Bonding help?!

[LaurenS]

So i tried to bond my guinea pigs the other day. I am wanting to add another girl to my already bonded female and neutered male pair. In the days before i swapped their bedding so they could smell eachother. When bonding i made sure the space was free of either guinea pigs scents and put open ended tunnels in the space and a huge pile of hay and some veg. Upon introducing them my new girl was rumble strutting a lot (i know this is okay) and had raised hackles and there was a lot of chasing from both of the girls which went on for a while. They then all had a few naps but a few hours down the line it got bad again. Any time the new girl pig went near the others they would be annoyed and then she would throw her body at them and this happened about 3 times in the space of 10 minutes about 6 times altogether, before i seperated them as my very chilled male pig was very stressed. So, i am going to try bond them again another day but do you think it will ever work out? Also does anyone have any other bondings tips or things i could try?

 

[Wiebke]

So i tried to bond my guinea pigs the other day. I am wanting to add another girl to my already bonded female and neutered male pair. In the days before i swapped their bedding so they could smell eachother. When bonding i made sure the space was free of either guinea pigs scents and put open ended tunnels in the space and a huge pile of hay and some veg. Upon introducing them my new girl was rumble strutting a lot (i know this is okay) and had raised hackles and there was a lot of chasing from both of the girls which went on for a while. They then all had a few naps but a few hours down the line it got bad again. Any time the new girl pig went near the others they would be annoyed and then she would throw her body at them and this happened about 3 times in the space of 10 minutes about 6 times altogether, before i seperated them as my very chilled male pig was very stressed. So, i am going to try bond them again another day but do you think it will ever work out? Also does anyone have any other bondings tips or things i could try?

Hi!

Please carefully read our very detailed and step-by-step bonding guide, which is taking you through all the stages and aspects of a bonding, including taking bonding dynamics into account. This will hopefuly help you understand and judge better what is going on: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

The way I read it sounds like your new girl is rather on the fear-agressive side and is likely struggling to accept coming out on the bottom of the hierarchy. You can try another day as long as you leave them living next to each other so they are can see each other and interact with each other.
You are OK as long as the bond is still in the 'Maybe' zone. Once it has moved into the 'We don't want you' zone, then you have had it. Once piggies have made up their minds, they are not going to change them in a very long time! If tensions are sky high again as soon as resume the bonding, it is not going to work.

Happily bonded pairs of any combination are not necessarily interested in having an intruder and they can take against them. Since you can change personalities or outlook, there is simply no magic wand trick that can force a happy bond where the shared basis is not there. In this aspect guinea pigs are very much like humans forced into marriage of convience or to share an office - and they are every bit as complex personalities as humans.

When you bond at home on spec, unfortunately you always need to have an alternative solution for a bonding fail.

PS: I would most strongly recommend to leave any tunnels out; that is something they can get possessive over or end up with a deep bite if something suddenly spooks them and they make a dash for the same cover when they are already on edge and their defence instincts are on high alert.