Minnie's Bonding Finally a Success

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Stewybus

Stewybus

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Some of you might remember my thread in April titled "Bonding Minnie" see:- http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?104078-Bonding-Minnie&highlight=

It wasn't very successful so 11 weeks ago we took her dating & she came back with a toyboy companion, neutered one year old boar Mitch, Minnie is 4 1/2 years old. They bonded straight away so I had them in one half of the run & the other 3 girls in the other half with divider in the middle. Mitch occasionally spent an hour with the other three especially if he was hassling Minnie & they all spent time on the grass together. I had to eventually put them in 2 runs on the grass because Minnie just wanted to start fights went one of the girls came close.

A fortnight ago Minky had to have a third op & when she came home after the op I put her in my hospital cage because in the past the other girls thought it a good idea to eat her stitches. It was cleaning out day the next day but I didn't put the divider back in their indoor run to see what happened. It was quite remarkable, there was no mouthfuls of fur or bloody noses just a few bits of teeth grinding & backing off rather than all out war. They've now been together for 15 days with Minky joining them on Friday. It's now as if they've always been together. They're not cuddling up much & each wanting a little space when resting but they're swopping places quite often with only Mitch keeping to the same house.

It's a case of don't give up, I didn't & now it's lovely to see the interaction of my 5 piggies.

Here's 2 pigtures of them taken yesterday & today.





I you'd like to meet my gang, we'll be at the Cavy Corner Pignic in Doncaster next Sunday.
 
What a fantastic result! I would love all my 5 to live together but so "traumatised" still from trying to introduce Lola to my trio of girls (which is why I brought Bradley to live with her). Putting them all together just like that, is that not likely to stress them out?

Sadly, can't make the pignic, have fun!
 
MrsSuzy said:
What a fantastic result! I would love all my 5 to live together but so "traumatised" still from trying to introduce Lola to my trio of girls (which is why I brought Bradley to live with her). Putting them all together just like that, is that not likely to stress them out?

Sadly, can't make the pignic, have fun!
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I was feeling pretty much like you so went down the other road of getting her a neutered boy as companion. He also got on well with the other 3 girls & I think he's had a steadying influence on them. When there appeared to be going to be trouble he would come & do his strutting in between them. Back in March I didn't intend to have 5 piggies but wouldn't change it now.

Maybe give your lot supervised time on the lawn, it might just work. Obviously if there's too much aggression then give it a break.
 
Great news! With some girls, it can take a lot of time until they work past their fear-aggression and relax in the company of other piggies. Glad that Minky has decided that she happy to bt part of a piggy family!
 
This is great - gives me hope that I will have five bonded piggies one day :-) - I separated Buttercup and Bluebell and Bluebell seemed happy to be on her own but Buttercup was crying constantly so I thought I'd try her in with Blossom and Betsy Boo in the run on the grass today - they got on great all three cuddled up - this however changed in the hutch :-( - have come to the conclusion that Buttercup is the instigator of the trouble as she won't let the other girls near the food at all and wolfs it all down and nips them and chases them amid loud squeaks if they go near her in the hutch :-( 6ft x3ft hutch arriving Wednesday thank goodness - my nerves can't take this :-) - I would love all five (four sows and neutered boar) to go in the new hutch together after careful introductions and a bath together :-)

Your story certainly gives me hope :-) and I reckon this group will bond eventually like yours with time and patience - I bet it's sooooo worth it isn't it :-)

Xx
 
Wiebke said:
Great news! With some girls, it can take a lot of time until they work past their fear-aggression and relax in the company of other piggies. Glad that Minnie has decided that she is happy to be part of a piggy family!
Click to expand...

The big difference now is when there's a face-off one will back down & move away whereas before it would be teeth chattering then a fight. They're still forming a hierarchy with Mother & Minky at present being joint top when Mother was top before. Minnie & Mousey are at the bottom but haven't sorted out who is at the bottom yet. On some occasions Minnie will back down & on others Mousey will back down. I can't figure out where Mitch is in the set-up but he's just happy to be there. I suppose as he matures he'll take over but he's just a teenager at present.
 
Great News Stewy! So pleased for you, well done.
 
:) its great news I will pass photos onto her previous owner who I keep in contact with who may even be able to pass photos back onto to the owner before that!
 
It's still going strong. I gave them a corn on the cob today complete with leaves. They've been having a good go at it & after an hour they're halfway through it. Mitch wasn't certain what to do but soon got the hang of it.

Got to go now. I'm going to Bunny Burrows to pick 4 or 5 boars up who need fostering. Gwen's just taken a load in from Bishop Auckland & I'll be keeping these while they go through neutering & post op recovery. It's me first time fostering so fingers crossed it goes well. I'll start a new thread once I've got them settled in tonight.
 
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