Bonding gone wrong g.pig with a sore mouth

[hancy14]

Hi, I have kept guinea pigs for years and have bonded them before with no problems.

Unfortunately today it all went wrong.

I have a four and a half year old sow (Mable) who has been on her own for a while as her sister (Betty) died under a G/A for polycystic ovaries.

I thought she would be OK on her own but just recently I got the feeling she was lonely.

I got a guinea pig yesterday and the new girl (Unnamed as yet.) was so scared that I thought I would bond them straight away. As I thought, the new g.pig started eating and moving around as soon as she met Mable, on neutral territory.

They were in my room last night so I could keep an eye on them and I thought all was going great. Mable was washing her. They were eating and relaxed.

But today they had a fight and Mables left lip had a slight graze on it and is a bit swollen, but not heated so I don't think it is infected.

Anyway, just a min ago they had another huge fight and the right side of Mables mouth is now cut. It has stopped bleeding and is not to deep. She did not loose anymore than a drop of blood.

She is eating and drinking well, and I have put her back in her own cage, but I don't know what to do now.

Sorry this is such a long first post but I feel like I could do with some advice.

A) Do you think Mable needs to see a vet?
B) Is there any way you could see this bond ever working?
C) What do you think I did wrong as I never want to put a g.pig through this again.

I feel so terrible. But I cant see where i went wrong. I love my pigs and would never knowingly hurt them.

Please help.

Katherine

 

[clairelove]

personally i think what you need to do is leave them separated like you have done and if poss have a divider in a run and place them in this so that they need to see and smell each other but cant hurt each other and do this for some time so you can monitor them to see how they act with each other this may take a while to do,then try and reintroduce them again on neutrel grounds but closely monitoring them if this does fail then i think you would be best for them having a bigger cage/hutch with a mesh divider so they can still talk to each other with out any problems..how old did you say the other guinea is your new one?it can also be if you guinea is in season which can make them a little crumpy.if the cut is only little then i would just keep a close eye on if before going to a vet but if like you say there is swelling and you are concerned then there is no harm in taking her to your vet for a check to be sure. hope this helps but other people may have better advice on what to do..

 

[clairelove]

also who's cage did you put them into?did the new guinea go into it before your other girl as it could be territorial

 

[hancy14]

also who's cage did you put them into?did the new guinea go into it before your other girl as it could be territorial

Thank you for your reply.

Do you know the stupid thing is I thought the new g.pig would not get territorial as she was frozen with fear. She was in there for three hours on her own.

Was I really that stupid? I am seriously kicking myself now.

Thank you for the good ideas.

 

[Monika]

I also worry about mine fighting but I think I have been lucky they will at times have a go at each other but 2 mins later they will be lying next to each other sleeping.
My mums 2 sows don't get on and she keeps them in separate cages but we not all have her space so I think the idea of putting a divider in the cage works really well. They can see each other and feel they have company without having the stress of fighting.
Good luck!
Monika p

 

[hancy14]

Thank you for your reply. I know what you mean about the space but I think we will squeeze two cages in somehow.

 

[WAxlRose89]

A while back two of my male guinea pigs who had been together and got along fine since they were babas full on attacked each other, one lost both his top front teeth they got knocked out because his head got slammed into the side of cage. There was blood everywhere, apart from that he was alright his teeth grew back. They can get verrrrrry nasty when they want to.

 

[hancy14]

A while back two of my male guinea pigs who had been together and got along fine since they were babas full on attacked each other, one lost both his top front teeth they got knocked out because his head got slammed into the side of cage. There was blood everywhere, apart from that he was alright his teeth grew back. They can get verrrrrry nasty when they want to.

Good grief! I always thought it was just rabbits that fought like that. I used to have two uncastrated boys from the same litter who got on really well.

Guess its just luck.

 

[Logiebear]

I am really nervous now as we have just started bondind a girl in with 3 other girls tonight. I have done another thread about mine though.

I would try the keeping them next to each other thing and then try again at a later date when you feel more confident x