Bonding Pip & Peanut - advice please

[shiny]

I have previously posted on TGPF about baby Pip who I got on New Year's Eve as he was being bullied beyond belief in the great big pet store. We tried him with our 5 month old male Bertie & another baby Horatio but Bertie just didn't like Pip so Pip has been living alone since the first week in January. Pip must be around 11 weeks now.

Pip is very slight & only just about 400g now. We had him checked by our exotics vet who couldn't find anything wrong with him, just thought he was a bit runty, poor boy! We are doing our best to feed him up & get him stronger.

I have been looking out for a friend for him & came across a 12 month+ male in need of a home who had previously lived happily with a young & quite runty boar. We got him a week ago & he is called Peanut. Peanut has been in quarantine & settling in for a week in a separate room. Bertie & Horatio live in their indoor cage on a tall stand & Pip's indoor cage in underneath.

We introduced Pip & Peanut yesterday morning in the massive indoor play enclosure with piles of veggies & hay - a totally neutral environment. Peanut humped Pip a little bit & did quite a bit of sniffing & licking but nothing much more than a bit of rumbling & showing he was bigger & therefore the boss. They were quite happily sitting eating hay together. After an hour or so we moved them into Pip's cage, all cleaned out etc. They seemed ok as before. The only problem seemed to be that Peanut's rumbling was really bothering Bertie who is a very stressy pig. He then started taking it out on Horatio by chasing him & having a nip at him. We moved Pip & Peanut's cage into another room & things quietened down a bit.

By the time we went to bed last night, Pip & Peanut were just sitting quietly eating hay.

This morning was different; Peanut was chasing Pip & humping him non-stop. Peanut is a big pig & over 1kg, Pip is just 400g & very lightly built. Peanut would not stop & Pip was getting very distressed. We were worried he was going to get really hurt, break a bone or something so after observing for a good while & trying to distract with hay etc, we reluctantly had to take Peanut out. Pip seems a lot happier!

I will try getting a DAP diffuser & try to bond them again, this is all I can think of. I don't want to bath a teeny pig in cold weather like this.

The problems are:

1. I need to be able to house the 2 male pairs in the same room without them setting each other off getting grumpy with the other one in their pair
2. I need to get Pip a companion who won't pick on him
3. We are Peanut's 3rd lot of owners through no fault of his own, I don't want to just pass him on to someone else, he is also a lovely boy

Any advice or help on this would be glady received especially if you have tried the DAP diffuser in this type of situation - thank you .

 

[sport_billy]

Bump

 

[katiepops]

As they haven't hurt each other just got a little over the top I would try bonding again but you need to leave them in the neutral space for a lot longer than an hour. Start early in the morning and leave them in their all day and over night if you can. They have to start again when they go into another new space so need to have a bond before that happens. Just a pig pile of hay, no houses to block each other in. If Pips getting fed up with being humped distract Peanut with some extra hay to give him a break. Obviously if they fight or the humping is really persistant then you have to seperate them but the fact that they have had quiet times eating hay together sounds like there might be a chance of it working.

 

[Lilly]

If you find they really can't live together in the same cage how about having PIP and Peanut living side by side with a mesh type divider so they can still see, hear and smell each other? That still gives each piggie company. They might then be OK just being together at floor time.

 

[shiny]

Thanks katiepops, I'm so glad you think we stand a chance of bonding them. The last time we bonded a baby & an adult male it was so easy but baby Bertie was only about 6 weeks & Willow was nearly 4 so I guess the odds were pretty good for that one!

We will hold off again until the weekend when we can have a whole day of time for them in the massive pen. The humping was completely persistant before, I thought Pip was going to end up with a broken leg or something

Any idea how we can stop Bertie going nuts when he hears Peanut rumbling in a separate enclosure? Bertie is the ultimate stressy pig. I certainly don't want to introduce Bertie & Peanut because I'm sure we would end up with a fight. Bertie might be small in size but he is big in his own mind

Here are a couple of pics of Peanut & Pip when they were happy together on Saturday.

 

[Suzygpr]

You've probably already found these helpful threads, but I'll pop them here just in case.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?28949-Boars!-Simple-Dominance-Displays-or-Fighting

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...FAQ-Introducing-and-reintroducing-guinea-pigs

I always recommend adding a teddy or two to the bonding pen - if one is being a sex pest it can help divert their attention - some completely ignore them, others use them willingly. Use something piggy sized and not too soft so they feel it's a bit like a piggy.

HTH

Suzy x

 

[shiny]

I still have Bertie's companion bunny from when Bertie was alone after Willow died & before we got his new companion Horatio. It still smells of Bertie I expect as he used to sleep cuddled up with it. Will this matter or is it useful that it smells like a guinea pig already?