Gizboo
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi, I’m after some bonding advice.
A couple of months ago my guinea pig Gizmo lost his long-term bonded partner Blackjack. They had been together since they were three months old and Gizmo is now 6. Both were unneutered males. Three weeks ago Gizmo had a successful playdate with a potential new partner, Bram, a 6 month old male. The early signs were good, they were introduced through bars and then came together and seemed to get along okay – Bram was very inquisitive whereas Gizmo was sedate and still. That was surprising to me because he had always been the dominant in his last bond and I expected him to try and keep that spot but he seemed to give it up very quickly when he was introduced to Bram. He seemed a bit nervous but not scared.
I continued the bonding process back home, following all the advice about keeping them in a neutral environment without hides and plenty of hay/multiple water sources. I slowly introduced hides and kept a close eye on them both. There were the usual dominance behaviours, Bram did a lot of chasing after Gizmo and lots of mounting but it wasn’t aggressive. I held my nerve and didn’t need to intervene because it didn’t get violent, no biting or tornados, nothing like that. There was a moment where things got a bit testy when Gizmo seemed to get tired of all the mounting (there was a lot of mounting from Bram, so you couldn’t blame him really) and Giz seemed to challenge him a little and there was some teeth chattering and head raising but I didn’t actually need to step in and eventually things cooled down again.
Since then they’ve been put in the same enclosure, a 5x2 c&c with plenty of open-ended hides, two water sources etc. I’m just not sure things are working out. There are times when they get along fine, eat hay together, keep out of each other’s way. But Gizmo seems to be constantly on edge, when I come home I’ll often find him panting and curled up in places I wouldn’t normally find him, like he’s hiding. He seems to be a little bit scared of Bram. Bram is very overbearing and rumble strutts next to Gizmo a lot. The other night I temporarily separated them because Bram jumped at Gizmo, who was very distressed afterwards. He’s done this before but not quite as aggressively. Bram tends to take the hide at the back of the cage to himself and doesn’t let Gizmo anywhere near. I’ve seen dominance behaviours before between Gizmo and Blackjack but I don’t know if because they were the same age it was easier for Blackjack to deal with, he never seemed to be scared of Gizmo like Gizmo is with Bram. I’m always a bit concerned when I leave the house or go to bed that they’re going to have a bad run in.
I was hoping with a younger boy that Gizmo would be able to assume the top of the hierarchy again and live a quiet life as a senior pig but its not worked out like that at all, he doesn’t seem comfortable or able to settle around Bram. Bram meanwhile is lovely but he’s so full of energy and much more agile than Giz – I forgot how fast and acrobatic they could be. Would really appreciate some thoughts on whether I should persevere with this bond or does it seem like something that isn’t going to work?
A couple of months ago my guinea pig Gizmo lost his long-term bonded partner Blackjack. They had been together since they were three months old and Gizmo is now 6. Both were unneutered males. Three weeks ago Gizmo had a successful playdate with a potential new partner, Bram, a 6 month old male. The early signs were good, they were introduced through bars and then came together and seemed to get along okay – Bram was very inquisitive whereas Gizmo was sedate and still. That was surprising to me because he had always been the dominant in his last bond and I expected him to try and keep that spot but he seemed to give it up very quickly when he was introduced to Bram. He seemed a bit nervous but not scared.
I continued the bonding process back home, following all the advice about keeping them in a neutral environment without hides and plenty of hay/multiple water sources. I slowly introduced hides and kept a close eye on them both. There were the usual dominance behaviours, Bram did a lot of chasing after Gizmo and lots of mounting but it wasn’t aggressive. I held my nerve and didn’t need to intervene because it didn’t get violent, no biting or tornados, nothing like that. There was a moment where things got a bit testy when Gizmo seemed to get tired of all the mounting (there was a lot of mounting from Bram, so you couldn’t blame him really) and Giz seemed to challenge him a little and there was some teeth chattering and head raising but I didn’t actually need to step in and eventually things cooled down again.
Since then they’ve been put in the same enclosure, a 5x2 c&c with plenty of open-ended hides, two water sources etc. I’m just not sure things are working out. There are times when they get along fine, eat hay together, keep out of each other’s way. But Gizmo seems to be constantly on edge, when I come home I’ll often find him panting and curled up in places I wouldn’t normally find him, like he’s hiding. He seems to be a little bit scared of Bram. Bram is very overbearing and rumble strutts next to Gizmo a lot. The other night I temporarily separated them because Bram jumped at Gizmo, who was very distressed afterwards. He’s done this before but not quite as aggressively. Bram tends to take the hide at the back of the cage to himself and doesn’t let Gizmo anywhere near. I’ve seen dominance behaviours before between Gizmo and Blackjack but I don’t know if because they were the same age it was easier for Blackjack to deal with, he never seemed to be scared of Gizmo like Gizmo is with Bram. I’m always a bit concerned when I leave the house or go to bed that they’re going to have a bad run in.
I was hoping with a younger boy that Gizmo would be able to assume the top of the hierarchy again and live a quiet life as a senior pig but its not worked out like that at all, he doesn’t seem comfortable or able to settle around Bram. Bram meanwhile is lovely but he’s so full of energy and much more agile than Giz – I forgot how fast and acrobatic they could be. Would really appreciate some thoughts on whether I should persevere with this bond or does it seem like something that isn’t going to work?
