Introducing Female Piggies

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Claire K

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I currently have 2 piggies (females) and am possibly taking another 2 from a friend of a friend who was just going to give them to a pet shop.

My current 2 are 1 year old and the 2 that I may be getting are about 8 weeks old (Also females).

Is it best to leave them living in their 2 pairs or is it worth trying to introduce them so that they can all live together?

If its best to introduce them all, how is it best to do it in order to get the most positive results?

If its best to leave them living in 2 pairs, can they be put together for playtimes and socialising or not?

Any advice would be great

Many Thanks
Claire x
 
I'd start them off slowly allowing your new girls adjust to their new home for the first two weeks, and put them in separate but adjoining houses and pens for play time, introducing them slowly during those weeks allowing the two groups to meet with supervised visits, and seeing where it goes from there. My OH mother has several rescued guinea pigs who has put this into practice many a times and now has a successful happy group of piggies!
 
I introduced my 2 new girls to the older girls as Audioheart says and after 3 weeks they were all living together very happily just seperating to go to bed at night.
 
Thanks to you both for your suggestions - will give that a go when i get my new 2 and see what happens.

Do most female bondings go well ?

What would the signs be if they didnt get on (apart from fighting i guess)

Claire x
 
I did the same with most of my girls who have joined the tribe in pairs.

I also found that keeping guinea pigs next to each other for a bit of time (a day or two) can also help with introductions. The piggies can "meet" from a safe distance and you can judge levels of interest. I would only introduce piggies properly on neutral when there was interest from both sides. If there are signs of aggression (teeth chattering), I would obviously wait a bit longer. PS: Moving the cages into a different position also helps, as it "neutralises" the meeting ground and keeps very territorial piggies off guard.

Your chances with introducing two youngs girls are not bad as they clearly won't challenge for dominance. If you are worried, you can try indoors/outdoors run time next to each other. In summer, a big run is not a bad place to introduce piggies on a fresh patch of grass.

Here are tips about sow behaviour:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38561

Introducing guinea pigs:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38561
 
Heyoo - wiekbe has some fantastic links above on behaviour and introducing them, here's another website with helpful information and if you scroll down about half way you should see a section on introductions :):
http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm

The usual signs you want to watch out for is:
Teeth chattering, nips, wide yarn and snorting, however this could just be them sorting out who's boss but you should definitely intervene if they rear up on their haunches as it usually means they're going to attack.

Girls are usually fine with new cagemates, but they do need introducing to the new girls first. Everything should go fine for you, just a bit of time and read up plenty on introducing and behaviour before you get them and don’t forget to relax! Hope everything goes well!
 
Would 3 boars be OK in this?

As long as you take it slowly, let them smell each other over a few days, then intoduce them on neutral territory, I think they'd be fine!
 
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