Help with bonding please

[Rainbow Brite]

I would appreciate any advice on bonding two sows please. I have a 10 month old sow who lost her sister and companion a couple of weeks ago. As she is still young I thought she should have a new companion although she has seemed ok over the last couple of weeks; eating as normal and not losing any weight.
I contacted a couple of rescue centres but none had any suitable aged sows available. I was given advice that I should look to bond her with a younger sow so now have a 10 week old guinea pig.
I tried to introduce them this morning in accordance with all the guidance on here but after a minute of following each other round it became a fight (I think my older sow initiated it but I can’t be sure). I separated them but my older sow kept chattering her teeth and hissing with her whiskers up.
Should I try a reintroduction or is that it and they need to be kept separately?
Many thanks for any help

 

[Piggies&buns]

Was it actually a full on fight? This kind of fight is more common in boars than sows, but if they do desperately dislike each other then a reintroduction won’t work. Character compatibility and mutual liking is key to a successful bond.

 

[Wiebke]

I would appreciate any advice on bonding two sows please. I have a 10 month old sow who lost her sister and companion a couple of weeks ago. As she is still young I thought she should have a new companion although she has seemed ok over the last couple of weeks; eating as normal and not losing any weight.
I contacted a couple of rescue centres but none had any suitable aged sows available. I was given advice that I should look to bond her with a younger sow so now have a 10 week old guinea pig.
I tried to introduce them this morning in accordance with all the guidance on here but after a minute of following each other round it became a fight (I think my older sow initiated it but I can’t be sure). I separated them but my older sow kept chattering her teeth and hissing with her whiskers up.
Should I try a reintroduction or is that it and they need to be kept separately?
Many thanks for any help

Hi!

It rather sounds to me like acceptance has not happened, and is now very unlikely to happen. Please do not try a re-intro in the next few days and not until the grudge has died down - which may take a few years if the presence of the youngster has managed to seriously upset your girl.

Have you given your girls time to settle down next to each other for a few days first or have you introduced straight away?
It sounds like your 10 months old is on the fear-aggressive side (please read the chapter on that in our bonding guide). Was it just a scuffle or were there bites?
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

 

[Rainbow Brite]

Yes, I think it was a proper fight. It was more than the squabbles that she had with her sister. I did separate them quite quickly as I was worried one or the other would get hurt.
They have been next to each other but I have a two storey cage so one has been in the top and the other in the bottom. They can’t see each other but can hear each other and I’ve been swapping their bedding over.

 

[Wiebke]

Yes, I think it was a proper fight. It was more than the squabbles that she had with her sister. I did separate them quite quickly as I was worried one or the other would get hurt.
They have been next to each other but I have a two storey cage so one has been in the top and the other in the bottom. They can’t see each other but can hear each other and I’ve been swapping their bedding over.

I know that bedding swapping is highly recommended by some people but it is a rather double-edged measure in my own experience when working with guinea pigs with social/fear-aggression issues (and I have been doing a fair bit with adopting difficult to bond or stuck in rescue piggies).
Introducing another piggy's scent into what they consider their safe space can actually make them feel invaded and like having their space taken over by somebody else instead - and that can cause an overreaction when you put them face-to-face without giving them time to get to know each other in pigson first through a divider. Just the scent and sheer presence in the room is unfortunately not enough. What your girl did was to identify the 'invader' of her privacy and comprehensively deal with them.
When dealing with fear-aggressive piggies there is unfortunately no quick intro.

However, just being in the same room (which keeping piggies on top of each other basically is) but without interaction and stimulation on all levels of the very complex social interaction that guinea pigs have (pheromones, body language and voice) is also not a longer term solution for single piggies.

 

[Rainbow Brite]

Many thanks for your reply, I could buy another cage for the new piggy and put them next to each other. If I did that would you put the cages next to each other straight away or leave them out of sight of each other for a few days? Would you attempt a reintroduction in the future?

 

[Wiebke]

Many thanks for your reply, I could buy another cage for the new piggy and put them next to each other. If I did that would you put the cages next to each other straight away or leave them out of sight of each other for a few days? Would you attempt a reintroduction in the future?

Please put them next to each other straight away. Your little baby really needs company! Belonging is the overwhelming need at her young age irrespective of whether she is dominant or not.

You can try a re-introduction but to be honest, once piggies have made up their mind as to who they want to be part of their group or who they like, they rarely change their opinion.
My diva Tegan continued to tell Gethin, who she dumped hours after the introduction at a rescue, that he was the last piggy in the world she would live with for years after whenever she passed his cage during roaming time. Thankfully, Tegan's mother (who didn't want her rebellious daughter on her own doorstep trying to take of over and run the show, thank you) took one look at young neutered Gethin and fell for him head over heels (and he for her for the rest of her life) so I didn't have to take Gethin back to the rescue while Tegan grudgingly went back to living with the old and by then rather ailing group husboar Hywel; the last piggy who would accept her until bereaved and lonely old fellow diva Calli came along eventually after Hywel's death. Tegan is only one, if the most striking example.