Advice on additional fur babies

Rick2522

Rick2522

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone,


I’m looking for some guidance on adding two new baby guinea pigs to my little herd. I currently have two one-year-old sows who get along really well. They’ve been together since they were young, and I’d like to expand their group with two baby sows.


A few things I’m wondering:


  • What’s the safest way to introduce babies to older guinea pigs?
  • Should I quarantine the babies first, even if they come from a reputable breeder/rescue?
  • Are introductions usually easier with babies compared to adult pigs?
  • Any tips for minimizing stress for all four during the process?

I have a large C&C cage and can expand it further if needed. My current pair have never shown serious aggression, but they are definitely a bit territorial about their space.


I’d love to hear from anyone who has successfully introduced baby guinea pigs to an established pair. What worked for you, and what would you avoid doing?


Thanks so much in advance!
 
piggieminder said:
Behaviour, Bonding & Bereavement Guides

I think most if not all your questions will be answered in the bonding guides. Sorry the forum won't let me list the relevant titles separately for some strange technical reason (or my brains addled and I've forgotten how to do it right) but I think you should be able to pick them out easily.
Click to expand...
Thanks i'll take a look
 
Bonding is a specific process done in neutral territory. The specific guide for how to do it is attached below but essentially you put all four pigs into a neutral pen (it must not be the cage or space of the existing piggies), leave them in the pen to bond for the day and if all goes well you then move them all together to their permanent cage (which will also have to be cleaned and neutralised). It then takes a further two weeks for them to fully settle the bond and hierarchy.
All piggies are territorial so ensuring you follow the guide below will help as it explains all the dos and donts. Don’t fall into the trap of scent swapping bedding between the cages - it’s an old advice which has done and still does the rounds on the internet - unfortunately it does not stand up and can actually be detrimental (piggies do not want to smell another piggy in their territory).

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated Bonding Dynamics and Behaviours

Regarding quarantine:
- Quarantine should always be done for any guinea pigs bought from a breeder or pet shop.* You also need to check the sexes yourself.

- You do not need to quarantine any pigs from a reputable rescue (remembering that anyone can call themselves a rescue so it’s important to ensure you have done research on what is considered a reputable rescue). A reputable rescue will ensure every pig is already quarantined, healthy, not pregnant, properly sexed and vet checked before rehoming.

* the information on quarantine depends on age and whether the piggy(ies) are single or coming as a pair.
A single baby under four months old must never be quarantined regardless of whether it is from a breeder/pet shop. This is because the social needs of babies are so much greater and they must never be alone. You simply have to take the risk of them bringing something in and potentially needing to treat everyone.
A pair of breeder/pet shop babies under four months of age can be quarantined given they have each other.

Quarantine is two weeks in a separate room from your existing piggies.

We would recommend you get the piggies from a rescue rather than breeder where at all possible.
This is because in addition to the health aspects, a rescue can also help you with the bonding and compatibility.
Yes, Bonding babies can be easier as they will not be able to challenge the existing hierarchy of your two sows at the point of bonding.
(Adding an adult pair to an adult pair means there is already a dominant in each pair and when the dominant piggies come together one of them would have to step down and lose position - this is almost never successful and where a bonding will fail).
However even with babies any bond comes down to character compatibility and we do sometimes see bonding with babies fail. Therefore you should have a plan b in mind that if the bonding does fail that they will live as two separate pairs in two separate cages.

Ensure all hides have two exits and that there is as many resources as there are piggies.
The c&c cage for four needs to be a 6x2.

Let us know how things go!

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
 
Piggies&buns said:
Bonding is a specific process done in neutral territory. The specific guide for how to do it is attached below but essentially you put all four pigs into a neutral pen (it must not be the cage or space of the existing piggies), leave them in the pen to bond for the day and if all goes well you then move them all together to their permanent cage (which will also have to be cleaned and neutralised). It then takes a further two weeks for them to fully settle the bond and hierarchy.
All piggies are territorial so ensuring you follow the guide below will help as it explains all the dos and donts. Don’t fall into the trap of scent swapping bedding between the cages - it’s an old advice which has done and still does the rounds on the internet - unfortunately it does not stand up and can actually be detrimental (piggies do not want to smell another piggy in their territory).

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated Bonding Dynamics and Behaviours

Regarding quarantine:
- Quarantine should always be done for any guinea pigs bought from a breeder or pet shop.* You also need to check the sexes yourself.

- You do not need to quarantine any pigs from a reputable rescue (remembering that anyone can call themselves a rescue so it’s important to ensure you have done research on what is considered a reputable rescue). A reputable rescue will ensure every pig is already quarantined, healthy, not pregnant, properly sexed and vet checked before rehoming.

* the information on quarantine depends on age and whether the piggy(ies) are single or coming as a pair.
A single baby under four months old must never be quarantined regardless of whether it is from a breeder/pet shop. This is because the social needs of babies are so much greater and they must never be alone. You simply have to take the risk of them bringing something in and potentially needing to treat everyone.
A pair of breeder/pet shop babies under four months of age can be quarantined given they have each other.

Quarantine is two weeks in a separate room from your existing piggies.

We would recommend you get the piggies from a rescue rather than breeder where at all possible.
This is because in addition to the health aspects, a rescue can also help you with the bonding and compatibility.
Yes, Bonding babies can be easier as they will not be able to challenge the existing hierarchy of your two sows at the point of bonding.
(Adding an adult pair to an adult pair means there is already a dominant in each pair and when the dominant piggies come together one of them would have to step down and lose position - this is almost never successful and where a bonding will fail).
However even with babies any bond comes down to character compatibility and we do sometimes see bonding with babies fail. Therefore you should have a plan b in mind that if the bonding does fail that they will live as two separate pairs in two separate cages.

Ensure all hides have two exits and that there is as many resources as there are piggies.
The c&c cage for four needs to be a 6x2.

Let us know how things go!

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Click to expand...
This is great thank you
 
I bonded 2 pairs of sows successfully a few years ago.
One pair I had had for a while and they were well bonded.
The 2nd pair were young, one only about 6 months old and her slightly older cagemates.
The bonding guides were sanity savers.
It took about 2 weeks after the initial bonding for things to settle down.
The baby and my oldest sow bonded easily.
The middle 2 took some time of chasing, nipping and fur pulling before becoming best friends.

A herd of 4 was great fun.
 
Merab said:
I bonded 2 pairs of sows successfully a few years ago.
One pair I had had for a while and they were well bonded.
The 2nd pair were young, one only about 6 months old and her slightly older cagemates.
The bonding guides were sanity savers.
It took about 2 weeks after the initial bonding for things to settle down.
The baby and my oldest sow bonded easily.
The middle 2 took some time of chasing, nipping and fur pulling before becoming best friends.

A herd of 4 was great fun.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this advice, desperate to get more these two i have are great fun but really want to expand the herd
 
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