Second time lucky, or not...

[Puzzlepigs]

As mentioned in another thread, I adopted a swiss piggy, though she was very aggressive towards my two so she had to be taken back. Yesterday I adopted two other pigs from the same rescue. They were introduced on neutral territory on the grass at the rescue. All was fine at that point. This morning about 15 minutes ago I put them all out in the indoor pen, which none of them have used before. They seemed to be getting on for the first 5 minutes or so but then Puzzle showed some dominant behaviour towards them. She then chattered her teeth and the others ran off. Then out of the blue she had a go at the little brown pig, Florrie. Florrie chattered her teeth as well. Inca, the other new pig didn't say a word, neither did Bingo. I expect that my problem is Puzzle.

I was told to introduce them straight away, so I did so. They had been kept separate in the C&C overnight too and so that they could smell each other. I would have liked to have left them separate for a few days and then introduced them, but I followed advice. I'm quite upset and I'm unsure of what to do, so any advice would be appreciated. Perhaps I'm just being too cautious and I'm over exaggerating but I don't want any of the pigs getting hurt.
Puzzle seems fine with Inca so if it didn't work out, I could try them as a trio, but I don't want to have to return little Florrie on her own.
Thanks :0

 

[catherine]

Especially at this time of year, hormones will be flying around and my two girls who are usually very amicable are nipping, lunging and tooth chattering at each other, but it doesn't escalate from that.

As long as it's only tooth chattering, little nips, chasing I wouldn't worry too much. They've got to work out their new hierarchy in the new cage and that can take some time.

However, if full on fighting starts (scary ball of squeaking fur!) then I would throw a towel in to separate them, and of course if blood is drawn then you need to separate.

 

[Guinea pig slave]

Personally, I would never introduce new piggies to my exisiting ones without quarantining first - I usually pop the new ones next to our piggies so they see and smell each other then go for the introductions on neutral grounds gradually. This reduces the risk of any 'illnesses' being spread from new piggies (although all of my rescues have been very healthy before coming to us) and reduces the stress of new meetings. Doesn't always work, my last attempt to bond a girl into the herd failed and they had to be split due to them twice locking into a full blown battle
It appears Puzzle is the dominant girl here and is telling Florrie she is top pig but Florrie may try to be muscling in for the title.
As someone says, if it is just nipping and chasing, keep an eye on them, Puzzle is just asserting her role in the group
Maybe consider having two groups of girls to prevent Florrie being alone if she cannot be integrated or find her a loving huspig x)
Good luck and keep us posted, know how girls can send your blood pressure sky high...boys are sooo much more placid I think

 

[Puzzlepigs]

Personally, I would never introduce new piggies to my exisiting ones without quarantining first - I usually pop the new ones next to our piggies so they see and smell each other then go for the introductions on neutral grounds gradually. This reduces the risk of any 'illnesses' being spread from new piggies (although all of my rescues have been very healthy before coming to us) and reduces the stress of new meetings. Doesn't always work, my last attempt to bond a girl into the herd failed and they had to be split due to them twice locking into a full blown battle
It appears Puzzle is the dominant girl here and is telling Florrie she is top pig but Florrie may try to be muscling in for the title.
As someone says, if it is just nipping and chasing, keep an eye on them, Puzzle is just asserting her role in the group
Maybe consider having two groups of girls to prevent Florrie being alone if she cannot be integrated or find her a loving huspig x)
Good luck and keep us posted, know how girls can send your blood pressure sky high...boys are sooo much more placid I think

Thanks for your reply. When I introduced Puzzle to Bingo after the passing of Frisky I kept her quarantined for a week before introducing. I might try doing that and then introduce afterwards. I'll just have to take each day as it comes and if it doesn't work out, I can consider other options.

 

[Wiebke]

sorry, double post

 

[Wiebke]

I have found that living next doors for a few days often helps to relax any tensions. All is not lost - you just have to take things more slowly and rather do it through a series of increased shared run time over the course of several days. In order to work through the small print of a relationship, piggies need to spend time together. I find that meeting over a big flat plate of grass or fresh hay can help. Separate whenever tensions are building up to a degree that could boil over. Hopefully, these will get less and less as time goes on.

As initially things went well (i.e. acceptance has happened), what you are seeing now is an insecure Puzzle going into dominance overdrive; that is not a rare thing to happen, but something that you can work past with patience and persistence.

 

[Puzzlepigs]

I have found that living next doors for a few days often helps to relax any tensions. All is not lost - you just have to take things more slowly and rather do it through a series of increased shared run time over the course of several days. In order to work through the small print of a relationship, piggies need to spend time together. I find that meeting over a big flat plate of grass or fresh hay can help. Separate whenever tensions are building up to a degree that could boil over. Hopefully, these will get less and less as time goes on.

As initially things went well (i.e. acceptance has happened), what you are seeing now is an insecure Puzzle going into dominance overdrive; that is not a rare thing to happen, but something that you can work past with patience and persistence.

Thanks, I gave them some fresh grass, hay and veggies which lasted them a while, but once all the nice stuff had gone, that was when they started to get a little more aware of them all being out together!