Bonding trio and pair

Gemma1286

Gemma1286

Junior Guinea Pig
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I've been thinking ahead and having looked everywhere I cannot find this specific bonding info. How do you bond a trio and a pair of sows? Questions are:
1. Do you put the new ones in first (pair), or the ones you've had the longest (trio)? Or even a mix?

2. Can I use a never used before playpen made from grids in the same room as the main cage is? Would that be nuteral territory still?

3. Are the dominance behaviours the same as boars?

Slightly nervous as I've only bonded two boars before. Sow groups are a whole new world so I'm trying to be prepared as much as I can and get my info in order to reduce the stress on them (and myself).
 
@Betsy what answers I got from these are it's best to put the ones I've had the longest in first and new ones after but it doesn't matter, the playpen in the same room is ok, and there isn't much of a difference between boars and sows when it comes to dominance behavours. Does this sound about right?
 
Hope it goes well.
I’ve only bonded singles or 2 pairs so can’t advise.
I do know it can be very stressful so chocolate, coffee, wine or something is essential for you.
Let us know how things go
 
Merab's Slave said:
Hope it goes well.
I’ve only bonded singles or 2 pairs so can’t advise.
I do know it can be very stressful so chocolate, coffee, wine or something is essential for you.
Let us know how things go
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Can I have chocolate, coffee and wine? Bonding Charlie and Ginger was stressful enough, thinking of bonding 5 together and moving Charlie to a new cage to open up the divided c&c into one has got me in a spin. Fingers crossed it'd go ok and sure will keep you updated with it.
 
We've bonded 2 pairs of ladies and the first attempt was disasterous after 2 piggies with less than perfect vision ran face first into each other resulting in fur flying and fear aggression... but they are all friends now! Not best friends those two but... eat hay together and the others diffuse any tension. Adding a husboar a couple of weeks later was a breeze up to bonding ladies! Plenty wine for you and coriander for the piggies :)
 
Betsy said:
Don't see why you can't have all three! Sounds reasonable to me except for the coffee :vom:
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Haha can't live without caffeine at the moment, my little one is ill and has been keeping me up all hours.
 
I would start with the two dominant ladies first. If they can't get on then there's no point continuing. I haven't bonded two pairs/groups though only singles into my group. Dominant one always goes down the first though
 
PigglePuggle said:
We've bonded 2 pairs of ladies and the first attempt was disasterous after 2 piggies with less than perfect vision ran face first into each other resulting in fur flying and fear aggression... but they are all friends now! Not best friends those two but... eat hay together and the others diffuse any tension. Adding a husboar a couple of weeks later was a breeze up to bonding ladies! Plenty wine for you and coriander for the piggies :)
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Oh dear, poor floofs! Glad they managed to get on. That's my main fear, that fur will go flying and they won't be able to live together. I'd hate to get something wrong.
I'll have a glass, any more than that would probably send me falling flat on my face :))
 
Lady Kelly said:
I would start with the two dominant ladies first. If they can't get on then there's no point continuing. I haven't bonded two pairs/groups though only singles into my group. Dominant one always goes down the first though
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Ah, brilliant! It's nice to have a place to start. Feeling a bit more confident in knowing what to do now. Thank you!
 
Gemma1286 said:
Ah, brilliant! It's nice to have a place to start. Feeling a bit more confident in knowing what to do now. Thank you!
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Set aside a good amount of time for the bonding. Plonk the two dominants down, observe for a while and then try adding more. I usually follow the hierarchy order otherwise my top sow Daisy gets a bit grouchy with me :))
 
Lady Kelly said:
Set aside a good amount of time for the bonding. Plonk the two dominants down, observe for a while and then try adding more. I usually follow the hierarchy order otherwise my top sow Daisy gets a bit grouchy with me :))
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You make it sound so easy! I need to look up what the behaviours are to get the order, I'm 99% sure who is dominant but have no clue who's next in the trio.
 
Gemma1286 said:
You make it sound so easy! I need to look up what the behaviours are to get the order, I'm 99% sure who is dominant but have no clue who's next in the trio.
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I'm lucky at the moment because it is completely clear with my current group. However I promise you bonding is not always easy. I've had a couple of times where the prep and build up seems to be for nothing when they settle down in 5 mins but I have had bondings that haven't worked as well. The more you do though the more confident you get in recognising what's working and what isn't. Read the guides a few times and spend some time watching your group and pair to see the behaviours.
 
I watched the trio last night while eating veggies and one of them (who I think is the dominant) started first before the other two started. And I've noticed that if any of them are drinking at one water bottle and she wants to drink from the same one, they will leave to go to a different one. Is this boss pig behaviour? Other than this, I've seen no signs. Either that or they're so subtle and I didn't realise.
 
Betsy said:
Ice cream with Maltesers sounds yum! :drool: I just got plain toast and porridge after I'd been ill whatever the problem was :soz:
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Oooh it was yum! Someone had to stop it from dripping 😂. I let her indulge on it a little bit seeing though she missed out for 3 years due to allergies.
Oh no, porridge? Yuck. I think you should go and treat yourself to a luxury ice cream! So what if it's winter :))
 
Betsy said:
Ice cream with Maltesers sounds yum! :drool: I just got plain toast and porridge after I'd been ill whatever the problem was :soz:
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I think you should go and get yourself a bowl of ice cream with Maltesers- you probably need it this week.
 
Gemma1286 said:
I watched the trio last night while eating veggies and one of them (who I think is the dominant) started first before the other two started. And I've noticed that if any of them are drinking at one water bottle and she wants to drink from the same one, they will leave to go to a different one. Is this boss pig behaviour? Other than this, I've seen no signs. Either that or they're so subtle and I didn't realise.
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Sounds like dominant behaviour to me.
However- I can’t really talk as I haven’t yet worked out which of mine is dominant.
I know who’s loudest - but I ‘m sure they understand their own places in the trio and it works.
When are you going to try bonding the pair in?
 
Gemma1286 said:
I watched the trio last night while eating veggies and one of them (who I think is the dominant) started first before the other two started. And I've noticed that if any of them are drinking at one water bottle and she wants to drink from the same one, they will leave to go to a different one. Is this boss pig behaviour? Other than this, I've seen no signs. Either that or they're so subtle and I didn't realise.
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Sounds like it. When I put the veggies in Daisy does a circle round the bowl twice to make the others back off so she can decide which bit she wants to eat first :)) with daisy I always feel her dominance is more like a fear of missing out rather than bossy
 
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