Making Sure Our Piggies Will Be Okay

[Abs]

Hello

We have two, sometimes three, guinea pigs in our family, one (Patch on the left) about six-eight weeks who has been with us for two weeks, and another (Biscuit on the right) a similar age who arrived home today. At the moment they are in their own cages, but next to each other. I'm not sure if they are the same type of guinea pig, or whether different types can be companions.



Patch is getting very confident, but Biscuit is understandably shy, she has not had time to settle down yet. I have read the frequently asked questions, but just want to first check when it is okay to start introducing them together?

Originally, I bought Patch because my sister's Ziggy was supposed to be coming home to live with us forever. However, Ziggy is a school pet and is staying at school a couple of weeks longer. I know it is bad for them to keep being introduced and separated. We want to try and get all the piggies together eventually, but as Ziggy is currently struggling with trautmatic stress, that won't be for a while.

 

[Stewybus]

They both look like Abi's or maybe Abi cross. As they're both young it should be fairly easy to introduce them Introduce them. on neutral territory, maybe in an outdoor run on the lawn. Keep an eye on they to make sure there's no bad fighting. There'll maybe be a bit of chasing each other to establish dominance but if there's plenty of grass about then this should keep them occupied. When you put them into the cage together make sure it has been fully cleaned so that there's no dominant smells of the one that's been living there. Generally it's easy to introduce young females & then they should be friends for life.If Ziggy is joining them in 2 or 3 weeks then do the same or wait till you have all 3 and introduce them all at once. Good Luck.

 

[Abs]

Thank you very much for your helpful comments - we have done exactly that today, and it seems like Patch and Biscuit are getting along well. I am glad you said about the chasing because I was quite worried at first, but now they are cuddled up together looking very pleased with themselves

 

[Wiebke]

Breed doesn't matter with intros. At that young age, they should bond well as their desire not to be alone is great. You are stil going to see a degree of dominance as they are working out the hierarchy and the shape of their future relationship.

 

[Abs]

They have certainly been much more vocal these past few days, but if can't work out which one the dominant one is!

 

[Wiebke]

It depends on how dominant the top sow is or otherwise experience to spot the very subtle signs of who is on top when there is not a lot in it.