Bonding help please

I little boy was neutered at a vet that deals with a lot of Guinea pigs from rescues they have two exotic vets, he was castrated 6 weeks ago and would have been. 3 month sold.
 
OK. I just got confused over the ages.

Unfortunately, your black piggy really doesn't want the long-haired boy in her space and she doesn't look like she is going to change her mind. No fault of his; he is non-aggressive. :(

Unfortunately, all you can do is try and give them a chance but what is never a given is whether they gel or not. On paper, this would have been an ideal match; unfortunately reality looks very often very different in my own (apmple) experience. I have a whole cupboard full of those kinds of t-shirts, if that helps you.

Could you contact Maria's Animal Shelter in Probus?
Maria's animal shelter.com

@Bill & Ted @4harmony2
 
Thank you I will do. I will try and get him a fried. That will like him! Thank you. It will have to be two cages! More expense! I. Do love my babies
 
Thank you we have put them back in their original cages and they are saying hello through the bars, but I won’t be fooled. We will try and find him a nice mannered piggie friend. The black piggie has always been grumpy, her female friend is so timid that they get along fine most of the time but in general the black piggie is like a bulldog, she will even attack our handif she feels like it, she can be fine being stroked then bite then be fine again. Her aggression actually made me get her scanned for ovarian cysts, but she is clear! Just her temperament. Love her to bits even if she’s grumpy!
 
Guineapiggirl34 said:
Sorry to keep bothering you the boy pig has now decided to grind his teeth a lot which I know is not a good sign. They have been on the floor together for an hour, I thought that was long enough for a bonding to be successful. I am going to try and find your bonding page again. I really want this to work, they have been desperate to get to each other through the bars for three months!
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One hour is just the acceptance phase. The dominance phases come next and take up to two weeks - it can still fail during this time if they can’t settle a hierarchy.

Behaviours between the bars are not indicative of their ability to form a bond
 
Ok I started another thread as I got so stressed about the, fighting. A member called weibke wrote saying taking chunks of fur is definitely not good asked for a couple of videos and said the black piggie is definite doesn’t want the long haired boy anywhere near her. That they need separating and finding him a friend.
 
I’ve seen your other thread. I do agree with wiebke.
I’m going to merge your threads into one to avoid confusion
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’ve seen your other thread. I do agree with wiebke.
I’m going to merge your threads into one to avoid confusion
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Thank you. I was not aware that there were two different threads on the same issue running.
 
Sorry for the confusion and many thanks for all the help your give to us piggie owners to provide better care. I am learning a lot from you guys, you are doing an amazing job.xx
 
Guineapiggirl34 said:
Sorry for the confusion and many thanks for all the help your give to us piggie owners to provide better care. I am learning a lot from you guys, you are doing an amazing job.xx
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Thank you. I am however very sorry that it hasn't worked out for you but I hope that you can find your gorgeous and lovely boy a wifelet that will adore him.
 
I will be trying to find him a partner I know the rescue takes a while to reply from previous experience. I do have a question though. The pigs were fine though the bars, hated being on floor together, then went back in ther cages fine and subdued. Today the big black boss pig is going up to the bars that separate the two cages, and doing her arguing boss pig, he is doing it back at her then they separate. I have not seen these behaviours through bars before on any Guinea pig channels websites is this normal? They seem to have done it in round as before and a couple of times the big black pig has gotten so angry she has gone off and chased her little sister round the cage very angressively as if she can’t chase th elittle boy so she chases her sister. They seem calm again now. What happens if they doesn’t blow over? I imagine the between bars fighting is stressful?

The black pig is such an aggressive boss pig I actually had her scanned for cysts I the last months (she has no other symptoms but agression and a bloated rear end) but I specifically didn’t want cysts to cause bonding issues with the boy. She has no cysts. Is she just grumpy? At what point do I have to take her sister away? I don t want the black pig to be lonely but I also know there are some pigs who can’t be with anyone. They are calm atm so can’t take any videos. I love my piggies but I am definitely not well enough for these shenanigans…
 
Until they had the bonding that failed on Thursday they got along ok, black pig was bossy a lot to the little girl but she didn’t chase her.
 
