Anyone in Surrey that could help with introducing guinea-pigs?

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Alicia

Alicia

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I know I've only been trying to introducing my 3 girls for one day, but I've never tried to introduce guinea-pigs and have it start this badly. If you haven't seen my other thread: they were fine for about 30 minutes, and then Marmalade bit Edie and drew blood so they were seperated, and Marmalade is in a different hutch to Edie and the new guinea-pig, then Edie started chasing the new guinea-pig, and they are now in the same hutch but on different floors, and they won't share space. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm giving up/being dramatic, it's just my Mum has started talking about which one(s) we're going to rehome and I'm so worried. She's said I can't keep them seperate for long and if they don't get along soon then we will have to rehome at least one because she doesn't want seperate hutches.

They all seem miserable, Marmalade's alone, and the other 2 are sitting as far away from each other as possible. I am going to try everything I can tomorrow, bathing them together, and introducing them together in the house where none of my guinea-pigs have been in a long time. I know with rabbits, sometimes rescues/people bond them for a donation, I don't know if people with guinea-pigs can/would do this? I don't know very much about introducing guinea-pigs and I feel really out of my depth with these 3, and as blood has been drawn I'm really losing hope with this working, so what I'm asking really is, if anyone with experience with guinea-pigs would be able to bond them if after me trying to bond them (I'm planning to try as much as possible) it doesn't work? I know if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but I'm not going to give up without trying everything I can.

I just ask because there are people with a lot more experience in introducing guinea-pigs than I have and so it might just work. I'm really sorry if this is a pointless thread and no-one would be able to/want to do this but I just want to try everything to help them get along.
 
I'm definetly not giving up now, I know I haven't been trying to introduce them for long, and I plan to keep trying to introduce them over the next couple of weeks, I just wanted to see if anyone would be able to help just in case it doesn't work here. I know that if they don't like each other then they won't get along, but I want to make sure I try everything :)
 
Hi hun, I have done three sow/boar bondings and one 2 sow to 2 sow bondings. I have to say though once blood is drawn, which happened once, I called it a bad match and revised my plans.

I would strongly advise putting Marmalade and Edie back together, they are well established and if you break their bond you could end up with three lone piggies.

If I were you I wouldn't rush. Let New Pig settle in to her new surroundings for a week perhaps - she has had a big upheaval and how much do you really know about her background? Also IMO it is a bit windy to bathe piggies then put them outside, my head felt cold when I washed it and went out with it damp today :{

I can try and help with the bonding but am off on holiday on Friday and so not around til the bank holiday weekend. Can your mum just chill out and cope with New Pig on her own til then?

If not let me know and I will see if we can try something else. I may have a plan B.
 
Thank you :) I would keep them indoors until they dried off. I don't know very much about new guinea-pig, though I've emailed her previous owner to ask a bit more (I know I should have found this all out before I got her) My mum wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer, and I'm definetly going to try and reintroduce them myself over the next couple of days.

Edie and Marmalade aren't together at the moment because Marmalade bit Edie, the new pig is with Edie and Marmalade is alone because I didn't want them to have any fights when I wouldn't be around to split it up.
Should I try putting Edie and Marmalade back together and put new piggy on her own to settle in?
 
If they are settled for tonight I would leave them where they are tonight and look at it in the morning. If you are worried that Edie and the new girl might fall out overnight, then block up the ramp (just make sure that they all have plenty of hay to keep warm).
Over the next few days swap their beds/ hay between the hutches so that they get used to the smell of each other.
When you introduce them again, make sure you have a towel handy in case you have to separate them. You can use a dustpan or similar to gently herd them in different directions (put it in between them to block line of sight) if they start to square up. Don't put any hideys in, just hay and veg. Even hideys with more than one entrance gives a dominant pig something to be dominant over.
 
Alicia said:
Should I try putting Edie and Marmalade back together and put new piggy on her own to settle in?
Click to expand...

I would if it were me in the morning. Marmalade probably just felt annoyed at everyone and Edie got the brunt of it.

I would leave it a few days to try them all, I always have my new pigs for at least two weeks before bonding, largely due to my own quarantine period in case new pig is poorly in anyway
 
Ok thank you :) I'm going to put Marmalade back with Edie tomorrow, and put new pig who now has a name (Sasha) but I can't seem to stop calling her new pig now :)) in the little hutch on her own. Sasha's hutch is right next to Edie and Marmalade's hutch so they can chat through the bars. I will leave them like that until next Saturday and then I will give them a bath together, and introduce them.
 
The interacting through the bars is always a good idea IMO. Bruno and Snicks are going in a hutch with a grid in the middle tomorrow to do the same ready for bonding when I am back from my hols.

Hope Marmalade and Edie are ok tomorrow. I think girls are worse than boys sometimes!
 
I gave Edie and Marmalade a bath this morning and they were together in my room for a couple of hours and they were fine. I put them in the run together and they were fine apart from a bit of teeth clicking. Then I put them in the hutch together and Edie started fighting with Marmalade, so I seperated them and put Edie back in with Sasha, and then Edie started fighting with Sasha. I don't know what to do, I really don't. Right now Edie is in one hutch, Marmalade's in another, and Sasha is sitting with me because I don't have enough seperate hutches. I could probably make a grid cage for her for a couple of nights if they need to stay seperate. Mum's asking me what one we're rehoming 8... I don't know what to do
 
Marmalade and Sasha are in the run together and it's going quite well. There's a bit of teeth clicking and chasing but only sometimes, but everytime Marmalade walks past Edie's hutch they click their teeth at each other :( I might try putting Marmalade and Sasha in the hutch soon, I really hope that will work out but I have a horrible feeling that it won't :(
 
How long are you leaving them together?

How big is the hutch as it maybe because of the confined space. Are they in the run and sitting at opposite sides or are they going near each other?
 
It's a 4ft hutch. Marmalade and Sasha were in the run for 2 hours before I moved them into the hutch. The first thing they did was sit together in the closed in part of the hutch, then Marmalade chased Sasha out, and now they're both sitting downstairs together eating grass. All 3 of them were going to live together in a 7ft space but I've had to split it so that Edie lives in half of it and Marmalade and Sasha live in the other half.
I don't know what I'm going to do with Edie and if Sasha and Marmalade don't get on I don't have enough hutches to put them all in.
 
Alicia said:
It's a 4ft hutch. Marmalade and Sasha were in the run for 2 hours before I moved them into the hutch. The first thing they did was sit together in the closed in part of the hutch, then Marmalade chased Sasha out, and now they're both sitting downstairs together eating grass. All 3 of them were going to live together in a 7ft space but I've had to split it so that Edie lives in half of it and Marmalade and Sasha live in the other half.
I don't know what I'm going to do with Edie and if Sasha and Marmalade don't get on I don't have enough hutches to put them all in.
Click to expand...

Try making there run smaller with grids so they have to share there space, do it gradually. Then the transistion to the hutch may not be as stressful.

Don't forget to scub the hutch and don't put anything in they can fight over!

There will be some dominance issues, but you know yourself if it's violent fighting they won't work!
 
The hutch was scrubbed out and cleaned yesterday, and disenfected. They seem ok now, they are in the downstairs of the hutch at opposite ends and they're eating grass. No fighting or anything.
 
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