may be more mouthful of fur than actually drawing blood). Noisiness, chasing, climbing on each other, and playing whose nose is higher is just dominance. Just not hanging out together is fine; they don't have to be together all the time to have a good bond; they can wander apart and back together.
Same question regarding Alani and the others, what was she doing when "being mean." It's up to the piggies whether they want to bond as a herd of four. You can have two pairs; that's just fine. They can have neighboring cages that can interact while being separate if that's the bonding that works.