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Bonding two females to my Male

Chlawee

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all,
I hope you can help me.. I’ve had a rough week, and unfortunately my much loved Guinea pig Oscar has passed away yesterday and I’m missing him so so much and I'm heartbroken.

I am now faced with the issue that his cage mate / guinea pig wife is left without company, I have a big c&c cage and I’d like to try and bond her to my other male and female so I can get rid of the divider and have them all together. I wanted some tips on how to do this, I’ve only ever done 1 on 1 and don’t want misty the piggy who lost her cage mate to be all alone.

I appreciate any help or tips you can give me

RIP to Oscar my beautiful boy.
thank you x
 

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I’m so sorry for your loss.

With regards bonding, it has to be done in a neutral area that doesn’t smell of any pig. A pile of hay in the middle with no hides. Then put them in and observe to see if there is acceptance. You can leave them in the bonding area overnight if you feel the need. Their cage would then need a deep clean and change of bedding to eliminate all smells. I’ll link to the bonding guide and dominance behaviour below.

You’re welcome to start a thread when you do the bonding - other members have done so in the past and found the support very helpful.
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
I’m so sorry for your loss.

With regards bonding, it has to be done in a neutral area that doesn’t smell of any pig. A pile of hay in the middle with no hides. Then put them in and observe to see if there is acceptance. You can leave them in the bonding area overnight if you feel the need. Their cage would then need a deep clean and change of bedding to eliminate all smells. I’ll link to the bonding guide and dominance behaviour below.

You’re welcome to start a thread when you do the bonding - other members have done so in the past and found the support very helpful.
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Thank you! :) tips are much appreciated, this is what i did when I bonded The rest of them so it’s pretty much the same thing it doesn’t really make a difference there’s three of them? Thank you!
 
I’m sorry for your loss.
These guides will help you. The second one explains the procedure of bonding.
As it all comes down to character compatibility, there is no guarantee of success in bonding a pair with a single. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but rest assured that she will still be able to communicate with the pair through the bars If it fails, so she won’t be lonely.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
 
Oh I really hope this works out for you it would be great to have them all together. Good luck!
 
So sorry you’ve lost Oscar, hope you can make a happy threesome X
Sleep tight little man 🌈
 
I don't think you'll have much of a problem, they already know each other through the divider, and if a male is present it normally keeps a group of females in good temperament. A neutral place is best like already said, and don't worry if a little bickering occurs, it's normal and will settle down good luck!
 
I am trying to bond them now, all seems good so far but just witnessed my sow peeing / squirting her wee towards the male (jasper) is that normal behaviour? I was a bit shocked ngl haha
 
Also one of the does seems to chase the less dominant one around .. when do I know they’re ready and bonded to be put in a cage together?
 

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Also one of the does seems to chase the less dominant one around .. when do I know they’re ready and bonded to be put in a cage together?

You are going to see chasing etc for quite some time. It takes a couple of weeks before they have fully established their relationship. How long have they been in the neutral area? It can take hours in the neutral area before they are ready.
 
You are going to see chasing etc for quite some time. It takes a couple of weeks before they have fully established their relationship. How long have they been in the neutral area? It can take hours in the neutral area before they are ready.
They’ve been in there for about 3 hours,
She chases misty (the less dominant sow) around and misty will squeak and let her do it and stop, so she is letting belle the other sow be dominant. Just don’t know when the right time is to put them in the cage together you know? They’re not fighting though, Belle will chatter a little bit just to say get out of my space but that’s it and misty just runs away and does something else and she leaves her alone for a little bit
 
All sounds normal. You can leave them in some more hours and move them when you’re going to bed, if all seems well. Have you thoroughly cleaned their cage and all hides etc?

@Wheeki knowing each other through the divide doesn’t guarantee compatibility. And adding a Male to a tense sow pairing doesn’t necessarily help either.
 
So sorry for the loss of your piggy.

The bonding sounds as if all is going well and what you are seeing is normal behaviour as they sort out a new herd order.
Hope all continues to go well.
It can take up to 2 weeks for things to settle fully which can be stressful for us but they know what they’re doing.

I found the bonding guides and forum support saved my sanity when I bonded 2 pairs a couple of years ago.
 
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