Advice on moving forward

C

Cowboy&Walnut

Junior Guinea Pig
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England
I currently have 2 boars that are 4 months old. 2 days ago we noticed Cowboy was limping and so off he went to the vets. It turns out he has been bitten by his supposed friend Walnut. We had never seen them showing any behaviour past a bit of a rumble here and there so was shocked it had progressed to this with no warning. They were living outdoors in a 6ft hutch from pets at home with 3 hides and 2 of everything else but clearly it wasn't enough and they just can't be friends. They are currently separated and Walnut is in the hutch and Cowboy indoors in a c&c cage. Now I have a dilemma - we cannot afford to get them each a new friend and have 4 guinea pigs and we cannot keep them indoors and have them side by side as there is no room for 2 2x4 cages. I've emailed a shelter not to far from me to ask about surrendering one and adopting another so we have 2 piggies. Then I've remembered they won't be able to go outside as it's too late to acclimatize to outdoor temps for a new piggy. Do I surrender back one and keep the other happy with lots of enrichment and rescue a new piggy in the spring when they can get used to it. I have read through a few posts and the 6ft hutch is too small to be split in two to have them side by side outdoors? Any ideas would be appreciated.
 
I’m sorry to hear this.
A bond comes down to character compatibility. You can give them all the space and enough resources but unfortunately if compatibility isn’t there, then a bond will still fail.

Yes a 6ft is too small to split in half.
Separated piggies do need to be side by side to prevent loneliness.

I personally would not (having surrendered one) keep a piggy alone until spring time. Indoor piggies (once it gets cooler than it is now at night) won’t be able to go outside until April/May so it is far too long for him to be alone. Human companionship unfortunately is not enough.

You’ve probably just got enough time to acclimate to outdoor if you get a new friend now - depending on where in the uk you are (night time temps in my area for example are still warm enough that there would be time).
Given the situation, cutting acclimatising time close would be preferable to waiting and him having to be alone until next May.

To clarify, do have space for one c&c inside (ideally it’s a 2x5 for two boars) for a winter time emergency if keeping outside becomes unmanageable?
 
For further consideration, depending on what your rescue offers in terms of bonding assistance:

If they offer residential bonding ie your piggy goes and stays with them for a week or so to bond, then the piggies come back and immediately go into the same (cleaned out) enclosure and remain together at all times.

If they offer speed dating ie your piggy goes to the rescue for a couple of hours, is tried with a piggy to see if they initially get on ok:
In that case you bring the two piggies home (they must come home in separate carriers - two piggies who have just met would be unsafe to be in a confined space) but you have to continue the bonding in neutral territory for the rest of the day/overnight before being able to go into the permanent (and cleaned out) cage after many hours together.
You would need suitable bonding space indoors to be able to monitor/leave them safely overnight

If they do not offer any speed dating and you are just bringing home a piggy in the hope they will be compatible: in this case you would need two cages indoors. The piggies would have to be kept separate and live side by side to get to know each other each other a little between the bars before you could attempt a neutral territory bonding. This side by side living doesn’t tell you if they would be compatible but would need to last several days, but even a week or two would not be unheard of, to allow them to settle down and relax enough to attempt the bonding. Bonding immediately upon bringing home a new, and likely scared, piggy increases stress and risks fear induced aggression

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated Bonding Dynamics and Behaviours
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m sorry to hear this.
A bond comes down to character compatibility. You can give them all the space and enough resources but unfortunately if compatibility isn’t there, then a bond will still fail.

Yes a 6ft is too small to split in half.
Separated piggies do need to be side by side to prevent loneliness.

I personally would not (having surrendered one) keep a piggy alone until spring time. Indoor piggies (once it gets cooler than it is now at night) won’t be able to go outside until April/May so it is far too long for him to be alone. Human companionship unfortunately is not enough.

You’ve probably just got enough time to acclimate to outdoor if you get a new friend now - depending on where in the uk you are (night time temps in my area for example are still warm enough that there would be time).
Given the situation, cutting acclimatising time close would be preferable to waiting and him having to be alone until next May.

To clarify, do have space for one c&c inside (ideally it’s a 2x5 for two boars) for a winter time emergency if keeping outside becomes unmanageable?
Click to expand...
If the temperature outside does become unmanageable with snuggle safes, extra hay, the thermal cover etc. then we do have a c&c that they could stay in as we would do that rather than them be poorly. The problem is it would go in our kitchen as that's the only place we have floor space and we just have a small house so where it would go blocks off the back door and is in the way of a cupboard. It's not a permanent solution but would do if we had no option. The night time temps are starting to get to 15 so would that still be ok to acclimatize at a pinch?
 
