not so good intro...

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Gaile

Gaile

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well this morning I bit the bullet and put Tufty,Roxie & Layla in the bath (empty) with a towel on the bottom so they could grip? I also put lots of veg into.There were no hidey houses....I put the girls in first then Tufty in...they ran around each other for a few moments..then Tufty just went for Roxie,she turned and took a chunk of fur so I panicked and quickly took Tufty out! There was no warning! So after a few minutes I just put Layla (quiter one) and Tufty in...but in tried to bite Layla.........
So I put them bad in their separate hutches for now and will try again...but can anyone give any advise!
The 2 girls have been together in one part of the hutch and Tufty in the other!
 
Hi Gaile,

Has tutfty had a friend before? He's the boy, am I right? That doesn't sound fun but with no experience except one pairing, with a boy and 2 girls I never had any trouble. I just wanted to wish you luck! Hopefully someone experienced can help you out soon!

Sorry I'm pretty much useless, but I'm sure someone else will be of more help!
 
thanks for trying....Tufty hasn't had much luck!
Piglet his new friend died 3weeks ago,but thye'd only been together 3weeks and 4weeks separated due to him being just neutered!...so I got Roxie & Layla had them 3weeks tomorrow!
 
Can you keep Tufty where he can see and interact with the girls thruogh the mesh, so they can get to know each other better? Or have a daily run where they can meet through bars?

If you wait until the more dominant girl comes into season, you will have more success. Is there a possibility that you could do the intro where there is a bit more space than a bath tub? Perhaps the girl were just overwhelmed by too much newness and were feeling threatened.
 
Is there any time limit between pigs mates dying and getting new pigs. I got Corly around 2 months after Leo died and Africa bonded straight away... He wasn't depressed anymroe and seemed to be content living alone so I think he was ready for a new friend.
 
Introducing new piggies is always tough, when my guinea pigs friend died I introduced him to my sister and brother in laws guinea pigs, they didn't exactly get on but we kept introducing them a little bit at a time and eventually they would sit together around a pile of grass and eat. But they were all male so keeping them together with out a distraction wasn't an option.

It is tricky putting a male in with females if they've already made their bonds, usually a male is bullied quite a lot from what I remember from our old male bramble and me and my sisters two females, but he wasn't neutured so it was more they weren't interested in what he was interested in.

I'm surprised that it's Tufty that took the first bite, it might just be he needs some time to get use to them, just let them meet on regular but short occasions and keep a close eye on them, it could just be they're not compatible but it's always worth trying, a lonely guinea pig is a sad sight. But you need to make sure no real damage is done too.

I'd suggest, a BIG handful of good edible grass or other favourite food. make sure they're positioned an equal spacing apart and not touching eachother, from what I've seen guinea pigs don't like to be close together or touched by those they don't know very well and thats when it can get nasty.

Food can be the keeper of the peace! It doesn't last for long but it'll give them a bit of social interaction and you never know it might build some bridges, don't get into a false sense of security though just because they're peaceful ish when theres enough food to go around doesn't mean they'll stay that way, so always keep a close eye on them and watch out for any movements toward a fight.
On the other hand if they're very protective over their food they might fight more with favourite food in the pen with them, just make sure theres LOTS of it, enough for all of them to be spaced apart a bit but facing eachother at least. It might not work at all but I think it's probably worth a try.
 
Thanks..I'm going to leave it a few days.....they can see each other through that mesh all the time!
 
Can you place the hutches, so that they can sniff at each other and interact?

The more they are allowed to be in contact without meeting physically, the better the chances.
 
Wiebke said:
Can you place the hutches, so that they can sniff at each other and interact?

The more they are allowed to be in contact without meeting physically, the better the chances.
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this is the shed hutch......these are not the guinea pigs that I have now! there is a divider at the bottom of the ramp! so the 2 areas are the upstairs and some of the bottom floor'the other is the half of the floor area and the house!
 
Gaile if this helps any, I did my introductions on the bathroom floor and let Fred find the girls but I did have to nudge him in the right direction. Maybe a bigger space would help? Wish you luck :)... We'll keep our fingers crossed that the next introduction is better :)!
 
You could try using a different neutral area, like Joanne suggested, the bathroom floor. I have a group of four boars living together and during every introduction of a new pig I've given them an insane amount of room to chase each other in. The point of the huge amount of room is that pigs being picked on would have space to whine and run into without being cornered and the chaser has enough room to run and become tired in.

I wouldn't use a bath for introductions, because it's a small area.

I also have huge (I mean huge) mounds of hay and separate mounds of veggies on the floor for the pigs to become interested in during introductions. If a bickering breaks out, I tend to toss more hay or veg between them so they stop thinking about hating each other and start stuffing their faces.

I could be lucky with my guys, but I've found this method helps a lot more than putting them in a small space and hoping they don't decide to bite each others face off.
 
Also: once they're together, for the love of hay, don't separate them. Whenever you separate them and put them back together you start and square one as they have to re-establish their hierarchy again.

And it helps to not give them any hidey holes or things they can become possessive over during introductions. Leave them on the neutral area until they stop being jerks and things quieten down then move them into the living area (after being washed) and relax.

Rumbling, humping, squealing, screaming, climbing at the walls, chasing, hair pulling etc. are all okay during introductions.

starving a pig (weight loss of one pig) and drawing blood is not okay.
 
I think because the girls are so big I need a bigger area! I may use the kitchen floor which is a larger area! should I leave it for a few days or try tomorrow !
 
To be honest, try it whenever you have 4-5 hours to dedicate to supervising the introduction. If that's tomorrow, go ahead, if it's in a few days that's okay too.

Remember, throughout the introduction you can try other "scare" techniques. So, if two hours in you're still getting tooth chattering and humping and don't feel that anyone is backing down, it's okay to decide to toss them all into a bath together and then return them to the neutral area.
 
well I've promised the kids a trip to the metro tomorrow,so I'll leave it till Monday!! thanks x
 
The more time and space you have for introductions, the better. A boy can go overboard for more than a day.

PS: Make sure there are no nooks and crannies where you let them loose - they will find them invariably.

I wish you the best of luck!
 
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