Introducing new guineas?

[MummyJo]

Hi,

We currently have 2 females, Ron & Custard they are just over 1 year old. They are in a pet bought cage & I have been researching, with huge thanks to this forum, c&c cages. I have the grids arriving tomorrow, proplex on order, washable waterproof sheets arrived today & I picked up some fleece blankets today. I have a few questions ...
My daughter would like 2 more piggies, we are thinking females would be best. Is it ok to introduce babies (approx 8 weeks old) to our current ones? Do we need to quarantine the babies? They will be purchased from Pets At Home (like our others were). I am planning to make a 6x2 cage with loft space (if I can work out how to do it ).
Should we set up the new cage & not put anyone in there until we have the babies? Then introduce them all to the new cage together? We obv will put houses etc that have been in the current cage, is that ok or should it be all new items?
The fleece blankets I bought, is it right that I need to wash first without softner?
Photos of our babies on their birthday with their pressies, Ron is the white one

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

Young piggies under four months old must not be quarantined - they are desperate for companionship so you will need to carry out the bonding process as soon as you bring them home. Due to this, if they do bring home any illnesses/parasites, then you will need to get all four of them treated.

Adding young babies can make the bonding process easier as they cannot challenge the current hierwrchy between your current two girls. However, any bonding does come down to character compatibility so simply buying piggies and introducing them does always come with some risk of a failed bonding as you don’t know the characters the two new piggies will have.

Bonding needs to be done on neutral territory. You put all piggies into an area your current piggies do not see as their own territory. The bonding pen must not have any hides as these can cause territory issues, just a pile of hay. You leave them in the bonding pen for several hours to see if things are going to work out. If it does, then you clean down the cage they are to live in so it is also neutral and then move all four of them to the cage to begin together.
As you are using a brand new cage, then that can be the neutral territory, so don’t put your original two piggies into it.
As I say though, don’t out hides into the cage until they have been together for several hours and go through the early stages of forming a relationship. You can add hides once you are sure they are ok together. It takes around two weeks for the hierarchy to be fully established
Ensure all hides have two exits so no piggy can get cornered inside a hide by the other piggies.
Also ensure you have as many hides as piggies.

All new fleece needs to be washed several times before use to get it to wick. Don’t use softener.

The guides below offer further on bonding

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

 

[MummyJo]

Thank you very much thats really useful info. So after several hours together if all looks ok, they will be ok to go in the new cage & ok to be left alone overnight all together? And ok to use hides (with 2 exits) once they are all in the cage together? Just not in the bonding area? Thanks again

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you very much thats really useful info. So after several hours together if all looks ok, they will be ok to go in the new cage & ok to be left alone overnight all together? And ok to use hides (with 2 exits) once they are all in the cage together? Just not in the bonding area? Thanks again

Yes, provided they look fine in the bonding pen after several hours, then they can go into cage. You don’t separate piggies after the initial introduction if all goes well as it interrupts the process, so if it’s positive, then they stay together permanently from then on.

And yes, ok to have hides in the cage, just not in the bonding pen

 

[MummyJo]

Yes, provided they look fine in the bonding pen after several hours, then they can go into cage. You don’t separate piggies after the initial introduction if all goes well as it interrupts the process, so if it’s positive, then they stay together permanently from then on.

And yes, ok to have hides in the cage, just not in the bonding pen

Thank you, I post pics of the new cage set up in the relevant section & hopefully of the new babies soon

 

[Siikibam]

If you get a pair then they would need to be quarantined. It’s only if they’re a lone piggy under four months that they must be bonded soon as. @Piggies&buns please can you confirm.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes - sorry, my mistake, as they are a pair then they have each other so could be quarantined (two weeks in an entirely separate room). But babies are desperate for company so being with older piggies is beneficial even though they would have each other.

And just to pick up on something in the original post, you say ‘thinking two females would be best‘. It would be essential you have two females if you want an immediate herd of four.
You could not put two boars in 1) they would get your sows pregnant and 2) you cannot keep two neutered boars with sows as the boys would fight each other. It’s only ever one neutered boar to be kept with any number of sows.
If you are buying pet shop piggies, then please do ensure you double check the sexes of any new piggies yourself - unfortunately we see a lot of missexing from pet shops.

 

[MummyJo]

Ok so quarantined for 2 weeks, then do the bonding time. Then clean cage ready for them all once bonded. Thank you both

Yes we're def getting females to add to our females, I do not want baby piggies