New Pig Is Aggressive

[subapeg]

Hello, so I took a new pig from a friend that was not being well taken care of. She was extremely skinny and malnourished. With a proper diet and tlc she is gaining weight and doing great.

She has always lived alone for the past two years he had her.

She seemed really interested in my two other girls when she saw or heard them across the room.

We decided since she had gained weight we could introduce them. I created a neutral space with those CC squares. First I had them divided between the bars for about 2 hours. They touched noses and seemed friendly. However I removed the square between them and the new girl started to fight the other two. At first it seemed alright but then we had to break up a fight that ended up in her fur being pulled out. Despite her size disadvantage she kept on fighting even though the other two didn't seem like they wanted to fight. After about 30 minutes of continually having to break up fights she kept picking we decided to take them away from each other.

My question is since she is so aggressive should I bother trying to put her with another guinea pig or is she just meant to be a single pig?

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, so I took a new pig from a friend that was not being well taken care of. She was extremely skinny and malnourished. With a proper diet and tlc she is gaining weight and doing great.

She has always lived alone for the past two years he had her.

She seemed really interested in my two other girls when she saw or heard them across the room.

We decided since she had gained weight we could introduce them. I created a neutral space with those CC squares. First I had them divided between the bars for about 2 hours. They touched noses and seemed friendly. However I removed the square between them and the new girl started to fight the other two. At first it seemed alright but then we had to break up a fight that ended up in her fur being pulled out. Despite her size disadvantage she kept on fighting even though the other two didn't seem like they wanted to fight. After about 30 minutes of continually having to break up fights she kept picking we decided to take them away from each other.

My question is since she is so aggressive should I bother trying to put her with another guinea pig or is she just meant to be a single pig?

Hi and welcome!

Your new girl is likely very fear-aggressive as soon as the hierarchy sort-out started, as she is not used to other guinea pigs. This is not unusual in single piggies with no social interaction. They can often not accept not coming out on top without even a hint of resistance.
Your two other girls have likely gone off her by now since dominance has not been settled amicably; that is usually noticeable by the tension levels going right up again as soon as they are in the same space again.
You may find these two guides here helpful in understanding better what is going on:
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Sow Behaviour

It may be better to keep her right next door with constant interaction through the bars for a while, so she can learn to relax and pick up more normal behaviours. In the medium term, you may want to rather try her with a younger/smaller guinea pig that cannot challenge her, ideally at a rescue that offers a dating service.

Where are you from? As we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice to what is available, possible and relevant where you are straight away. In your case, this means access to a good guinea pig rescue, which varies wildly; but the same also goes for any health advice. Please click on your username on the top, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!

We have got a recommended good standard UK rescue locator on the top bar, but can provide a link to good rescues in some other countries.

 

[subapeg]

Hi and welcome!
Your new girl is likely very fear-aggressive as soon as the hierarchy sort-out started, as she is not used to other guinea pigs. This is not unusual in single piggies with no social interaction. They can often not accept not coming out on top without even a hint of resistance.
Your two other girls have likely gone off her by now since dominance has not been settled amicably; that is usually noticeable by the tension levels going right up again as soon as they are in the same space again.
You may find these two guides here helpful in understanding better what is going on:
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Sow Behaviour

It may be better to keep her right next door with constant interaction through the bars for a while, so she can learn to relax and pick up more normal behaviours. In the medium term, you may want to rather try her with a younger/smaller guinea pig that cannot challenge her, ideally at a rescue that offers a dating service.

Where are you from? As we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice to what is available, possible and relevant where you are straight away. In your case, this means access to a good guinea pig rescue, which varies wildly; but the same also goes for any health advice. Please click on your username on the top, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!

We have got a recommended good standard UK rescue locator on the top bar, but can provide a link to good rescues in some other countries.

Thank you so much for the information. I think you are absolutely right that she just cannot accept not being in charge. I will try putting them near each other and hopefully she will be able to learn how to be a proper pig again! If that doesn't work I will look into adopting a younger pig. I am located in America, tristate area.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much for the information. I think you are absolutely right that she just cannot accept not being in charge. I will try putting them near each other and hopefully she will be able to learn how to be a proper pig again! If that doesn't work I will look into adopting a younger pig. I am located in America, tristate area.

Here is a link to a list of recommended non-kill US rescues with good care/quarantine etc. Guinea Lynx :: US Guinea Pig Rescue and Shelter Organizations

I would strongly recommend to add your state to your details, so it shows on the left unser your username with every post you make. Our forum "default" advice is UK based, even though we have a good number or US and Canadian members and can if possible tag any members into a thread that are from your neck of the woods when needed.
By knowing where you are we can automatically adjust any advice to your local conditions, climate, brands etc. to help you most efficiently. If we don't know your general location, we have to keep any advice as general as possible instead of going straight for the particulars and practicable options.