Introductions seemed to go well but blood drawn this morning!

[pinklizzy]

Feeling pretty rubbish this morning.
We took on another sow 12 days ago and she has been kept on her own up until yesterday when we introduced her to our existing piggies (neutered boar and two sister sows) I did the intro on neutral territory in a pen made from C&C grids that have never been used and kept a close eye on them for about 1.5hrs. While they were in the pen I scrubbed out the cage and all the plastic items and changed all the fleece and cosies etc.

There was a bit of teeth chattering and rumbling from them all when they were first together but nothing major, or so I thought but this morning the new girl has a wound under her chin.
I've separated them straight away and we're on our way to the vets in 20 mins but I assume they'll have to be kept apart from now on? I feel so awful.

 

[missybct]

Don't feel awful. You did the right thing with neutral territory etc, but some piggies just don't get on unfortunately.

Generally speaking if blood is shed you should separate. The thing is with three other pigs is you can't be sure which pig may have caused the injury if you had left them overnight.

 

[pinklizzy]

Well, Marilyn has a nasty bite wound under her chin and is having Baytril and Metacam. I've been bathing it to keep it open and draining and she is still eating/pooping although I've got the critical care ready in case the Baytril starts to affect her appetite.
Not sure what our long-term plans will be as the temp. cage she's in is only 100cm and I don't want to keep her on her own, before the problems she seemed so pleased to have company again (we took her on as she was a lonely pig after her sister died)
I have some more grids that I could use to make a 2x4 cage for her in the same room but I don't know how to go about finding her a friend, I'm obviously not very good at this bonding!

 

[pinklizzy]

Two month update- As soon as Marilyn had fully recovered from her injuries, I adapted the C&C cage so that there was a division between her and the trio and she has been living in there with them for the last 1.5 months. I've been giving them all floor time together without any problems and yesterday I cleaned the entire cage, new bedding, clean toys etc and tried them all back together again.
There were a few bouts of bickering and teeth chattering but 36hrs later they all seem to have settled down pretty well and I'm so pleased!

 

[Guinea pig slave]

That's great to hear - well done and bet the piggies are enjoying becoming a family of four
Hope they remain friends, all paws crossed for you

 

[MargaretB]

It must have been awful for you when Marilyn got wounded. So glad to hear they are all getting on well now .