Bonding help please

One of my concerns buying a piggie especially a female is young ones can be misidentified. I mean if you buy a male and you gently squeeze a little something pops out and you know it is a boy. But I need a girl as two boys close to my two girls could fight. When we bought the girls I was very much concerned that they could have been boys… any advice on how to be certain it is a girl and not just an uncooperative male refusing to show his privates to a stranger…
 
A baby sow in your best bet here. Usually a bond will remain stable for life. Of course we can’t guarantee but generally these are the strongest bonds.

Sexing is not just seeing if a penis pops out. It is also done via looking inside the slit for double confirmation. In a sow it has a fleshy seal inside but in a boar it goes straight down to the anal sac.

I’ll add our sexing guides

Sexing Babies (with pictures)
Illustrated Sexing Guide
 
ok I did look at these before but couldn’t see any difference. I have just looked again through the 2 week old photos. Am I correct in saying. Inside the slit of the female is a tiny lump but in inside of the male slit has no little lump? Is that correct? I ask as last time we went by the top part the v shape part and in particular button (the boisterous pig) looked like it could male or female. We had a friend come and double check and she said they are definitely female, and I can say now at 9 months old they are definitely female! We knew this for sure before bonding them with my original deceased boy pig and he certainly knew they were girls especially when they went into heat 🫣
 
It looks like a tiny lump but I think you are saying it is like a wall of flesh?to prevent unwanted male attention except when in heat? We get our boy back tomorrow and will have a good look and him and the girls (not together) so mum knows what she is looking for/at.
 
It’s just the anatomy, sows are more fleshy inside. It’s not to prevent male attention
 
Ok when we fetch our boy we will definitely have a good look, get my brother to hold the piggie up while we investigate so she knows what to look for. Someone local to us has some female babies and mu:will be going to have a look on thirsday so fingers crossed it goes well.
 
He is home and appears traumatised, he is sat on my lap, won’t squeak, won’t move won’t eat his cucumber is you stroke him is purrs the off noise… poor wee lad.
 
He is running around his cage very happily now. Button is already on patrol even though the cages are 2+ foot apart. We are going to put a fabric barrier that she can’t see through up so she can’t look to his cage and hopefully will forget about him🙄
 
He is doing pretty good now, although his bum fur hadn’t been brushed and I suspect being on newspaper in a small cage it was more wet with pee than normal as his fur is thickly matted together at the bottom (the white bum fur is yellow) mum has given him a good trim and a little brush, but it is so bad we can’t brush it all in one go, he was in pain. And a couple of times struggled to get away from the comb but the comb was stuck in his matted fur and he torn clumps out by the root so we stopped. Will do a little more another day. Hopefully the trimming will make gentle brushing easier on him. I don’t think the rescue can be used to long fluffed piggies!
 
We are going to get a baby girl piggie at the weekend, we will do what we have done before put her and him in a neutral space on the floor with a pile of hay. How long do you suggest they stay like that for? I had been following the advice of a YouTuber but since she does scent swapping I prefer your advice. The bond can break for any time for two weeks? Do you suggest we do or don’t handle the little girl? Will our smell on her make the bonding difficult? Thank you for your help guys.
 
There is no set time in the neutral territory bonding pen - it takes as long as it takes but this is the part it’s important not to rush. Because going back into their permanent cage is a change in territory you need them to be through the initial stages of bonding and not move them too quickly. So this means them being in the bonding pen for several hours - it can be as quick as three hours but it can take as long as 10-12 hours, it just depends on the piggies and how quickly they settle

We recommend any new piggy is allowed to settle in before you handle them too much but you will need weight checks from her as she is a baby and you will need to know she is eating well enough

No your scent isn’t going to cause any issues.
 
Thanks, we have a pen set up of clean new panels- so no lingering smell, we have new hideys as we had to buy new ones with butto not liking his smell. So they will also be neutral so the cage should be as clean and smell free as possible. In fact it was all brand new he only went into yesterday when he returned.🙂 hoping for a happy outcome for him, I don’t want him to be sad.
 
because the girl will be so little I am still looking at the same behaviours for a non bond? For example heads raised sparring, teeth chattering, fluff pulling? Or will the behaviours be more subtle and hard to see if they are bonding? Thank you
 
Please do not put any hides in the bonding pen.
The hides may be new but putting them in the bonding pen means they can claim one and thus it becomes a territory which can cause problems when bonding.
There must only be hay and water in the bonding pen when you bond them.

Hides (with two exits) can go in their permanent cage once you move them to it

The guide below will help further

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated Bonding Dynamics and Behaviours
 
Sorry I wasn’t clear on my message, clean panel in pen with pile of hay.

Then later on if all goes well New except for two days cage , will be well cleaned, plus brand new clean hides
 
They are in the bonding pen, big blanket pegged over half of it, the boy and new girl are just crouched right next to each other under the shaded side of the pen with a big pile of hay in front of them. Hoping for a good outcome this time. We are. Just leaving them to it, not interfering but I will make sure that no fighting occurs.
 
About 20 mins. The girl is about 3 months old, I told mum to make sure she she weighed enough before getting her. And the lady said if there were any bonding issues we can go and swap the little lady. I can hear chewing noises! Hay eating!
 
It sounds positive so far!

did you check she is definitely female - that is more important than her weight
(weighing enough to bring her home doesn’t matter as such as babies grow quickly)
 
the lady showed mum all their privates! Every piggie there she showed the privates! I haven’t looked but mum has, I could have a look but that would mean disturbing them. I admit my brain is so bad I forgot that I should have a look too, I was worried about not handling her too much! My brain can only have one thing in it at one time. If you think disturbing them won’t matter I can take a look, but the lady said she has only made a mistake once and that was an inverted penis.
 
They are very very still, not really moving. I imagine they are in shock, do you think as the hours pass they will feel a bit more like moving? Do you suggest any forage or veggies in the hay pile? Or just leave them to it?
 
They can have some other treats to eat, yes.

Yes leave them to it and see if they start to move about more.
 
Hi I have ocd and anxiety I am now all worried that I need to check she is a girl, will it upset them if we get her out and have a look? I know I should have before but as I have said to friends at home it is like I have gone from being a genius (I got my degree at Oxford) to being an idiot (me/cfs plus various meds have really wiped my brain out). So do I take a look or not? Sorry that you are dealing with someone as useless and neurotic as me.
 
You can take her out for a very quick Look if it would reassure you. Sorry I didn’t mean to worry you.
 
Yes she is a girl, Iooked and there is no rice lump under the skin and opening the slit there is a wall of sandy colour flesh (she is sandy colour) he is now moving around, both were eating, she dove under the hay, he is rumbling a bit now and trying to find her. Now they are both together squeaking!
 
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