How can i help my guinea pigs to bond?

[nicola]

I got my three girl guinea pigs from the rescue centre 2 weeks ago. 2 of the girls (Dolly and Belle) are getting on well and follow each other around and sleep together in the sleeping compartment quite happily. However they will not let Baby sleep with them in the sleeping compartment upstairs or let her go upstairs at all. She is sleeping on her own downstairs and I am really worried about her spending so much time on her own. There is no real fighting they just kept pushing her out of the sleeping compartment and now she seems to have given up trying to get in there at all. They eat together ok but that's about all the contact they have with her. Any ideas please on how I can encourage them to bond with her? I was considering getting another girl or neutered male from the rescue centre to try to even up the numbers but am really unsure what to do for the best.

 

[maisynpoppy]

i havent had this problem but i would probably try bonding them with food lol. maybe get them all on my lap a couple times a day and let them have some cucumber on me. also maybe you could take one out at a time so when the baby is left with another one it has a chance to bond with 1 instead of two at once

 

[emma2009]

i agree with maisynpoppy you should take one piggy out and leave baby with the other one and then see what happens
hope it works for you, my piggys are gr8 together iv had fudge for a year and a while ago i got nibblet who was only 6 weeks and they got on gr8 from the begaining so iv never had this problem

maybe some1 will come on hows delt with this :smitten:

 

[bishpiggies]

I am having this problem as well. I had a single female who is now 5 years old. When her sister died earlier in the year, I got 2 new baby pigs to keep her company. The 2 new ones do not seem to get on together at all, in fact I have had to separate them on a couple of occasions when they have fought. Either one or the other spends time with Mary, the older pig, but never all three together. I often find one of the younger ones on their own downstairs in the hutch. It does make me a bit sad to see this, I have never experienced sows not getting on together. I'm trying to overcome it by cuddling them all in turn and together on my lap. It's still early days so I'm hoping that they will adjust to one another.
I have considered getting another young sow to make a bigger group so one is not on their own. Or a male might balance the group out as he will be dominant and keep the girls under control!
Let me know how yours go on...

 

[rachpark]

Nicola, I have the exactly same problem, I introduced my baby pig (unnamed as yet !) to hazel and smudge, they seemed to get on ok, no fighting or threatening behaviour but two nights on and baby is sleeping by herself on the top floor and everytime I look in she is eating by herself too. She looks so lonely. The other two are residencing on the second floor of the hutch ignoring her. If she comes down to see them, Hazel chases her out the bedroom. I tried putting the greens on the top floor with baby but so far tonight I havent seen the other two touch them.
Does anyone know if this relationship will improve ? could it be PMT from hazel because she does get bossy sometimes? :tickedoff:
Let me know nicola, how yours are doing ?

 

[quickchicks]

my other guinea pig is doing that at the moment , one of them are probably just domineering . or they could just be getting to know each other. you could try putting them in the same run and see if they get on. O0

 

[boureki]

This is just my personal view, but I think three isn't a great number - like with people, there is often although not always, one left out. Before anyone shouts me down, I know that many people have success with three ladies, but I wonder if finding a placid neutered boar to even up the numbers may help in this case?

 

[JellyBelly]

Hmm three is a crowd.
I have 5 piggies (soon to be 7). I have 4 sows and a boar, i cant say i notice any actual pairs although i do have 2 sows that keep out of each others way.

I too would introduce a neutered boar, mine certainly calmed the sows down when he was introduced.

 

[starla]

yes I find 3 a problem. One usually gets left out I had 2 older sows and a younger one, they constantly left the younger one out, wouldn't let her in the sleeping compartment etc - just like yours are doing! In the end I couldn't stand it and was worried for the younger ones happiness (even though she seemed quite chirpy!) she got herself a neutered boar and couldn't be happier (now popcorns around the hutch with him)

 

[choloe]

i only have 2 girls and jessie is a paw ful bossing zoe around, mounting her etc, i would teach the two bossy paws a lesson for leaving poor baby out in the cold and get her a nice harmless boyfriend to play with and hope this will keep baby company and happy. please let us know how it gets on, just hope the male doesn't ignore baby too. but i would also do as mainspoppy said and take one out and leave the other with baby, cuddle all 3 on your lap, have all 3 out for playtime etc and see how you go. hugs and cuddles to baby and to all of the left out piggies :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: girls send :-* :-* :-*

 

[jayneblonde]

i have a similar problem - have 3 laydee piggies and i find that one day they will pair up as a 2 and leave one out and then the following day a different one will be left out! all very odd - guess it comes down to whoever is 'flavour of the day'!

i also have a mother and 2 baby girls who are separated from my 3 original piggies by a gate (part of a run) with a view to putting them all together - tried this once, it did not go down too well! and had to separate them after about 20 minutes :o and the mother attacked the dominant female of my herd... :'( will try this again and keep an eye on them to see if their time next to each other has helped.. would like them all to get on! any tips for introducing the new piggies to my piggies would be greatly appreciated too! xx :smitten: