Attempt at bonding a new piggy

[Cocobear1029]

Hey guys! So I was hoping to receive some feedback about my recent attempts at bonding my new female piggy with my 2 other piggy’s that I’ve already had for almost a year. Pumpkin and Squeaks are my originals and Coco is the newbie who is noticeably quite a few months younger. I have researched bonding and followed directions to the best of my ability (neutral, big open space with several veggie/hay piles for each piggy, no pet housing with walls so no pig gets cornered) It started with the normal chasing, teeth chattering and some fur biting. Eventually Pumpkin and the newbie were fine. However, Squeaks was relentless and just would not leave Coco alone. I know it said to let them work it out for dominance and do not interfere unless they attempt to bite the neck or draw blood, and it never came to that.. but I just couldn’t stand watching Coco be scared anymore so I finally picked her up when she ran over to me. Has anyone been through this process before? I have attempted 3 times so far... should I just accept that Squeaks isn’t going to let Coco be apart of the crew? Or is there something else I should try? Like I said, no pig was injured... I just feel so bad because Coco so badly wants to be on their side of the cage whenever I put them all back sorry if this doesn’t make sense or is confusing.. just hope someone can share similar experience and offer advice ! Thank you !

 

[Swissgreys]

Unfortunately for you the only solution is to let them work it out to the end.
I know it looks awful to us, but as long as they aren't fighting as such then sometimes two closely matched pigs can take a while to agree on who will end up as bottom piggy.
Every time you remove Coco she and Squeaks have to start from scratch again.
It sounds like Squeaks wants to make it clear that she is above Coco in the ranking and she will push the issue until Coco accepts the lower ranking position.

 

[Wiebke]

Hey guys! So I was hoping to receive some feedback about my recent attempts at bonding my new female piggy with my 2 other piggy’s that I’ve already had for almost a year. Pumpkin and Squeaks are my originals and Coco is the newbie who is noticeably quite a few months younger. I have researched bonding and followed directions to the best of my ability (neutral, big open space with several veggie/hay piles for each piggy, no pet housing with walls so no pig gets cornered) It started with the normal chasing, teeth chattering and some fur biting. Eventually Pumpkin and the newbie were fine. However, Squeaks was relentless and just would not leave Coco alone. I know it said to let them work it out for dominance and do not interfere unless they attempt to bite the neck or draw blood, and it never came to that.. but I just couldn’t stand watching Coco be scared anymore so I finally picked her up when she ran over to me. Has anyone been through this process before? I have attempted 3 times so far... should I just accept that Squeaks isn’t going to let Coco be apart of the crew? Or is there something else I should try? Like I said, no pig was injured... I just feel so bad because Coco so badly wants to be on their side of the cage whenever I put them all back sorry if this doesn’t make sense or is confusing.. just hope someone can share similar experience and offer advice ! Thank you !

Hi!

The hardest thing when bonding is to sit by and let the piggies work through the various stages of the bonding process, including the leadership sortout and the establishment of a working group hierarchy with all its attendant dominance behaviours.
Guinea pigs live in a different society than our current politically correct human one. You cannot transfer human concepts onto guinea pigs; it doesn't work like that. You can also not let fear of a fight get into the way of bonding, or your piggies will never get there.

Please take the time to carefully read this link here, so you understand what is going on and what is normal and not for each stage of the several weeks long bonding process: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

If Coco really doesn't want to be with her new companions after the bonding has been gone through, then she can live as a next door neighbour to your new girls with interaction and stimulation through the grids that include body language, voice, scent and touching noses through the bars.

 

[Cocobear1029]

Unfortunately for you the only solution is to let them work it out to the end.
I know it looks awful to us, but as long as they aren't fighting as such then sometimes two closely matched pigs can take a while to agree on who will end up as bottom piggy.
Every time you remove Coco she and Squeaks have to start from scratch again.
It sounds like Squeaks wants to make it clear that she is above Coco in the ranking and she will push the issue until Coco accepts the lower ranking position.

Thanks so much for the response. It’s the hardest thing to watch but hopefully they will all get along in the end! I will have to give it another shot and let them work it out

 

[Cocobear1029]

Hi!

The hardest thing when bonding is to sit by and let the piggies work through the various stages of the bonding process, including the leadership sortout and the establishment of a working group hierarchy with all its attendant dominance behaviours.
Guinea pigs live in a different society than our current politically correct human one. You cannot transfer human concepts onto guinea pigs; it doesn't work like that. You can also not let fear of a fight get into the way of bonding, or your piggies will never get there.

Please take the time to carefully read this link here, so you understand what is going on and what is normal and not for each stage of the several weeks long bonding process: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

If Coco really doesn't want to be with her new companions after the bonding has been gone through, then she can live as a next door neighbour to your new girls with interaction and stimulation through the grids that include body language, voice, scent and touching noses through the bars.

Thank you so much for the info .. I will have to try again and see it through.. as hard as it is to see .. I appreciate the feedback

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much for the info .. I will have to try again and see it through.. as hard as it is to see .. I appreciate the feedback

Please read the guide link beforehand. You will find that you'll understand a lot more of what is going on with its help!