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Bonding Betsy and Meg help please

Betsy

Betsy

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When I feel the time is right to bond Betsy and Meg, I know this has to be in a neutral area. Would it be OK to use the run in the garage? I'll change the waterproof liner and the fleece and I'll clean the lino on the floor underneath. I'll also take out all hideys and take off the fleece forest and just have a pile of hay in the middle. The hutch will also be deep cleaned. I haven't got another space suitable inside unless I bring them in the house and it's too warm for them in the house.
 
It should be ok to do it there. As long as there aren't any weird smells from whatever you keep out there, because I know my old piggy used to get nervous in our garage when I'd carry him through there, just because it always smelled like paint and oil. And as long as you don't have spooky sounds out there, that might make them nervous or alert. But otherwise, you're good to go!
 
Betsy said:
When I feel the time is right to bond Betsy and Meg, I know this has to be in a neutral area. Would it be OK to use the run in the garage? I'll change the waterproof liner and the fleece and I'll clean the lino on the floor underneath. I'll also take out all hideys and take off the fleece forest and just have a pile of hay in the middle. The hutch will also be deep cleaned. I haven't got another space suitable inside unless I bring them in the house and it's too warm for them in the house.
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That’s pretty much what we‘re going to do to bond Buttons & Cornelius. With bonding 2 pairs at the same time we’re running out of space haha! I‘m going to properly scrub the floor of the run down so it doesn’t smell of piggy anymore and put some new fleece down. Fingers crossed it works! Good luck for the bonding x
 
Betsy said:
When I feel the time is right to bond Betsy and Meg, I know this has to be in a neutral area. Would it be OK to use the run in the garage? I'll change the waterproof liner and the fleece and I'll clean the lino on the floor underneath. I'll also take out all hideys and take off the fleece forest and just have a pile of hay in the middle. The hutch will also be deep cleaned. I haven't got another space suitable inside unless I bring them in the house and it's too warm for them in the house.
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Any space that is not part of their usual territory is fine so they can meet on equal terms.

A run in the garage is fine; it doesn't matter if it carries the scent of a number of different piggies or time-sharing groups, marking it as shared 'herd' ground and not a specific group territory. It is the latter that causes the over-reactions as that is seen as an invasion by both sides. But definitely no hideys in the bonding ground!
 
the garage run will be good,as it will not be a temperature fluctuation. unless you have room in the house and turn the heating off in that area .i did a bonding in the bath with Pickles saturday ,with a sow from another herd.Just hay in the middle and observed for an hour,left them to it ! i had to be careful of temps as Freya was an outside piggie.....if bonding failed she would need to go back there.i hope the bonding goes well ! xx
 
hrsrdr said:
It should be ok to do it there. As long as there aren't any weird smells from whatever you keep out there, because I know my old piggy used to get nervous in our garage when I'd carry him through there, just because it always smelled like paint and oil. And as long as you don't have spooky sounds out there, that might make them nervous or alert. But otherwise, you're good to go!
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All my piggies live in the garage. I have a 2 tier hutch and Christian, Meg and Patsy live at the top in the Penthouse Apartment and Betsy (and Dennis until 4 days ago when he toddled off to The Rainbow Bridge) lives at the bottom. They all have timeshare in the run. The run isn't neutral territory as it's shared which is why I'm asking whether everyone thinks it'll be OK to do a bonding in it.
 
I found Christian in his forever sleep this morning Goodbye my cheeky man, my handsome Silver Fox so it looks as if I'll have to see if the bond between Meg, Patsy and Betsy is going to work. I hope it does. Patsy was only bonded with Christian and Meg in September so I hope trying to bond Betsy with Meg and Patsy won't disrupt it.
 
Betsy said:
All my piggies live in the garage. I have a 2 tier hutch and Christian, Meg and Patsy live at the top in the Penthouse Apartment and Betsy (and Dennis until 4 days ago when he toddled off to The Rainbow Bridge) lives at the bottom. They all have timeshare in the run. The run isn't neutral territory as it's shared which is why I'm asking whether everyone thinks it'll be OK to do a bonding in it.
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Sorry if my answer wasn't clear! Yes, it should be ok to do it in the run, as long as there's no hideys or anything.
 
Hope your ladies decide to get along together. Although, if it doesn't work out, i'm sure i have seen some rather handsome neutered boys looking for a home.
 
Betsy said:
I found Christian in his forever sleep this morning Goodbye my cheeky man, my handsome Silver Fox so it looks as if I'll have to see if the bond between Meg, Patsy and Betsy is going to work. I hope it does. Patsy was only bonded with Christian and Meg in September so I hope trying to bond Betsy with Meg and Patsy won't disrupt it.
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BIG HUGS

I am so sorry for your loss. Fingers VERY firmly crossed!
 
Best of luck with the bonding. .
Message to piggies. . . You be ok with each other and piggie mummy will help. :yahoo:
 
Everything crossed that the bond works out.
 
Hope the little ladies are alright without the chaps😥and being out together lifts their spirits🤞
 
They are now three hours into the bonding and all seems to be going well. We have had mainly quiet chomping on hay, a few chases, mounting and nips but nothing major. Patsy quickly established herself as bottom piggy and let Meg and Betsy get on with deciding who the top piggy should be. I am pretty sure that Betsy will be top piggy. She has done most of the nipping, mounting and chasing and Meg is quite wary of her. Oddly, she has started to barber mainly Patsy and Meg too a bit which is something she has never done before. I was observing them for just over an hour and now I just keep checking on them every 10-15 mins. Last time I checked, Meg had just woken up and Patsy and Betsy were still having a snooze. Hopefully when they all wake up they will still be fine. Not sure whether I'll put them back in the hutch (which I have deep cleaned) when it starts to get dark or leave them in the run all night. What do you think is best? They have always been in the hutch overnight when they have been in the run. The run is 16sq ft and the hutch is 12sq ft.
 
Meg has separted herself from the other two is this significant? No harm done by any pig to any pig. Betsy and Patsy are in the middle of the hay pile chomping away and Meg is in a corner. @Wiebke is this something I should worry about?
 
Just gone back to check on how the bonding is progressing. Meg went to get some hay and Betsy just put her nose up and touched Meg and Meg went off while making a quiet squeaking sound. Is this Meg showing Betsy that she is letting Betsy be top pig?
 
I think that you’re right and Meg is stepping down.
If it were me; I think I’d put them back in the hutch overnight if things are still going well between them but that’s just me x
 
If things are going really well I think I would put them in the hutch. It's going to be cold tonight, the hutch will be warmer. It does sound like Meg is stepping down, it's hard to say without hearing the language, but it's probably a submission squeak. Fingers crossed for them and you! Xx
 
I was going to leave the bonding til later but I noticed this morning that Meg was nipping Patsy in a show of dominance. I didn't want Meg getting ideas that she was Top Pig before I had introduced Betsy as she was Top Pig where her and Dennis were concerned. So before a hierarchy had been worked out between Meg and Patsy I though it best to let all three of them work it out together.
 
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