Help with bonding

[emilymarie784]

I adopted my first Guinea Pig Suzie, two months ago. She came from a home where she was raised single since she was 6 weeks old. She lived in a large wire cage, wasn’t given a lot of attention, and only got hay as a treat, every once in a while.
She was very shy and skittish at first but with daily interactions, I have discovered she is very sweet and cuddly.
I decided to get her a companion a couple weeks ago. I adopted a 6 month old piggy and I’ve had her for one week. She came from a litter of 4 and she’s been with a sister for the past 4 months.
After being in cages side by side for 5 days and a play date with no fighting I decided to put them together.
I put them in a 2x5 C&C cage that was completely cleaned with a clean liner, fresh hay, water, and food. They seemed fine at first. The new younger piggie Willow, is still scared of me so she immediately went into hiding. My older piggie Suzie explorered her new surroundings. I watched them for an uneventful hour and then Willow came sniffing around Suzie and Suzie started squawking at her. They’ve been together for 48 hours now and while there hasn’t been any fights, Suzie will not let Willow come anywhere close to her. Every time Willow tries, Suzie will either run away and/or squawk at her very loudly. Willow doesn’t seem to be aggressive at all, just curious and probably looking for companionship.
And when I say squawking it’s because that’s what Suzie sounds like. She has squeaked quiet cute little squeaks when she’s excited, but this sound is entirely different.
I feel bad for both of them because they both seem stressed. They both do a lot of teeth chattering when there’s any kind of interaction with each other.
Willow runs into hiding if she sees or hears me, but she seems comfortable enough to approach Suzie several times a day even though Suzie squawks at her and runs away.
Do you think my older pig Suzie has been alone for too long to be able to bond? Would it be unfair to Willow if they just lived side by side in different cages? Is it too soon to decide if they are able to bond or not? How much longer should I give it? They both seem so stressed. Any advice to this new piggy mommy would be much appreciated.
Suzie is in the loft and Willow is below.

 

[Seven7]

If they fight and draw blood, then you must separate them. However, I would give them some time. My guess is that they are just stressed from being in a new environment and with new friend.
My two boys still do teeth chattering despite having lived together for over a year. They do sleep together in close proximity to each other, which means they like each others. Boys have harder time with living together compared to girls.
I would give them some more time to get used to each other and their new home.

 

[Piggies&buns]

How old is Suzie?
I see that she has been alone since 6 weeks old but how long has that been?

If they are stressed and refusing to interact, it could well that things aren’t not good between them - it may well be that because Suzie had been been kept alone during the vital schooling months (which is between 3 weeks and 16 weeks of age) that she simply doesn’t know how to socialise.

You are much less likely to see a full on fight between sows so you can’t necessarily use that as a way to gauge whether a bond has failed.
When they first meet, you see the normal
Dominance behaviours (chasing, teeth chattering etc) but over the few days following the bonding day things usually settle down as they settle in together and form their hierarchy. In sows with a failing bond, you are more likely to see teeth chattering, chasing, nipping etc get worse but not actually see a full on fight.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities

 

[emilymarie784]

How old is Suzie?
I see that she has been alone since 6 weeks old but how long has that been?

If they are stressed and refusing to interact, it could well that things aren’t not good between them - it may well be that because Suzie had been been kept alone during the vital schooling months (which is between 3 weeks and 16 weeks of age) that she simply doesn’t know how to socialise.

You are much less likely to see a full on fight between sows so you can’t necessarily use that as a way to gauge whether a bond has failed.
When they first meet, you see the normal
Dominance behaviours (chasing, teeth chattering etc) but over the few days following the bonding day things usually settle down as they settle in together and form their hierarchy. In sows with a failing bond, you are more likely to see teeth chattering, chasing, nipping etc get worse but not actually see a full on fight.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities

Thank you. Those are some good tips to be aware of. Suzie is three and a half, so she’s been alone for a long time.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes that is a long time to be with only human interaction. Without having learnt the social skills as a youngster she may be struggling being with another piggy and may not see herself as a piggy.

I would keep a very close eye. Keep up with the routine weight checks - if they are feeling stressed then they may not eat enough hay and the weight checks are the only way to monitor hay intake.

Piggies will submission squeak - they will do a high pitched squeak to tell the other that they are no threat to them. That may be what she is doing - we obviously can’t hear it so can’t know for sure - but the fact you describe it as squawking may be something else entirely.

It takes around two weeks for newly bonded piggies to fully form their bond. If they have a continual refusal to interact and don’t settle then it may be kinder to separate them and have them live side by side so they can interact between the bars but they (and in particular Suzie) still get their own territory.

The guides I added in my previous reply explain everything further

 

[Cheekypigs]

As well as high pitched submission squeaks, they sometimes make a sort of throaty complaining noise. My vice principal pig does that sometimes when he feels either that the principal pig has been too rough, or has something else to complain about (he blames principal pig for everything, including things the humans have done or not done). Early in their relationship, he would make that noise as a kind of "leave me alone!" noise. So perhaps your pig is also saying "leave me alone!"

I agree to give them time. They will most likely settle in together in the end.

 

[emilymarie784]

Thanks for the replies! It’s been almost 4 weeks since I posted and I’m happy to report they are doing so much better!
Suzie completely stopped squawking within a week. She is now acting more like a Guinea pig and sniffing Willow’s butt and she even will lick Willow’s face
I’m not sure if they have established who is the dominant one. Their interactions usually include staring at each other nose to nose, stealing each others veggies, wheeking together when I come with food, and sniffing each others butts. Willow will occasionally do a rumble strut when Suzie licks or sniffs her, and then go run and hide. I’m not sure what that means because at first she seems to be showing dominance, but then she runs and hides like she’s scared.
My guess is that the dominance is hard to see because Suzie has been alone for 3 1/2 years and Willow is still young. They’re both still learning how to be together and I no longer have concerns about it.