Introducing.

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PiggyPepsi

Please read this carefully before giving me advice as i need the best advice i can get for doing this.

I have a boar piggy that is 3 years old. He was adopted and has lived by himself eversince.

Now i have just got a new boar piggy who is about 3 - 4 months old and is also alone. Now i do want to introduce them together i would just like to know the best way of going about it.

1. Toys - my oldest guinea has his own blanket, his own toys and my bedroom has carpet down which will have his scent on and i am wondering if they will need to be washed. OBV i cant wash the carpet but if i was to let my new piggy out in my room with my oldest would they fight over my oldest's toys.

2. How to introduce them. I am going to go with letting them share a plate of grass as it seems to be a sensible way of doing this. However i think i was to do this in the kitchen, where me and my mam will be to make sure no fight occur. Does anyone else have any tips on how to get this perfect when the pigs are from two completly different litters.

3. What will i do if they start to fight. what is the most effective way to stop this? as my piggys are quite fast.

4. i only got my little piggy today so how long should i wait before i do this.
 
When I have done this, I set up a c & c of 4 cubes x 2 cubes and put in there a couple of dishes of food, scatter veggies, hay in a couple of loo rolls so lots of distractions.
I then just pop both pigs in. Reactions have varied. Sometimes chasing, humping, then stopping for a bite to eat, then a bit more bum sniffing and chasing, then settling down a bit. I have left them in the c & c (or you could use a large run etc) for up to a couple of hours. Then I have put them into the hutch/cage together and observed them for about a further half hour, and if all is still well. That's it.
It is important to prepare and neutralise the hutch/cage though where they are going to live. Completely empty it, clean it out thoroughly, re arrange all the furniture, don't put anything back in there that may smell of your original pig (this would usually be things like wooden cabins, fiddlestix, carpets etc.) Then put the new pig in first, very quickly followed by the original pig. The idea behind this is so that the original pig doesn't think who is this coming into my house. The house will be neutral and the new pig in first. There is nothing to be gained by waiting, or by 'trying' bonding on and off over a couple of days. Generally, they will either get on, or they won't and it is most likely that you will know within minutes of them first meeting. Good luck. xx
ps. have a tea towel ready to throw over one if they do start to fight. Also you could clap your hands really loudly to startle them, and this will stop them.
 
I was just thinking, won't the new piggy pee on the carpet and ruin it as he won't be used to living there or know where to pee?

If they do fight or one lunges at the other, have gloves on or a thick towel to try to seperate them. Because when I first introduced by boys my hand got in between two pigs when one was lunging at the other, and I got a nasty bite! And another one on my foot! From my own pig that I had had since birth too! rolleyes
 
I would recommend introductions in the kitchen. Have a towel ready to separate the boys if they start seriously fightin and biting. Don't try to separate fighting boars with your bare hands - guinea pigs CAN bite!
Make sure that there are no nooks and crannies they can disappear under or into and that the boys cannot get at any cables.

Please do NOT separate unless there are serious bloody fights or incessant humping that goes on for over a day and has the other piggy clearly distressed. Introductions can be hard to watch as it looks pretty rough at times. However, piggies do follow a certain protocol which allows all those behaviours and do not see things the same as us politically correct humans who can make do with just hinting at something - guinea pigs have to spell everything out in capital letters! The mistake most timid first time introducers make is spearating boars too quickly, not knowing that they only achieve the opposite of what they intend, as they interrupt the "protocol" and force the boys to start the whole process from scratch again. Once you have committed to the ride you have to sit it out!

A "buddy bath", i.e. bathing both boars with the same shampoo can also help - they have the shared indignity and misery to bond over, but do not carry different group scents.


Do not put any hides that have only one exit into the introduction area and the new cage at first - you do not want anything, corner or house where a piggy can be backed into without an escape route.

It would be good if you could wash any fabrics with a bit of white/industrial vinegar in order to neutralise the smell. You can also use a bit of vinegar when washing out the cage and wiping down all the piggy houses and toys etc. in order to neutralise smells. Rearranging the "furniture" helps further to make it a "new" place. If you can, get new fleeces for the cage; they are pretty cheap anyway! However, you need to wash any fleece two or three times without softener to make it permeable to fluids, so it stays nice and dry on the surface.

Make sure that you have two of everything, bowls, water bottles, hides (preferably with two exits, so no piggy can be "locked in" by a bully) even hay rack - that way, nopig can get possessive and prevent the other from eating and sleeping.

Best of luck! You have got our links for boar behaviour and introductions. You or your mum can always post if you are worried.
 
Thanks for you help.

Also id just like to ask if i only got him yesterday is it best to introduce him as soon as possibleor wait. xx
 
Provided you are sure he has no health issues that would require a quarantine period, there is no need to wait. Go for it. x
 
The only other thing that i am worried about is he has little white fleakes that look to me like dandruff on his coat. And I'm sure dandruff cannot spread. Today however my first little piggy is going to have a pamper he needs his nails clipped and i have proper deodorising wipes that i am giving them a wipe over with to make them netural to each other. i cant wait to see what happens i am praying they get along as sometimes i feel pepsi can get a liittle lonly
 
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