Bonding A Baby With An Adult

[LindseyH]

I have read the stickies on this and theres some great info on there.
Fudge is about 15 months old and has been alone in our house since his mate passed away 6 months ago. Now its getting warmer I want to put him back outside so have got him a little friend, only 7 weeks old. Now I am so wary of this as we had a terrible experience with Fudge and his first mate who bullied him terribly and left him petrified and with scars. He was so relaxed after Spike died but did look a little alone and sad sometimes.
I have separate cages indoors for now but want to put them in the cleaned out hutch outside in a couple of weeks when it's warmer. So far they have met on our knees and then in a neutral indoor pen. Fudge is a big piggie and relentlessly followed little Kylo around, nudging and mounting, but he is so much bigger I am scared he will hurt him? Someone on another site said big piggies can kill little ones and 2 boars will fight until he kills the little one, which sounded harsh and I've never heard that before. I'll try post a video, can anyone advise if it looks Ok? Fudge was always so mild mannered although Spike was the bully, fudge was always the one that tried mounting.

 

[Freela]

I've got no experience with boars, so hopefully someone else can help you out there! However, I have bonded babies with adults before (I will be trying it again very shortly with my giant 3-pound Hadley and itty bitty 2-month-old Leela) and so far, no one has been squashed or injured. The babies tend to be faster and none of the mounting is really intended to be painful or aimed at causing an injury. I think the little guys are tougher than we give them credit for! Best of luck with bonding the two... I'm hoping to do the same with my two girls today or tomorrow, it's nervewracking waiting to see if it goes well!

 

[Wiebke]

I have read the stickies on this and theres some great info on there.
Fudge is about 15 months old and has been alone in our house since his mate passed away 6 months ago. Now its getting warmer I want to put him back outside so have got him a little friend, only 7 weeks old. Now I am so wary of this as we had a terrible experience with Fudge and his first mate who bullied him terribly and left him petrified and with scars. He was so relaxed after Spike died but did look a little alone and sad sometimes.
I have separate cages indoors for now but want to put them in the cleaned out hutch outside in a couple of weeks when it's warmer. So far they have met on our knees and then in a neutral indoor pen. Fudge is a big piggie and relentlessly followed little Kylo around, nudging and mounting, but he is so much bigger I am scared he will hurt him? Someone on another site said big piggies can kill little ones and 2 boars will fight until he kills the little one, which sounded harsh and I've never heard that before. I'll try post a video, can anyone advise if it looks Ok? Fudge was always so mild mannered although Spike was the bully, fudge was always the one that tried mounting.

Hi! Boars don't kill babies unless conditions are truly awful and a baby is plonked into a messed up boar's one foot square breeder box without a by-your-leave and without any possibility to get out of the way by a person who has not the first idea about how guinea pigs work.
We've had plenty of boar intros of all ages in the 10 years this forum exists, but there has never an intro where a baby or any boar was killed. Fatal fights are extremely rare and usually the result of a deep bite ending up in a vital spot, not by design but by accident. A boar and a baby may not gel, but that usually shows pretty quickly and long before there are serious fights.
If you follow our tips, there is no risk whatsoever of ending up with killing boars.

Normal in an adult-baby intro is lots of mounting, nudging and chasing. You can counter that by giving the little one some escape, be it a tunnel Fudge can't get into or a cardboard box that is filled with soft hay (to prevent eye injuries when the little one dashes in) and has tow baby sized openings. Important is always that there are two exits on opposite sides so the underpiggy cannot be "locked in". A baby is simply physically not able to challenge the dominance and is usually desperate for company. Guinea pig boars are wired to bring up the group's babies alongside the sows and often make excellent nursery maids.

Babies are much faster and more agile; they simply don't get squashed or hurt, not even a baby wifelet with a neutered boar!

Make sure that there is nothing else in the bonding pen that a boar can get possessive about and it is as open as possible. The same goes for the cage; as long as the dominance phase lasts (for up to c. 2 weeks), only put in hideys or log tunnels with two exits and always have more than one of each.

 

[LindseyH]

Hi thanks for that, I couldn't believe it when the person said that, I hadn't heard that before.
Did you see the video, what if he just keeps chasing him all the time?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi thanks for that, I couldn't believe it when the person said that, I hadn't heard that before.
Did you see the video, what if he just keeps chasing him all the time?

That's what the baby sanctuary is for.

 

[Julie M]

Buddy was a youngster when I introduced him to Alby and they hit it off straight away. They became firm friends until Alby passed away from old age. If you follow the advice on here about bonding then you will be fine. (Picture is when they had been together a few weeks)

 

[LindseyH]

Thank you so much that's put me at ease a little . Got them out again now and Fudge is much more relaxed they've even eaten hay together! I cut some tubes that fudge can't get in.

 

[Julie M]

Yes Buddy and Alby were about the same size as your 2. I would keep them together and not keep splitting them up if possible. As every time they are separated they have to start the bonding process again.