hawaiiguineas
New Born Pup
Hi Everyone!
I come to this forum for advice because I have watched so many videos and read so many articles about the problems I've been facing, but I haven't been able to figure out everything I'm doing wrong and how to fix it.
I bought a pair of sows, Wyn and Honey, from a pet store about two and a half months ago. They started out really scared but curious, and to be honest, it feels like I haven't made a ton of progress. Their relationship with each other is weird, for the first part. Although Honey doesn't love being handled, she is by far the more outgoing of the two of them. She is always the first to come out when I have vegetables, and is simply the more curious and confident pig. Wyn, on the other hand, is absolutely terrified of everything and refuses to be handled. It is a 5 minute ordeal every time I try and pick her up; it can be incredibly frustrating. That said, Wyn is also the more aggressive pig. When she wants to be in a particular hide, she will force Honey out, for instance. Although they're cute guinea pigs, I just don't think they've bonded to us at all, which is an incredibly disappointing and stressful situation.
To add onto that, a friend of mine asked me about two weeks ago if I could adopt her guinea pig. Her pair suddenly died, and she didn't want to leave the 3-year old guinea pig (Ember is her name) alone, as everyone states she's gonna die alone. I've tried to introduce Ember to Wyn and Honey multiple times, and each time it has not ended well. Wyn becomes incredibly aggressive, even when I am intentional about there being a lot of hides for everyone to rest in, and although Ember hasn't looked to be dominant towards Wyn, their interactions have at least once led to a ball of fur tumbling through the cage, forcing me to separate them. Wyn and Honey get together fine, as do Honey and Ember, but Wyn has been very aggressive towards Ember AND Honey ever since the new addition. I've tried everything I've found. I started them separate, then put their cages next to each other, then put them all in a new, neutral cage for them to explore. I toss food every time they're near each other as a form of positive reinforcement.
Is it normal for Wyn and Honey to not be really bonded to me at this point? How patient should I be about introducing Ember? How long of a process may that be? What should I be doing differently? I know there's a lot that I'm doing wrong, and I really want this to work, but every stage of this process has been wholly discouraging.
Thanks for reading, and any thoughts you may have would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!
Tyler
I come to this forum for advice because I have watched so many videos and read so many articles about the problems I've been facing, but I haven't been able to figure out everything I'm doing wrong and how to fix it.
I bought a pair of sows, Wyn and Honey, from a pet store about two and a half months ago. They started out really scared but curious, and to be honest, it feels like I haven't made a ton of progress. Their relationship with each other is weird, for the first part. Although Honey doesn't love being handled, she is by far the more outgoing of the two of them. She is always the first to come out when I have vegetables, and is simply the more curious and confident pig. Wyn, on the other hand, is absolutely terrified of everything and refuses to be handled. It is a 5 minute ordeal every time I try and pick her up; it can be incredibly frustrating. That said, Wyn is also the more aggressive pig. When she wants to be in a particular hide, she will force Honey out, for instance. Although they're cute guinea pigs, I just don't think they've bonded to us at all, which is an incredibly disappointing and stressful situation.
To add onto that, a friend of mine asked me about two weeks ago if I could adopt her guinea pig. Her pair suddenly died, and she didn't want to leave the 3-year old guinea pig (Ember is her name) alone, as everyone states she's gonna die alone. I've tried to introduce Ember to Wyn and Honey multiple times, and each time it has not ended well. Wyn becomes incredibly aggressive, even when I am intentional about there being a lot of hides for everyone to rest in, and although Ember hasn't looked to be dominant towards Wyn, their interactions have at least once led to a ball of fur tumbling through the cage, forcing me to separate them. Wyn and Honey get together fine, as do Honey and Ember, but Wyn has been very aggressive towards Ember AND Honey ever since the new addition. I've tried everything I've found. I started them separate, then put their cages next to each other, then put them all in a new, neutral cage for them to explore. I toss food every time they're near each other as a form of positive reinforcement.
Is it normal for Wyn and Honey to not be really bonded to me at this point? How patient should I be about introducing Ember? How long of a process may that be? What should I be doing differently? I know there's a lot that I'm doing wrong, and I really want this to work, but every stage of this process has been wholly discouraging.
Thanks for reading, and any thoughts you may have would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!
Tyler
