bonding new guinea pig with herd

Hannahb2804

Hannahb2804

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I’ve got 4 girls and I adopted another girl today who’s roughly two months old, they’re all on the floor in open space to bond and the most dominant one dougal, keeps going after her and teeth chattering, raising on her back legs slightly and showing her teeth. is this normal or does it mean it’s not working?
 
How is the new pig behaving? Is Douglas nipping at all or trying to mount or chase her? Have a look at the guide below to see where her behaviour sits on the scale. I’m not too sure about sow bonding but someone will be along in good time to let you know what they think.
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
I would be quite wary about their behaviour as it may mean it isn’t going to work. Slightly raising on the back legs is a warning sign and in the orange section.

How have things been since you made this post?
 
Siikibam said:
How is the new pig behaving? Is Douglas nipping at all or trying to mount or chase her? Have a look at the guide below to see where her behaviour sits on the scale. I’m not too sure about sow bonding but someone will be along in good time to let you know what they think.
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Click to expand...
at first the new pig was raising up too and showing her teeth but after a while she’s stopped so now she’s accepted her place i think and dougal is now only chasing her and slightly nipping her bum
 
Hannahb2804 said:
at first the new pig was raising up too and showing her teeth but after a while she’s stopped so now she’s accepted her place i think and dougal is now only chasing her and slightly nipping her bum
Click to expand...

That sounds a bit more calm. Hopefully they are sorting things out
 
they’ve been put into the cage now and there’s no rumbling or any noises still just a little bit of chasing but dougal is not going after her she’s only chasing her once she gets close to her
 
should dougal still be chasing her now? she’s still chasing her but no raising on back legs or anything
 
It takes up to two weeks for them to settle into their new hierarchy. In that time there will be some dominance. She’s possibly just wanting to make sure the young one knows her place.
 
dougal is spraying pee and she’s still trying to nip indigo again and another of my piggies badger, is also now nipping the new pig indigo and indigo is doing it back, is this normal?
 
They may just be sorting out their hierarchy. Nipping is a dominance behaviour and doesn’t break skin. Badger is possibly also telling her where she is in the pecking order (below her). Who is a Dougal spraying pee at, Indigo?

It’s been about four days so it may just take a couple more to settle down. As long as Indigo is putting in weight at every weigh in she should be fine.
 
but should indigo be nipping back and both of them nipping at the same time? no she’s spraying at bean which is the youngest,
when they eat they all eat fine together and sleep together and clean together but then all of a sudden mainly on an evening they start chasing eachother and nipping back and fourth
 
i’ve just had a read and they are sort of nosing off to eachother but it looks so bad to watch like they seem like they’re about to break into a full fight but i really don’t know, right now they’re all eating hay together so it’s only sometimes
 
It can be difficult to watch. And with sows it can be more subtle. Just keep an eye on them and watch the weight of the newbie (at next weigh in). Hopefully they’ll settle down soon enough.
 
should they still be doing this after 4 days though? they look like they’re tackling eachother it makes me so worried
 
It takes up to two weeks for them to settle their hierarchy after bonding. So yes it can still happen at this stage. As long as it’s not continuous or the newbie is losing weight. Nipping does look brutal but it’s not. They’re well versed in not breaking skin!

The fact that it’s only sometimes and that they eat together and groom in front of each other is positive. Sometimes some top pigs feel the need to assert their position more than others. And the others also sometimes just need to make their position in the hierarchy. As in I’m above you and won’t give up my place.
 
I agree with Siikibam. It takes two weeks for them to fully sort things out and seeing such behaviours during that time is normal.
Pee spraying tells the other to stay out of their space.
Nipping is a gesture of power and the answer the underpig should give in return is submission squealing. If she is nipping back, then it may be that they are still trying to work out which one of them is going to be above the other in the hierarchy. If they can sort that out, then they will be fine. If it looks like it is escalating, then be on alert.

The dominance behaviours guide will help you gauge what you are seeing
 
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