Weibke did you see the post above my last one? I don’t know what to do about the agression , they have the bars in the way but they are still arguing about dominance and it is making her wound up and more agressive to her sister.
 
Territorial behaviours between the bars are to be expected.
Do you have the ability to move the cages a bit further apart? You don’t went even too far apart as he still needs the interaction but it might help calm her if she can’t get quite so close to him
 
Ok it is currently about 1 cm apart how far apart can I go before it is too far do you think? The poor sister is just hiding away and black piggie is kinda ‘guarding’ the cage barrier she sleeps next to the joining edge a lot. Before they met we thought it was sweet like she wanted to meet him, now I feel like it is a guarding the way…

I know that the boy needs a friend, but what I don’t want to do is get another girl quickly and find the black piggie doesn’t want her sister around. We can JUST fit in 2 2x4 cages in here, no way could we fit a 6x2 (what I had my three in before) (for him and two girls) and a 4x2 (for her if she is too agressive for a cagemate) and I don’t want to give up any Guinea pigs to shelters! So I feel very stuck atm.
 
Guineapiggirl34 said:
Ok it is currently about 1 cm apart how far apart can I go before it is too far do you think? The poor sister is just hiding away and black piggie is kinda ‘guarding’ the cage barrier she sleeps next to the joining edge a lot. Before they met we thought it was sweet like she wanted to meet him, now I feel like it is a guarding the way…

I know that the boy needs a friend, but what I don’t want to do is get another girl quickly and find the black piggie doesn’t want her sister around. We can JUST fit in 2 2x4 cages in here, no way could we fit a 6x2 (what I had my three in before) (for him and two girls) and a 4x2 (for her if she is too agressive for a cagemate) and I don’t want to give up any Guinea pigs to shelters! So I feel very stuck atm.
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Hi

You can move the cages about a foot apart. Your black girl is very territorial and just doesn't want your boy anywhere near nor her mate to flirt with him.
 
I don’t know if this helps give some context. She has always been a very unusual piggie, she escaped her box on the way home here , really tall straight sided box, her sister stayed in (8 weeks old) and she jumped out gave my mum a terror! She used to be able to jump like crazy, she has long legs, she is really butch, she is quite agressive, and if it helps she is the one with the soft poos but has been to the vet and they say she’s ok. She was on Fibreplex or whatever it is called, helped her but a week after finishing treatment, several grams bigger due to all the fat in it, and the failed bonding and her poos are like mush again. We are still only giving them veg they tolerate fine each day. And only about 100 g between the 3, I want to increase that but her poos are never good for long enough. ☹️ I am really feeling like a failure of a pig mum.
 
Guineapiggirl34 said:
I don’t know if this helps give some context. She has always been a very unusual piggie, she escaped her box on the way home here , really tall straight sided box, her sister stayed in (8 weeks old) and she jumped out gave my mum a terror! She used to be able to jump like crazy, she has long legs, she is really butch, she is quite agressive, and if it helps she is the one with the soft poos but has been to the vet and they say she’s ok. She was on Fibreplex or whatever it is called, helped her but a week after finishing treatment, several grams bigger due to all the fat in it, and the failed bonding and her poos are like mush again. We are still only giving them veg they tolerate fine each day. And only about 100 g between the 3, I want to increase that but her poos are never good for long enough. ☹️ I am really feeling like a failure of a pig mum.
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Hi

You are dealing with an extremely fear-aggressive piggy who has likely experienced some very high stress levels in her mum's womb as her normal default setting. Piggies with that kind of default setting usually take a whole lifetime to unwind although more piggies tend to be on the fear rather than the aggressive side.

