Meeting through bars prior to bonding?

Pantalaimon

Pantalaimon

Junior Guinea Pig
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My neutered boar (Pat) has been alone since March, and my recently acquired permanent foster pig (Ruby) has also been alone for some time. They are both desperate for a companion but have had to be kept at opposite sides of the room since Monday, Ruby has now had an all clear at the vets so I feel comfortable letting them meet.

Ruby is having a major surgery on Friday so I was planning on leaving the introduction until after that (once she is mostly healed). With previous pairs, I have had them chat through the bars before bonding. Is this ok to do?

They have both been desperate to reach each other but now that I’ve let them sniff through the bars they’re not quite as enthusiastic! I’m sitting medicating and feeding Ruby at least twice a day and I try to sit near Pat so that they can see each other, is it ok to let them sniff through the bars or better not to?

I understand that once they are out together it is bad to separate them, but I’m wondering if this applies to interactions through the cage as well?

Ruby trundled off my lap today and I just let her go over to Pat, but the interaction was not as friendly as I had expected based on their behaviour from a distance. I can post a link to a video of the interaction.
 
I might be talking total nonsense but what meds is she having? Is it possible that he's reacting to the smell of an unpleasant one lingering on her?
 
Wiebke said:
I can't get the sound but it rather looks like insecurity to me. Initial teeth chattering when coming face to face is pretty common.

Can you divide the cage and let them live next to each other for a while so they can get used to each other?
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Sorry about the sound. If you click on the video does it not come up with a little bar at the bottom? (Sorry, I've not used imgur much and am trying to work it out!)
I will be able to divide the cage, though the problem I've had in the past is with constant bar chewing as they attempt to get to each other. I am also going to attempt to treat Pat for static lice. He has had them since I got him four years ago and despite many rounds of ivermectin and louse shampoo, I can't seem to get rid of them. I'm going to give it one last go before introducing her. Although it doesn't bother him much, I don't want an endless louse problem in the future. I might have to do a three pronged attack and give him a louse bath, cut all of his hair really short, clean the whole cage and then apply ivermectin.
 
Pantalaimon said:
Sorry about the sound. If you click on the video does it not come up with a little bar at the bottom? (Sorry, I've not used imgur much and am trying to work it out!)
I will be able to divide the cage, though the problem I've had in the past is with constant bar chewing as they attempt to get to each other. I am also going to attempt to treat Pat for static lice. He has had them since I got him four years ago and despite many rounds of ivermectin and louse shampoo, I can't seem to get rid of them. I'm going to give it one last go before introducing her. Although it doesn't bother him much, I don't want an endless louse problem in the future. I might have to do a three pronged attack and give him a louse bath, cut all of his hair really short, clean the whole cage and then apply ivermectin.
Click to expand...

Stronghold injections from the vet (selamectin, pescription-only) did the trick for my Nye who spent the first year with me with having either hay mites or mange mites about every two months.

Static lice is an outdated name for hay mites (chirodiscoides caviae). They are mites, not lice and what you see are the egg cases that are fixed to hairs.

The newer strains of hay mites that did come in with industrially harvested, imported international brands pet shop brands some years ago can be much more resitant.

Neither Nye's mate Nosgan nor any neighbours or later on, his wives, ever picked up anything from him because their immune system was strong enough to fend it off. Poor Nye remained a bit prone to having a mange mites outbreak from a reservoir in his skin whenever his immune system was under pressure but it was thankfully easily sorted and he never passed anything on.
 
Pantalaimon said:
Sorry about the sound. If you click on the video does it not come up with a little bar at the bottom? (Sorry, I've not used imgur much and am trying to work it out!)
I will be able to divide the cage, though the problem I've had in the past is with constant bar chewing as they attempt to get to each other. I am also going to attempt to treat Pat for static lice. He has had them since I got him four years ago and despite many rounds of ivermectin and louse shampoo, I can't seem to get rid of them. I'm going to give it one last go before introducing her. Although it doesn't bother him much, I don't want an endless louse problem in the future. I might have to do a three pronged attack and give him a louse bath, cut all of his hair really short, clean the whole cage and then apply ivermectin.
Click to expand...

The body language is all wrong for heavy duty teeth chattering anyway. ;)
 
Wiebke said:
Stronghold injections from the vet (selamectin, pescription-only) did the trick for my Nye who spent the first year with me with having either hay mites or mange mites about every two months.

Static lice is an outdated name for hay mites (chirodiscoides caviae). They are mites, not lice and what you see are the egg cases that are fixed to hairs.

The newer strains of hay mites that did come in with industrially harvested, imported international brands pet shop brands some years ago can be much more resitant.

Neither Nye's mate Nosgan nor any neighbours or later on, his wives, ever picked up anything from him because their immune system was strong enough to fend it off. Poor Nye remained a bit prone to having a mange mites outbreak from a reservoir in his skin whenever his immune system was under pressure but it was thankfully easily sorted and he never passed anything on.
Click to expand...
That sounds really promising! I have never heard of that treatment before, I will talk to my vet about it.
 
Wiebke said:
The body language is all wrong for heavy duty teeth chattering anyway. ;)
Click to expand...
That's good. I have always been quite confident with reading guinea pig body language but suddenly felt unsure about what exactly they were displaying. I think it's just two pigs who have lived in isolation for so long neither one quite knows how to interact with the other!😆
 
Pantalaimon said:
That's good. I have always been quite confident with reading guinea pig body language but suddenly felt unsure about what exactly they were displaying. I think it's just two pigs who have lived in isolation for so long neither one quite knows how to interact with the other!😆
Click to expand...

My feeling is insecurity as well. Give them plenty of time, if necessary weeks, to get to know each other through the bars. Don't rush it. The more relaxed they are with each other, the greater your chnace for bonding success. They already have each other for company, just not yet fully in their face (or rather bum).
 
Wiebke said:
My feeling is insecurity as well. Give them plenty of time, if necessary weeks, to get to know each other through the bars. Don't rush it. The more relaxed they are with each other, the greater your chnace for bonding success. They already have each other for company, just not yet fully in their face (or rather bum).
Click to expand...
The plan is to slowly let them become familiar with each other until Pat has been treated for the lice/mites and Ruby has recovered from her spay.
Thank you for your help. It is incredibly reassuring to know that if I ever have guinea pig questions that I can't find the answers to, I can come here and people are so friendly and just want to help other guinea pig owners.😊
 
Pantalaimon said:
The plan is to slowly let them become familiar with each other until Pat has been treated for the lice/mites and Ruby has recovered from her spay.
Thank you for your help. It is incredibly reassuring to know that if I ever have guinea pig questions that I can't find the answers to, I can come here and people are so friendly and just want to help other guinea pig owners.😊
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The aim of this forum has always been to be a friendly place but it takes a lot more micro-management and professional security to keep it like that than you'd expect, as we have found out. But since there are plenty of other piggy owners who share our preference we have continued to hold our own against social media as the only surviving forum to build on our independence and to grow as a community who collectively carries our ethos. For us, the welfare of both guinea pigs and their owners are equally important. In order to get at any piggies, we have to get the owners on board first since we don't have direct access. And in order to ensure that the piggies are getting best of care under the individual circumstances, keeping the owner going and supporting them morally through any crisis or challenge has been the key to turn what initially looks like fatal weaknesses into strengths instead. :)
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