opposite sex guinea pig bonding

FaithD

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Hi, I just got a male guinea pig a week ago. He is kinda warming up to me, but my family held him on the first day and it slowed down the process. But I just got a female and she is scared to death!

My family (once again) touched her on the first day and now she is extremely scared. I introduced her to my male (I know it was a mistake!) and he was really aggressive and tried to climb on her? Anyways, I have separated them and she is still very frightened. Is it too late? I know getting a female for my male was a huge mistake but I really don't want to rehome her. :( Is there a way to reintroduce them? And should I exchange her for a male instead? Thanks!
 
First, your Male cannot be anywhere near the female unless he is neutered. He will get her pregnant within seconds. Climbing on her is attempting to mate. If he has mounted her, then she needs to go on pregnancy watch now. Please do not put them in the same cage together again. He will have to be neutered, have a six week wait to become infertile before you can attempt any further introductions.
 
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My previous comment is the important bit, but below I am going to give further information.

The success of a bond between two guinea pigs comes down entirely to mutual liking and character compatibility. You cannot just put two piggies together and expect them to get on. Bonding has to be done in the correct way and following the correct procedure. Even between two piggies who like each other and are the same sex as each other, you will always see them climbing on each other (mounting) as it is a dominance behaviour (not aggression) and part of the process. Again, to reiterate, you should never put an unneutered Male with a female. However, a neutered male can live with a female perfectly happily if they are compatible and you will still see mounting behaviours but she won’t be able to get pregnant.

If you keep her, then she needs to be kept in a separate cage until your boy is neutered and had his six week wait after the operation (between the operation and until six weeks after, he would still be fertile so they can’t be together during that time). You can attempt reintroductions after he is sterile but they have to be done properly on neutral ground following the correct procedures. If he successfully mated with her during the time they were together just now, then you are going to have to put her on pregnancy watch.

If you were to get a Male, you have to ensure the Male you get for your piggy is character compatible and the best way of doing that is to take him dating at a rescue centre. If you were to buy another piggy from the pet store, then there is no guarantee they will like each other and you may end up with two single piggies who can never live together in the same cage. If you have a rescue who can help you find him a friend, then they will ensure the bond is a success.

Also be aware that it is best to let any new piggies settle in for a few days/a week before interacting with them. Your family touching them didn’t make them more scared in the way your post comes across, but guinea pigs are prey animals and they are naturally scared and many don’t like ever being touched. It can take many weeks, sometimes months before guinea pigs stop feeling so scared.
 
Placing an intact boar and a sow together will almost inevitably result in a pregnancy for the sow. Please do not ever do this again. Please keep them separated permanently. And if you do decide to return the sow to wherever she came from please make sure they know your intact male has mounted her as she will have to sit out a 10 week pregnancy watch, poor thing.
 
Please also be aware that this is a rescue friendly forum and discussions of intentional breeding are prohibited. Intentional breeding is placing an intact male and female together regardless of whether pregnancy was the purpose of this.

Mounting is not an aggressive behaviour but a common dominance behaviour
 
Wow! Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate it. Like I said, I have already put them in different cages. Both are doing fine, and the female is doing better. I have decided to keep her because she is just so freaking sweet!

But I am planning on getting her a female friend, and getting the male a friend eventually. I feel deeply guilty for not introducing them the right way, and as soon as he is neutered I will try again, but that may not be necessary if I am going to get both of them friends of the same sex. Again, thank y'all for all the replies.
 
Wow! Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate it. Like I said, I have already put them in different cages. Both are doing fine, and the female is doing better. I have decided to keep her because she is just so freaking sweet!

But I am planning on getting her a female friend, and getting the male a friend eventually. I feel deeply guilty for not introducing them the right way, and as soon as he is neutered I will try again, but that may not be necessary if I am going to get both of them friends of the same sex. Again, thank y'all for all the replies.

It’s good that they are already in separate cages but the fact that you put them together at all means that if you have been unlucky she may have fallen pregnant. You need to now put her on pregnancy watch for the next 10 weeks.

As we mentioned above, if you have him neutered, he will need to stay separate from her for six weeks after his operation - they cannot be put together before this time.

If you are going to get them each a same sex friend, then you need to go about the bonding procedure the right way. Their friends need to be character compatible to ensure they are going to get on - it’s risky to just go out and buy another piggy from a pet store and put them together as you run the risk of them not liking each other and then the bonds won’t work and then you could end up with four single piggies. Rescuing a character compatible friend via dating at a rescue centre is the best way to ensure they are going to get on with each other

There are several considerations when going down the route of finding them each a new same sex friend - four guinea pigs is a lot of work and money. Also, a pair of boys ideally need a cage of 150cm x 60cm. 120cm x 60cm is the minimum for a pair of guinea pigs but two boys together generally need more space to stop issues when they become teenagers. Girls can be kept in a 120cm x 60cm but bigger is always better if you can provide more space.
Also, if you were to get them each a same sex Friend, then you need to plan out where you are going to keep them - a pair of bonded males ideally can’t be near females. If you have two boys living together in one cage and they smell a girl(s), then it can cause the boys relationship to break down and they may fight over the girl (even though they can’t physically get to her). The way around this is to keep each pair in a different room. Or have stacking cages (such as c&c cages) and put the girls in the bottom cage and the boys in the top cage. That way the smells from the girls won’t travel upwards and cause problems for the boys relationship.

I hope this helps you with making decisions going forward. Do keep asking questions!
 
This is kinda off-topic, but do y'all have any tips on getting guinea pigs use to me? :)
 
AAHhhh I'm so sorry I just posted in the wrong place and I can't delete it!
 
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