Super Extra Shy Piggie Bonding

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oxtinamona

oxtinamona

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Hello,

On Saturday we picked up a recently neutered gorgeous agouti piggie boy to try and match him with our sow.

We got him from the animal shelter which is relatively poor and short on volunteers and I don't think he's got much TLC or cuddles etc and he appears extremely shy and EXTREMELY skittish.

We were meant to bond him yesterday after he settled, but due to that we didn't. I'm not sure what's the best thing to do. I'm off work today as well, so could do it.
We Imintroducem them both to each other yesterday only by holding them separately and getting them closer to each other.
Our girl seems mega interested and excited, but he - not so much... He turned his head away from her when she was sniffling him excitedly.

He is very small for his age( they're both roughly the same age, plus/minus one month or so).

Not sure where I should bond them, or should I wait till next weekend with bonding and give him that extra time to settle? I've never seen such shy pig!
He eats, but rarely takes food of me. I know that's just a matter of developing trust... His nowhere as greedy ask excitable about food as our other pigs, or all other pigs out there ... We all know how they close their food... I know he wasn't fed much fancy things in the shelter, as I said they are quite poor and solely run on donations so sometimes all these piglets eat is grass and hay and some muesli mix which isn't best for them I wonder is this is why he's so reserved = lot used to being fed regularly?

All in all, about 50% of thinks I should give him extra few days to settle and the remaining % thinks I should try to bond them as he may grow more confident with Biscuit. The only thing I'm afraid of is that Biscuit rejected 3 'suitors' before when we took her to the other shelter recommended by this forum ... Both our girls proved a bit fussy ! Hahaha.

I guess I'm worried they work get on, when he's like this as I don't know if that behaviour would still remain so shy around another Guinea? Or would it do him good ? What are your thoughts guys? X perhaps I should try to put them in neutral ground but with the divider first ?
 
What I recently did to bond shy sows was smthn similar. I left the newbie alone for a day or two to calm down and then they met when I had 2-3 hours to watch them play together in a playpen I sent up on neutral ground. They ended up bonding well and after about an hour I cleaned and rearranged the cage for them. If the male doesn't show much interest it doesn't mean it's not going to work. As long as they are not fighting to the point of drawing blood there is usually hope, they may just take a little more time. I certainly wouldn't do it if you won't be hoe to keep an eye on them, I did do my introductions over a weekend for that reason. Good luck!
 
So do you think I should go for a cage divider approach or, put them in without dividers? I literally have whole day to watch them
 
You can try without as long as it's completely new territory for both of them. I believe the key is that once they start getting to know each other and bonding you don't break it up. Rumble strutting and mounting isn't uncommon, keep an oven mitt for the off chance they fight but that should be the only reason you split them up or it could harm the bonding process.
 
I have prepared a pen for them on neutral territory ... All the boy does is he is hiding in the bag full of hay I set up as hidey... She's got one as well, but our girl is far more inquisitive and was excitedly biting the bars I'm scared she may hurt him if he's so scared...arm I have a divider on... Do you guys think I should rid off? No teeth chattering atm. She's making the ' exploring noises so far only '
 
oxtinamona said:
So do you think I should go for a cage divider approach or, put them in without dividers? I literally have whole day to watch them
Click to expand...

I have found that the cage divider method works best with very scared piggies. Make sure that you also cover the run or cage with a blanket to give your boy an extra feeling of safety. place any food and hay by the divider. Give it several days' time - in some cases I have waited for up to 2 weeks, depending. In a case like that, it is best to take things very slowly and be patient. You will reap the awards later. You also don't know your boy's history, whether he has been single from too young an age without any other piggy interaction or whether he has been bullied by another boar.

This is a picture from one of my bondings with two very wary piggies. You can the big fleece on the side that I have just rolled back to put all the grass in. It took me two days in the kitchen before I dared to try remove the divider and take it from there.

DSCN1550.webp
 
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Oh, I feel I made a mistake... I took the divider off and it stared off well, but I think they had a bit of a fight.. I'm not sure as never seen one... They were kind of poking at each other with their mouth etc... So I gently separated them with a dustpan... It wasn't like a whirl or ball of fur but then again I don't know what that looks either. Now they are sitting away from each other. Calmed down a notch by no interest in one another My girl did start cleaning herself fairly close to him after the squabble... I can't see any blood drawn yet, I read it's a good sign as well... But I don't know what to do now... Just wait ? Ha anyone got a video of pigs actually fighting ?
 
oxtinamona said:
Oh, I feel I made a mistake... I took the divider off and it stared off well, but I think they had a bit of a fight.. I'm not sure as never seen one... They were kind of poking at each other with their mouth etc... So I gently separated them with a dustpan... It wasn't like a whirl or ball of fur but then again I don't know what that looks either. Now they are sitting away from each other. Calmed down a notch by no interest in one another My girl did start cleaning herself fairly close to him after the squabble... I can't see any blood drawn yet, I read it's a good sign as well... But I don't know what to do now... Just wait ? Ha anyone got a video of pigs actually fighting ?
Click to expand...

If your girl did clean herself close to your boy, she is signalling that she is not hostile. What you saw is likely a face-off for dominance.
You may find this thread here helpful to spot the subtle bonding signals and behaviour and to understand the dynamics at play: Illustrated Bonding Behaviours And Dynamics
 
She did, about 50 cm
Away from him. She always yawned present off her teeth at him some 3 mins ago, and I read it's not a good sign So confusing these little . She's now moving around the cage eating, however little fella is in the corner looking really scared
 
He came it a bit and started eating, she come closer, about 20 cm away, there was some teeth chattering and the noises I call ' exploring' and a tiny bit of moaning noise they do... The hell if I was confused after reading all the guides the reality is even more confusing... I don't think he's hurt, can't see blood... I am only able to one side though as he's touching the box with another... Oh guys she's now laying down... There is a distance between then buy she's laying down with her leg out etc ?! What on earth does this mean? She's now cleanly herself as we speak for the second time ?!

