Hi, my first post, I am needing some advice please 
I have read the bonding threads already but want advice regarding my current situation.
I have had 2 guinea pigs for about 18 months, bought them when they were 6 weeks old so had them a while (Whisper and Sophie). They are fully bonded and are fine. I adopted two more guinea pigs recently, one of them is about the same age as my other 2 (Pepper), the other is about 6 months old (Maisie). They are also fully bonded and the younger one (Maisie) is naturally submissive to Pepper because of the age gap.
Quick summary of their personalities:
Pair One: Whisper - The dominant one of the pair, but doesn't really express dominant behaviour towards Sophie if that makes sense. She is gentle, brave, friendly.
Pair One: Sophie - Submissive one of the pair. Very quiet, shy, but can get very anxious- can't sit out for long without wandering.
Pair Two: Pepper - Dominant one of the pair. Very loving towards Maisie and her owners! Appears to be friendly and confident. Does not show aggressive behaviour, quite similar to Whisper. Though, I'd say Whisper is more dominant.
Pair Two: Maisie - Submissive one. Hates to be separated from Pepper, squeaks and runs around the cage when they are apart. Very curious and wandersome, can't sit still at all.
Since getting them I have two separate cages and have had them side by side, just so they can get used to each others scents, noises, etc. They are all curious and like to have a peek through the bars at each other's cages !
We have had the new pair about a month now, we change their cages twice a week. We have been bonding them on neutral ground, while we clean their cages. Admittedly we haven't done this every time we change their cage because it is quite time consuming but we have done it 3 times so far. Each time has been really different.
The first time: This was literally just for 15 minutes because I didn't want to stress them out too much. They were all eating kale, so didn't really bother each other. I didn't really give them a chance to interact with each other, but there was no aggressive behaviour, probably because they were all distracted.
The second time: This lasted about 30 minutes. Sophie (first pair) did not interact with the rest of the group, she did not eat with the others, and she sat in the corner of the cage silent. She looked quite withdrawn.
Whisper and Maisie appeared to form a bond - they initially squabbled, but then began grooming each other. Maisie generally was completely holding her own, not letting any of the others bother her, quite defensive behaviour.
Pepper and Whisper had a squabble and couldn't decide between them who was going to 'win'. There were no fights or teeth chattering, but they were squabbling and poking each other. Out of the two of them, I'd say Whisper is more dominant than Pepper, but at the moment it's uncertain.
The third time: Initially they were all fine as they were eating. Whisper and Maisie appeared to have kept their bond. Pepper and Whisper were still squabbling, but nothing serious, and Pepper jumped away when an atmosphere developed. However Sophie found herself this time and all hell broke loose. She started chattering at Pepper, and then she launched herself at her. Pepper rumblestrutting around, Sophie and Pepper than began fighting. I tried not to intervene, they did eventually seem to settle, it was a quick squabble and then one of them ran towards the other end of the cage. However before long they were ALL chattering their teeth, and I began panicking a little because I was running out of places to separate them all! A lot of dominant behaviour going on from Sophie/Pepper/Whisper. Eventually I did have to intervene, because Sophie launched herself at little Maisie! And I was worried she'd get seriously injured. My partner separated them and actually got bitten
So it's a good thing we did intervene otherwise one of them could have been seriously injured.
I have put them back in their own pairs, in their own cages, next to each other. It has been a couple of days now, and things are back to normal - no aggressive behaviour noted. But I just don't know where to go from here. It was a scary thing to see because they were ALL so angry at each other at the same time! Is this a failed bond? Should I introduce them all together like previously or maybe put just Sophie and Pepper together and see if they can work it out? Or is this likely to cause more problems?
The reason we are trying to get them to bond is so that they can eventually all live together in a new cage.
I have read the bonding threads already but want advice regarding my current situation.I have had 2 guinea pigs for about 18 months, bought them when they were 6 weeks old so had them a while (Whisper and Sophie). They are fully bonded and are fine. I adopted two more guinea pigs recently, one of them is about the same age as my other 2 (Pepper), the other is about 6 months old (Maisie). They are also fully bonded and the younger one (Maisie) is naturally submissive to Pepper because of the age gap.
Quick summary of their personalities:
Pair One: Whisper - The dominant one of the pair, but doesn't really express dominant behaviour towards Sophie if that makes sense. She is gentle, brave, friendly.
Pair One: Sophie - Submissive one of the pair. Very quiet, shy, but can get very anxious- can't sit out for long without wandering.
Pair Two: Pepper - Dominant one of the pair. Very loving towards Maisie and her owners! Appears to be friendly and confident. Does not show aggressive behaviour, quite similar to Whisper. Though, I'd say Whisper is more dominant.
Pair Two: Maisie - Submissive one. Hates to be separated from Pepper, squeaks and runs around the cage when they are apart. Very curious and wandersome, can't sit still at all.
Since getting them I have two separate cages and have had them side by side, just so they can get used to each others scents, noises, etc. They are all curious and like to have a peek through the bars at each other's cages !
We have had the new pair about a month now, we change their cages twice a week. We have been bonding them on neutral ground, while we clean their cages. Admittedly we haven't done this every time we change their cage because it is quite time consuming but we have done it 3 times so far. Each time has been really different.
The first time: This was literally just for 15 minutes because I didn't want to stress them out too much. They were all eating kale, so didn't really bother each other. I didn't really give them a chance to interact with each other, but there was no aggressive behaviour, probably because they were all distracted.
The second time: This lasted about 30 minutes. Sophie (first pair) did not interact with the rest of the group, she did not eat with the others, and she sat in the corner of the cage silent. She looked quite withdrawn.
Whisper and Maisie appeared to form a bond - they initially squabbled, but then began grooming each other. Maisie generally was completely holding her own, not letting any of the others bother her, quite defensive behaviour.
Pepper and Whisper had a squabble and couldn't decide between them who was going to 'win'. There were no fights or teeth chattering, but they were squabbling and poking each other. Out of the two of them, I'd say Whisper is more dominant than Pepper, but at the moment it's uncertain.
The third time: Initially they were all fine as they were eating. Whisper and Maisie appeared to have kept their bond. Pepper and Whisper were still squabbling, but nothing serious, and Pepper jumped away when an atmosphere developed. However Sophie found herself this time and all hell broke loose. She started chattering at Pepper, and then she launched herself at her. Pepper rumblestrutting around, Sophie and Pepper than began fighting. I tried not to intervene, they did eventually seem to settle, it was a quick squabble and then one of them ran towards the other end of the cage. However before long they were ALL chattering their teeth, and I began panicking a little because I was running out of places to separate them all! A lot of dominant behaviour going on from Sophie/Pepper/Whisper. Eventually I did have to intervene, because Sophie launched herself at little Maisie! And I was worried she'd get seriously injured. My partner separated them and actually got bitten
So it's a good thing we did intervene otherwise one of them could have been seriously injured.I have put them back in their own pairs, in their own cages, next to each other. It has been a couple of days now, and things are back to normal - no aggressive behaviour noted. But I just don't know where to go from here. It was a scary thing to see because they were ALL so angry at each other at the same time! Is this a failed bond? Should I introduce them all together like previously or maybe put just Sophie and Pepper together and see if they can work it out? Or is this likely to cause more problems?
The reason we are trying to get them to bond is so that they can eventually all live together in a new cage.
