Bonding 2 Female Cavies

[marialuvscavies]

Hello!
I have 2 young cavies (about a year old) that i recently adopted. It has been a couple of days now and they constantly in a dance to see who is the dominant piggy. I have done a lot a research and their behavior so far seems to be normal and I have yet to have any really aggressive behavior. My question is how long do i expect this behavior to last? I have a 2x3 c&c cage with a loft but I'm thinking of expanding the cage an extra grid or two to hopefully help with the situation. How long until I can decide whether they are just a bad match?

 

[Swissgreys]

Welcome to the forum.

I would start by reading the bonding guides here:

Behaviour, Bonding & Bereavement Guides

There is lots of great information, including pictures of behavior you can expect during bonding.

To be honest a 2 x 3 might be a bit small for 2 girls if they are feisty and not fully bonded.
I would also remove the ramp and loft area at this stage as it could end up with one piggy feeling trapped and cause a problem.

I always try to use a large bonding area and leave the piggies there until I am sure they have sorted out their intial problems. In one case this lasted about 7 hours, and I wouldn't say they were a fully cohesive group until about 2 weeks after being introduced.

Before they are bonded properly I always keep their main cage as open as possible and only use hides with 2 entrances. Cardboard boxes are good at this point.

Do your girls have 2 of everything (hides, water bottles, food bowls, etc)?
It sounds like they might just need a bit more space and time to fully decided who is going to be in charge.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello!
I have 2 young cavies (about a year old) that i recently adopted. It has been a couple of days now and they constantly in a dance to see who is the dominant piggy. I have done a lot a research and their behavior so far seems to be normal and I have yet to have any really aggressive behavior. My question is how long do i expect this behavior to last? I have a 2x3 c&c cage with a loft but I'm thinking of expanding the cage an extra grid or two to hopefully help with the situation. How long until I can decide whether they are just a bad match?

Hi! The more space you can give any piggies, the better.

Your girls have bonded, they are now in the dominance phase, which lasts around two weeks on average, but it can take longer if the piggies are evenly matched. I would not worry. You'll also see stronger flare-ups if one of the girls is coming into season. Newly bonded sows usually react with stronger seasons.

Please take the time to read these guides:
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Sow Behaviour

 

[marialuvscavies]

Welcome to the forum.

I would start by reading the bonding guides here:

Behaviour, Bonding & Bereavement Guides

There is lots of great information, including pictures of behavior you can expect during bonding.

To be honest a 2 x 3 might be a bit small for 2 girls if they are feisty and not fully bonded.
I would also remove the ramp and loft area at this stage as it could end up with one piggy feeling trapped and cause a problem.

I always try to use a large bonding area and leave the piggies there until I am sure they have sorted out their intial problems. In one case this lasted about 7 hours, and I wouldn't say they were a fully cohesive group until about 2 weeks after being introduced.

Before they are bonded properly I always keep their main cage as open as possible and only use hides with 2 entrances. Cardboard boxes are good at this point.

Do your girls have 2 of everything (hides, water bottles, food bowls, etc)?
It sounds like they might just need a bit more space and time to fully decided who is going to be in charge.

Thank you for the response!
I currently don’t have 2 of everything because they don’t mind sharing and both seem to be at healthy weights. Do you feel like having 2 of everything will help with the balance of things?

 

[marialuvscavies]

Hi! The more space you can give any piggies, the better.

Your girls have bonded, they are now in the dominance phase, which lasts around two weeks on average, but it can take longer if the piggies are evenly matched. I would not worry. You'll also see stronger flare-ups if one of the girls is coming into season. Newly bonded sows usually react with stronger seasons.

Please take the time to read these guides:
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Sow Behaviour

Thank you for the reply!
They are about the same age (2 months apart) so i watch the shift in dominance through out the day. But i will definitely extend the cage a grid or 2 so they have more room.