Update : boys got out out the box to eat and she was ok then teeth chattering started again
Still no fight but they are doing these stand offs she is rumblestrutring loads and he's submissive judging by the noises
 
Guys, she's now sleeping in a relaxed ' croissant' position but opposite end of the cage. Things are now quiet ...
 
Ok, I really don't know what to do, they got in a squabble again,no blood drawn as I separated them but this time they were both kinda on their sides on the floor ?!?!? Like tumbling?! I don't know if this is the ' fur ball' people are referring to?? Why were they cleaning themselves in front of another earlier ...when I put the dust pan between then one of them ( don't even remember which ) launched few nips/ or bites at it. Again, I don't know if they are bites or nips it's hard to say when all happens so quickly
 
Hey. I really need help as totally stuck... They completely stopped interacting, seating in the far corners .. Then Biscuit wakes up and come over to the boy, chattering teeth and trying to rumble... Looks like she wants to be dominant but hasn't got balls to back it up? If that makes sense? She was bullied by her old cage buddy and she's approached the boy in the way the other pig approached her which worries me! Nothing happened this time. She stared in his face, he rumbled a bit and she sat down and then backed out a bit. Now she's cleaning herself again. Like honestly,
None of this behaviour is like what is described in all the Guides. Other than teeth chattering and some noises ... They don't hump or mount after few tried around noon...
That's it...
 
I found a scratch and s cut that looks more serious than a scratch on biscuits lips... It looks like corner of her mouth is torn a little I cleaned both with saline solution and when i had her on my lap she stared crying to go back to the pen when new boy is?!? Now they rumbling all over again, he's not backing out neither is she... It's been nearly 6 hours ... Is her cut enough to separate them and call it quits? Their behaviour don't match anything that I've read and they're sending mixed signals

image.webp
 
Wow what a tense 8 hrs or so! I still have them together... One small
Scratch on the boy and one small
And
Cut in biscuit ... I think she's weird... She just cleaned herself in very closed proximity to the boy - closest yet and now she's being a pain in butt again and moaning and moaning at him. She just won't let him mount her. What clearly annoys her is that he isn't backing down whatsoever
 
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Hi! I had a similar issue with a veeeery shy boy. We got Flint as a pal for Charcoal. Flint is the most shy guinea pig I've even seen! Introducing him to Charcoal the first time did not go so well for me either. Flint turned into a rumblestrutting mess! (Even though HE'S the shy one!) I set up their cages side by side and just let them hear/smell each other for one week. Once a day I let them 'meet' for longer and longer periods of time in a neutral place on the floor. After the week, I totally cleaned the cage they would be in of any guinea pig scents. I crossed my fingers and put them together. They actually bonded!
Maybe your two need a longer period for them to smell/hear each other and 'talk' before being face to face? I hope they get along soon. Poor Biscuit's little mouth!
 
Nipping is normal and not means for separation as its just meant to be a way to show the other pig how sharp/strong the teeth are. As a result there can be some accidental injuries from nips that are just a bit too hard. You really MUST ignore the rumbling and all the noise. Pigs are dramatic vocal creatures! I swear for a week straight my boy Keiko would not stop rumbling and strutting his stuff but this didn't lead to a failed bonding. My under piggy Milo is the loudest little guy I've ever heard! He'd scream bloody mary and I'd run to see whats wrong only to find he'd flipped over his hidey and was either very pleased or wanted me to fix it so he could do it again! Also what we interpret as pain (high pitched squealing from our animals) is actually a sign of submission. So this just adds to all the noises you may here! Trust me when I say you'd know a fight. They would be rolling around clearly trying to harm one another
 
Hi all, thank you for all your help. They did get in what I think what a fight 3 times or so... Basically there was a lot of teeth chattering, she kinda jumped towards him and they 'tumbled' a bit, before I separated them. effectively they were both ( hmm how do I describe accurately when it was all happening so quick) 'wriggling' and 'spasming' on the floor? But like when they popcorn really strong so it looks like they're actually shaking laying on the floor ...? Sorry, it's so hard to describe
 
Did you try searching YouTube for some videos to help explain why you are seeing. Popcorning does look rather odd but it is a good thing, asserting dominance stage can last several weeks if that's all that you are seeing
 
Oh god, that definitely wasn't popcorning. I had to split them with a dustpan... It was fighting that I know; just don't know if that was the ' proper fight' at which point you should accept its definitely not going to work... That's what I'm struggling with as later in the evening , although the did have a squabble or two and chattered teeth a lot, they also lay near to one another,
Backs to each other ( no idea if that was a good thing or just them being tired of fighting and resting to recuperate for next attack) they both cleaned next to each other as well... And they both showed normal dominance bahviours (other than mounting, circling and rumbling and rumblestrutring he was grabbing her fur at her bum to jump on, but never actually got on her back - do you think it's because he's too small?) but then it all ended up in a around squabble after what looked OK ... Just these mixed signals... I looked and you tube, found one video that kind of resembled their 'fight' but again it was difference circumstances between 3 boars... Basically I saw no equivalent or nothing even close to these two yet
 
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