Olivitree
Junior Guinea Pig
Hello there,
I'm about to have 3 totally separate guinea pigs, hoping to put them into a trio.
2 females, one is my existing female, another is a rather older lady.
about Raisin is 4 or 5 and the elder, Kiki is about 6 or 7.
I should be picking up a neutered boar, Ted, that is around 4 years old tomorrow.
My concerns are, the ladies did meet briefly and kiindd of started getting a bit grumpy with each other so I split them up until I could make a much larger bonding enclosure and I'm giving them some time just side by side through the bars, but I'm already concerned for that bond as they are two fairly elder ladies who have been a lone for a bit, and I'm not sure are ready to relinquish top spot, even more concerningly I think I rattled things picking them up to separate them again as they are both very skittish and I think things got a bit more amped up when I was collecting them. So I may have messed up there already.
Adding a boar on top of that is also making me wonder how best to deal with these logistics.
Kiki has somewhere to go back to if bonding fails, uncertain on the boar, so my priority is probably Ted and Raisin, as Raisin is my resident piggy and Teds current owner is a lot further away, though I could do a rehoming from here.
SO MAIN QUESTION! Do I:
Sorry if this has been asked about before I have looked and couldn't find info in this SPECIFIC scenario where nobody knows each other yet and its more than a pair. Maybe it was just buried.
Thanks bunches for any advice
I'm about to have 3 totally separate guinea pigs, hoping to put them into a trio.
2 females, one is my existing female, another is a rather older lady.
about Raisin is 4 or 5 and the elder, Kiki is about 6 or 7.
I should be picking up a neutered boar, Ted, that is around 4 years old tomorrow.
My concerns are, the ladies did meet briefly and kiindd of started getting a bit grumpy with each other so I split them up until I could make a much larger bonding enclosure and I'm giving them some time just side by side through the bars, but I'm already concerned for that bond as they are two fairly elder ladies who have been a lone for a bit, and I'm not sure are ready to relinquish top spot, even more concerningly I think I rattled things picking them up to separate them again as they are both very skittish and I think things got a bit more amped up when I was collecting them. So I may have messed up there already.
Adding a boar on top of that is also making me wonder how best to deal with these logistics.
Kiki has somewhere to go back to if bonding fails, uncertain on the boar, so my priority is probably Ted and Raisin, as Raisin is my resident piggy and Teds current owner is a lot further away, though I could do a rehoming from here.
SO MAIN QUESTION! Do I:
- Put them all in together at the same time and let them bond simultaneously hoping that splitting their attention will reduce direct bonding pressure on just a pair
- Try to let the girls set up their hierarchy first, see if that succeeds or fails, then add Ted.
- Or bond Ted to my existing girl Raisin then add the new comer Kiki after I've seen if that bond succeeds or fails
Sorry if this has been asked about before I have looked and couldn't find info in this SPECIFIC scenario where nobody knows each other yet and its more than a pair. Maybe it was just buried.
Thanks bunches for any advice
