I have a bit of an issue...

[catherine]

Some of you will have read my bonding thread

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=90955

Well I now have a very happy trio of Marley, Molly and Treacle, yet when I introduced Mabel this morning all hell broke loose and she just went for all three of them, had a fight with Marley and bullied Treacle so much she has been sat in a corner (just like she was doing before I built her confidence up with the others) for the last 10 minutes

I've seperated Mabel again, might try again tomorrow. Do you think she associates being seperated from the others with being agressive? I removed her immediately after she went for Treacle. I know I should leave her in there to work things out, but she always goes for Treacle and absolutely terrifies her so much that she just desperately tries to hide away in a corner for hours afterwards. I thought having the three of them living together would help Treacle build up her confidence, and it has, but all that confidence seems to have disappeared now

I'm starting to wonder what to do now. Mabel was always the one bullying the others even without Treacle, now I have a very happy trio who all snuggle up together and there is no aggression whatever between them, they all seem much happier than when Mabel was there before mallethead

 

[Shellza]

I've not experienced this problem before as I've not got much experience of bonding, but maybe you could try putting her in some neutral space and maybe just getting her used to one pig at a time. She may just be feeling a bit defensive. Were Mabel and Treacle introduced separately before? If not, that may be an idea.
Sorry I'm not much help. Hopefully someone with more experience of bonding will come along soon with some better ideas.

 

[Pepperdog]

it sounds like mabel is quite the stroppy one in the group. Would you be able to find mabel a more compatable friend and have a trio and pair? Not very helpful I know but it sounds like they are happier without her if she bullies all of them but mostly the new girl which of course would be taking over her position as treacle sounds like she is also a dominant personality but less so than mable.

Sorry its not very helpful :red

 

[helen105281]

My Rosie was the same as your Mabel, she wouldn't even take to a 4 week old baby sow and could be very aggressive but loved being in her own space and having lots of human contact. Like others have said, maybe see if she would like to choose her own friend?

 

[Wiebke]

I agree with the others that Mabel seems to have an aggression problem and may perhaps be happier with just a friend of her own she accepts in the long term? Sadly, some piggies are much more difficult to find the right setting/companion for than others. Mabel being that aggressive when rejoining the group sounds like you will be really up against it and you may have at some stage to decide just how much stress you want to put all four of your piggies through.

If you decide to split, I would in any case only go for piggies she can date under expert supervision, preferably at a good rescue in order to minimise the chance of any more problems.

That was what I ended up doing with my problem piggy Tegyd last summer after I came to the conclusion that after weeks of trying to integrate her that she was just not coping well with a big group and the constant tension from her overreacting was getting to everypig.
Tegyd had made friends only with my other cataract piggy Taffy, so I took the two to my nearest rescue to let them choose their own new (submissive) neutered husboar. The funny thing is that one year on Tegyd is happily living with five other piggies in her own group... just because I provided her with the setting she needed at the time. It was not an easy decision at all to split up my Tribe, but looking back, it was certainly the right one!

 

[catherine]

The thing is...Mabel absolutely hates humans and seems unhappy on her own - when the others are wheeking she always is trying to climb up the cage in the direction of where they are - as she can't see them (she is above them).

I don't know what to do - I think I might try Mabel in there again later on and see how she reacts. I can't feasibly get her a friend for at least a few months as I'm moving home for a while until I find somewhere to live permanently, and there isn't really the room at home for 2 indoor setups. Even travelling home will be difficult as I have one large carrier for all of them

I will persevere with trying to integrate her, but only a couple more times because I don't want to stress out the other three too much.

I had Treacle on a 'trial' to see if she would get on with my lot - I would feel awful sending her back when she gets on so beautifully with Molly and Marley, but because Mabel has taken a hatred to her...mallethead