New Guinea Pig Owners Seeking Advice on Gender, Age, and Bonding!

[TrioTales]

Hey everyone! we are new guinea pig owner and currently have three wonderful girls—Nova, Lola, and Popcorn. Lola was our first and came from a pet store, but after learning the importance of rescuing animals, we adopted the other two. The store told us Lola was around 2-3 months old, but based on her size and weight, she doesn’t seem to match that estimate. So, we consider Lola and Nova to be about the same age—13 weeks. Popcorn, according to her previous owner, is 7 weeks old.

Today, we noticed Popcorn humping Lola quite a bit, which made us question her gender. I’d love some help confirming their genders, so I’ve attached photos of all three and hope the community can assist.

We also have some doubts about Popcorn’s age. Even though she’s supposedly almost half the age of Nova and Lola, she’s already bigger than them, with a similar weight. We weigh them weekly, and currently, Lola is 457g, Nova is 501g, and Popcorn is 487g.

For reference:

Lola: White with black eyes, American Shorthair with medium-length fur.
Nova: Black American Crested.
Popcorn: A mix between a Mini Yak and an American Shorthair. Her previous owner mentioned that her dad was quite large, which might explain her size.

Also, Nova is very dominant, so we have to keep her in the upper level of the cage to prevent issues. However, we are actively working on their bonding so we can eventually rejoin the cages.

Looking forward to your insights—thanks in advance!

 

[Wiebke]

Hey everyone! we are new guinea pig owner and currently have three wonderful girls—Nova, Lola, and Popcorn. Lola was our first and came from a pet store, but after learning the importance of rescuing animals, we adopted the other two. The store told us Lola was around 2-3 months old, but based on her size and weight, she doesn’t seem to match that estimate. So, we consider Lola and Nova to be about the same age—13 weeks. Popcorn, according to her previous owner, is 7 weeks old.

Today, we noticed Popcorn humping Lola quite a bit, which made us question her gender. I’d love some help confirming their genders, so I’ve attached photos of all three and hope the community can assist.

We also have some doubts about Popcorn’s age. Even though she’s supposedly almost half the age of Nova and Lola, she’s already bigger than them, with a similar weight. We weigh them weekly, and currently, Lola is 457g, Nova is 501g, and Popcorn is 487g.

For reference:

Lola: White with black eyes, American Shorthair with medium-length fur.
Nova: Black American Crested.
Popcorn: A mix between a Mini Yak and an American Shorthair. Her previous owner mentioned that her dad was quite large, which might explain her size.

Also, Nova is very dominant, so we have to keep her in the upper level of the cage to prevent issues. However, we are actively working on their bonding so we can eventually rejoin the cages.

Looking forward to your insights—thanks in advance!

Hi and welcome

Great that you are giving pre-loved piggies a chance!

You have indeed got two sows, as the slit pictures confirm.

Here is our step-by-step bonding guide which covers the whole period from the run up until the two weeks post-intro group and territory establishment phase. The guide tells you for every stage of the intro and dominance phase what kind of behaviours to expect and when a bonding has failed. It also has a chapter on sow specific dynamics and behaviours.

Thread 'Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics'

Jan 23, 2019

1 Introduction
2 Pre-bonding
- Quarantine and sexing
- The need for a plan B
- The rule-breaker: Youngsters under 4 months (sub-teenage)
3 Setting up an introduction
- Getting to know each other
- ‘Buddy baths’ – why not
- Scent swapping - why not
- Setting up a neutral bonding area
- How to start the bonding
4 Acceptance phase: Do we like...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 7
• Forum: Behaviour, Bonds and Species Understanding

• 

You may also find this guide here helpful:

Thread 'Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including mounting and ovarian cysts)'

Feb 26, 2019

1 Sexing on arrival
2 Important reproductive Facts
- Start of making babies - seasons - lack of menopause
- Pregnancy
3 Sows in season
- How a season runs
- Strong seasons (snap seasons; the social role of strong seasons; problem seasons)
4 Behaviour and social aspects
- Bonding (Possible combos; acceptance and dating; special bonding aspects)
-...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 3
• Forum: Behaviour, Bonds and Species Understanding

• 

You may find our New Owners information collection helful. Nearly 20 years of forum experience with literally tens of thousands of new owner questions and up to half a century of personal ownership have gone into it.
You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need since you will pick up on different things at different stages of ownership experience.

Thread 'Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners'

Feb 27, 2022

Contents Overview
1 What This Collection Is About
2 Guinea Pigs as Pets
- Family and Classroom Pets
- Sourcing Your Guinea Pigs, Common Pitfalls and Your Customer Rights
- Pet Owners with Anxiety: Practical Tips for Sufferers and Supporters
- Naming your Guinea Pigs and Finding Out the Breed
- Guinea Pigs as a Species: Facts, Development and Social Aspects
3 Living Environment
- Housing (with sourcing tips)...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 7
• Forum: Helpful Info Collections for Wannabes & Owners

Wishing you all the best. I hope that we get to see your girls face-on and not just their bums.

 

[TrioTales]

Hey, thank you for your quick reply and for sharing your experience. I have a small doubt regarding which two guinea pigs in the photos you mentioned are sows.

For reference:

• The white one is Lola
• The black one is Nova
• Popcorn can be easily identified

I'm still working on getting a group photo of all three, but in the meantime, you can take a look at their individual pictures.