Please try to see her as a spunky survivor and try not to put her in a box she won't fit in. She is just special in her very own way but definitely not part of the big crowd in the middle of the field. The current situation is definitely stressing her out. Ideally, you'd keep your boy with his new mate (sow or laid back boar) depending on his own back story with other boars well away or even in a different room. ;)
 
Hi, I love her dearly but I don’t want a situation there isnt room for. My dad has hay allergy so pigs have to be in my lounge. I do have a slow treadmills walker for mobility, it is just under 2 foot is this far enough apart? As you can see for. These photos we are trying to get a pint in a small pot. It was ‘perfect’ for three pigs in a 2 x6. But with this situation we are doing what we can, but I need help to figure it out. I can’t do everything you suggest due to our constraints (another room for example) but maybe you can show me what to do in the one I have got. It doesn’t help I have severe me cfs and chronic pain, my mum and dad do almost everything for me. I was happy with two pigs but saw how sad one was when his friend died so decided three pigs was better for them. Now I can’t keep the three in one cage so I have a problem I did not envisage. I can stand for only short periods (I am in one of these photos typing to you) . As I said I DO NOT want to end up in a situation where I have to give up a piggie. I have muscle weakness so everything I use has to be at waist height hence the amount of tables. Will the two feet apart be enough for long term if he has a friend? He has had his bits off so I feel a lady is only fair after removing parts of him! I did promise him they were removed for a good reason. Sorry this is confused I have brain fog as well so just really struggling. I live in my parents house with their care so feel guilty for anything I need done (in this case piggie related) and guilty I can’t provide them with the care I want to (they have no grass as none of the garden can be fenced off- if it was my garden I would do so, I feel guilty they only have hay few nuggets and some veg)
 

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You only need to move them one foot apart (it doesn’t have to be as far as two foot) as Wiebke has suggested

Once he has a friend is his own, then he doesn’t need the interaction with your two girls anyway as he will have his own friend
 
Yes but you said about them being further away Whe he has a friend to not annoy the black one, will two feet be enough? Do I wait for the shelter to get back to me or due to the situation would it be better to get a pig for a local seller (I bought the boy for: as I like long hair) so he has a friend quicker? I know the shelter is quite slow to reply due to how busy they are and may not have a single girl ready? I have only done introduction where the male has lived alone while being neutered, does a female need to live in another cage next to him before meeting him?
 
We are also worried for the little girl under pig she gets urine infections from stress (like the passing of her male), black pig has been bullying her all day, will it calm when the cages are moved? We don’t want her stressed or hungry due to food bullying? I am at a loss what is best for everyone.
 
Yes they do need to be further apart than they are now but as you are short of space, moving them one foot apart is enough. It doesn’t need to have to be as far as two feet when you don’t have the room.
You could also throw a blanket or towel over that dividing side so that she can’t see him for a while and see if that calms her down.

Yes. Two feet is more than enough when he has a friend.

You would do best to wait for the shelter to get back to you. They will help with the bonding and ensure compatibility, and the two of them can go into the same cage straight away.

If you go out and buy another piggy from elsewhere, then it is fraught with risk and issues.
(A piggy from elsewhere would ideally need to be quarantined for two weeks in a separate room. You then have to have a third cage for the the new girl to live side by side with your boy for another week or two to get to know each other through the bars. You then need a neutral territory space to carry out the bonding yourself.
By buying on spec you also don’t know that the new girl would be compatible with him so you could end up with another failed bonding and thus in a worse situation with having to have two single piggies and that third cage permanently).

Guineapiggirl34 said:
We are also worried for the little girl under pig she gets urine infections from stress (like the passing of her male), black pig has been bullying her all day, will it calm when the cages are moved? We don’t want her stressed or hungry due to food bullying? I am at a loss what is best for everyone.
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With any luck it will calm down once you move the cages apart but we can’t guarantee it’ll be immediate.
Make sure you keep up with their routine weight checks as that will help you ensure the little girl is eating enough hay - you can weigh her daily if you are worried about her
 
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