Piggies&buns said:
For further consideration, depending on what your rescue offers in terms of bonding assistance:

If they offer residential bonding ie your piggy goes and stays with them for a week or so to bond, then the piggies come back and immediately go into the same (cleaned out) enclosure and remain together at all times.

If they offer speed dating ie your piggy goes to the rescue for a couple of hours, is tried with a piggy to see if they initially get on ok:
In that case you bring the two piggies home (they must come home in separate carriers - two piggies who have just met would be unsafe to be in a confined space) but you have to continue the bonding in neutral territory for the rest of the day/overnight before being able to go into the permanent (and cleaned out) cage after many hours together.
You would need suitable bonding space indoors to be able to monitor/leave them safely overnight

If they do not offer any speed dating and you are just bringing home a piggy in the hope they will be compatible: in this case you would need two cages indoors. The piggies would have to be kept separate and live side by side to get to know each other each other a little between the bars before you could attempt a neutral territory bonding. This side by side living doesn’t tell you if they would be compatible but would need to last several days, but even a week or two would not be unheard of, to allow them to settle down and relax enough to attempt the bonding. Bonding immediately upon bringing home a new, and likely scared, piggy increases stress and risks fear induced aggression

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated Bonding Dynamics and Behaviours
Click to expand...
The rescue I contacted I believe does do guinea pig bonding but I haven't seen anything about overnight so would be more of a dating scenario for a few hours. If I got this in for a morning would they be ok to go in the cleaned out c&c cage once home and then if they have stayed happy together into the hutch for the night? We normally clean the cage with a pet safe antibacterial disinfectant and there is correx down on the floors. Would I be best to buy new correx rather than cleaning the old one or would the clean be sufficient. As well as cleaning the actual wood of the hutch.
 
I've just googled as their website is currently down but there is an archived page saying they do boarding bonding so if that was done and all went well would they be ok to come home into the cleaned out hutch together?
 
Yes 15 would be absolutely fine.
What you are wanting to avoid is sudden temperature large changes but we are not yet far enough into autumn for the changes between inside and outside to be great enough to be concerning.
As i say though, it is preferable to being alone all winter so I would still do it even if it was a bit colder than that.

So for speed dating, they are only together at the rescue long enough to see if they have initial acceptance but it doesn’t allow them to get through the rest of bonding. So they come home in separate carriers but need to go into a neutral bonding pen at home for as long as it takes for them to get through the next stages. It is absolutely vital that you don’t rush this stage. As any new territory means a new round of dominance, if you move them to the hutch too soon then you cause that round of dominance before they are settled enough to handle it. So be prepared that you may not be able to move them to the hutch for the night but instead they would need to stay in the neutral c&c overnight, going into the hutch the following morning. As your boy is a teenager it makes taking things slower and not changing territory too quickly even more important.
It then takes the next two weeks for them to fully sort out fine details of their bond.

If they do residential bonding then they would usually stay together at the rescue for a week or so before being able to come home. You could bring them home in the same carrier and then they go into the hutch together. They would still be in the new territory and two week period of reestablishing their bond but by that time they aren’t in those more intense very early stages.

A good clean will be fine. But if you would prefer to do new correx for the piece of mind they it doesn’t smell like your original piggy then that is also ok.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Yes 15 would be absolutely fine.
What you are wanting to avoid is sudden temperature large changes but we are not yet far enough into autumn for the changes between inside and outside to be great enough to be concerning.
As i say though, it is preferable to being alone all winter so I would still do it even if it was a bit colder than that.

So for speed dating, they are only together at the rescue long enough to see if they have initial acceptance but it doesn’t allow them to get through the rest of bonding. So they come home in separate carriers but need to go into a neutral bonding pen at home for as long as it takes for them to get through the next stages. It is absolutely vital that you don’t rush this stage. As any new territory means a new round of dominance, if you move them to the hutch too soon then you cause that round of dominance before they are settled enough to handle it. So be prepared that you may not be able to move them to the hutch for the night but instead they would need to stay in the neutral c&c overnight, going into the hutch the following morning. As your boy is a teenager it makes taking things slower and not changing territory too quickly even more important.
It then takes the next two weeks for them to fully sort out fine details of their bond.

If they do residential bonding then they would usually stay together at the rescue for a week or so before being able to come home. You could bring them home in the same carrier and then they go into the hutch together. They would still be in the new territory and two week period of reestablishing their bond but by that time they aren’t in those more intense very early stages.

A good clean will be fine. But if you would prefer to do new correx for the piece of mind they it doesn’t smell like your original piggy then that is also ok.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for all of this information. Will get to work on finding the new friend.
 
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