Introducing 2 Pairs Of Adult Females?

[Purple smiley]

My daughters have 2 female guide pigs each which they have in indoor cages in their bedrooms. We want to move all 4 guinea pigs downstairs, ideally into one bigger double/triple height cage/run. The piggies are all about 2yrs old - we bought them as pairs at the same time.
What are the chances of successfully introducing them to each other? They've never really met as they currently live in deprecate bedrooms. Can't commit to new home for them unless I know they can live together iykwim. All help/advice appreciated. Thanks x

 

[Wiebke]

If you could arrange a run for them to live next to each other at first with interaction through the bars for a few days, that would be great. It will also give you an idea how things will go during the introduction proper when you take away the divider and remove all hideys while taking away as many extraneous stress factors that could impinge on the intros.

The critical point when introducing sow pairs is how the two top sows will sort out the dominance between them. As they are the same age, this could potentially much trickier than if one pair was noticeably younger and couldn't physically challenge the older top sow. You may find that it will not work out if the two top sows are too closely matched in dominance. In this case, I would recommend splitting your run/cage into two separate floors.

With sows, you can separate overnight as long as you only intervene if the level of tension is and remains very high or there is a sudden escalation in aggressive signals that could quickly end up in fight. But ideally, your piggies should have as long a stretch of time together so they can work out the new hierarchy and all the dominance issues involved. This can take several days for the main part and you will see dominance behaviour for a few weeks until all settles down. Make sure that you have two days in a row where you can sit by and keep a close eye on them.

Leave out any hideys with only one exit during the intro and while setting in the new cage. Fights often start when one piggy feels cornered and threatened. You can create suitable temporary hideys from teatowels pegged to the grids or from cardboard boxes with open sides. Make sure that they all have a food bowl each at least a body length apart so the dominant sow can't hog it all. Choice of the best place to sleep and eat is the prerogative of the top sow in exchange for taking on the responsibility for the survival of the group as a whole; a new top sow will exercise her right as part of establishing her dominance. As the hierarchy gets established, you will see the biggest dominance usually directed at the sow just below in the hierarchy. Put the hideys back in once things have settled down. it would also be a good idea to have a double access to any hay loft, so no piggy can "locked" in.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-introducing-and-reintroducing-guinea-pigs.38562/
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sow-behaviour.38561/
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/biological-facts-and-guinea-pig-society.109062/