Questions About Nervy Gp And Intro's

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Redu

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Just over a month ago we adopted a (about) 6-8 month old GP. He has always been alone and in his previous home had no human interaction.

To begin with he was absolutely terrified of everything and never made a noise other than to 'shriek' occasionally...never came out of his hides etc. Gradually we have been making some progress. I talk to him constantly when I am around, and try keep my actions minimal and positive (treats, food, hay etc) he will now stay out of his hide when we are in the far side of the room and today, for the first time ever, he ate carrot from my hand :D

How should I begin handling an older, shy GP? I feel we are slowly, slowly building trust and I don't want to shatter that by chasing him around the cage and stressing him out...

On to the second part of the post...

We recently rescued a 7.5 week old GP to try bond to the older boar and, as he has already been through quarantine, put the cages side by side. He has been home two days and, for the first time ever, our older GP wheeked when he heard the rustle of a food bag, and now does so every time I enter the room - music to my ears! I don't know if it's coincidence or not but it made me so happy :D

I've never bonded male GP's before. I've been reading all the stickies but am still very nervous. When would be the best time to attempt to introduce them to each other, bearing in mind the 7 week old has only been home 2 days? We're planning to intro them in our bathroom; if it goes well, how long do we leave them on neutral territory before putting them back into a clean cage?

We have multiple food bowls, water bottles, hides with two exits etc all ready :)

If the intro's don't work out we will be keeping these two next to each other as neighbours ;)
 
Hi! Bonding is daunting for somebody who's never done it.

You can do the bonding anytime you have plenty of time, ideally a full day to keep a close eye on the boys. I would wait at least until the boys have had their first nap together before transferring them to their cage. Waking up in company is often the most critical stage of the bonding process. It is difficult to give you concise advice, as every bonding is different with its very own dynamics. A lot depends on the body language and how smooth the bonding is going.

You may also find these threads here helpful:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...stincts-and-speak-piggy-body-language.117031/
For pick-up training: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/videos/
To help you brace yourself for bonding and what is going on - this thread contains pictures, videos and descriptions of successful and failed bondings: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boar-dating-service-wales.59233/
 
Wiebke said:
Hi! Bonding is daunting for somebody who's never done it.

You can do the bonding anytime you have plenty of time, ideally a full day to keep a close eye on the boys. I would wait at least until the boys have had their first nap together before transferring them to their cage. Waking up in company is often the most critical stage of the bonding process. It is difficult to give you concise advice, as every bonding is different with its very own dynamics. A lot depends on the body language and how smooth the bonding is going.

You may also find these threads here helpful:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...stincts-and-speak-piggy-body-language.117031/
For pick-up training: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/videos/
To help you brace yourself for bonding and what is going on - this thread contains pictures, videos and descriptions of successful and failed bondings: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boar-dating-service-wales.59233/
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the reply and extra info :) I couldn't get the pick up training link to work, but it could well be my PC playing up...the boar dating thread is very useful and also hilarious! :D

Okay, I'll probably begin the bonding process tomorrow...I get back at about 1pm and if the intro goes well will be able to observe them all the rest of that day, and most the next day too (only at work for a few hours in the afternoon).

I do hope they'll get along...although a neighbour would be better than nothing at all :)
 
Hope all goes well. Let us know how it goes.
 
Just thought I'd update mid-bond!

It seems to be going well. For the first few hours I sat in the bathroom with them...for the most part they were too scared to move because of me! There was some humping and grumbling, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They happily munched some veggies...in fact when one was eating veggies the other would steal it from his mouth, chew a while then the other would take it back and so on and so forth! Neither seemed bothered, I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but it was funny! :)

I'm now sitting outside the bathroom so they can interact more without the fear of me being there, just listening to the noises they're making. Means I cant watch them interact but figured it would be better for them.

can I hope it's going well?! :D
 
I too hope all goes well. I think one of the big keys to success is taking your time, try not to rush things, easy does it :)
 
it sounds like it is going as smoothly as can be! Fingers crossed that it continues. ;)
 
Redu said:
Just over a month ago we adopted a (about) 6-8 month old GP. He has always been alone and in his previous home had no human interaction.

To begin with he was absolutely terrified of everything and never made a noise other than to 'shriek' occasionally...never came out of his hides etc. Gradually we have been making some progress. I talk to him constantly when I am around, and try keep my actions minimal and positive (treats, food, hay etc) he will now stay out of his hide when we are in the far side of the room and today, for the first time ever, he ate carrot from my hand :D

How should I begin handling an older, shy GP? I feel we are slowly, slowly building trust and I don't want to shatter that by chasing him around the cage and stressing him out...

On to the second part of the post...

We recently rescued a 7.5 week old GP to try bond to the older boar and, as he has already been through quarantine, put the cages side by side. He has been home two days and, for the first time ever, our older GP wheeked when he heard the rustle of a food bag, and now does so every time I enter the room - music to my ears! I don't know if it's coincidence or not but it made me so happy :D

I've never bonded male GP's before. I've been reading all the stickies but am still very nervous. When would be the best time to attempt to introduce them to each other, bearing in mind the 7 week old has only been home 2 days? We're planning to intro them in our bathroom; if it goes well, how long do we leave them on neutral territory before putting them back into a clean cage?

We have multiple food bowls, water bottles, hides with two exits etc all ready :)

If the intro's don't work out we will be keeping these two next to each other as neighbours ;)
Click to expand...
That sounds like the sweetest thing EVER! I'm so happy for you, it's so exciting when you reach a milestone with them eg: taking food from your hand ect.

I'm wishing you well on the intro. I just introduced a third sow and I was a nervous wreck lol. But all is still going well. I think it's been a couple wheeks now :)

Angela
 
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