Bonding young male guinea pigs

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Jwren82

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Hello! I'm new here. I purchased 2 x male guinea pigs and sadly one had to be put to sleep last week as he had neurological problems. I'm gutted, my daughter is very upset and we've only had them a month, but he has had issues since we purchased him.

On Friday I purchased a new male guinea pig, age 9 weeks, as a buddy (the pet shop had 3 males together which they don't often have and therefore said they would sell us 1 of them).

I need to some advice about how best to bring the pair together. One is 13 weeks and the other 9 weeks (so a bit smaller). Both chatty and lively, bouncing about all over the place and no signs of aggression. The older one is rumbling and showing some normal dominance displays, the 9 week old seems more chilled (no rumbles or bum wagging).

They are currently indoors in a large 6 x 2 C&C cage with a central divider, but can see and chat to each other. The pet shop explained that we should let them see each other across the cages, but not actually meet for a few days while we scent swap. Then to allow them to be together in a run, on neutral ground for a few minutes, building up the time together daily until eventually moving them in together. However, on this forum, people seem to be suggesting that once you commit to having them together, they shouldn't be separated from thereon.

Are the pet shop giving me sound advice? I'm confused! So grateful for any help! Many thanks :)
 
No. The bonding takes several hours on neutral ground. If you stop it it has to start all over the next time. Do not scent swap. It is an invasion of territory.
 
Welcome to the forum and I'm sorry for your loss.

The pet shop have given you bad advice, I'm afraid.

Piggies under four months of age need to be bonded promptly. They are too young to be alone, and given they have already been side by side for several days you should do the bonding now if you can

You must not scent swap at all. It will be seen as an invasion of territory and can cause the bonding to fail. Piggies are highly territorial and smelling another in their space, and then smelling that pig when you introduce them could immediately set them on a hostile footing

You need to put them on neutral territory (no hides, just hay and water) for several hours (could even be up to 12 hours, even overnight) and allow them to see if they like each other and then if they can form a hierarchy.
If they are ok together after those hours you can move them to their permanent cage together (no divider). It’s important that they have been in neutral for long enough (no specific time as such you just need them to be settled enough to cope with the move to a new territory). You must not separate even after successful introduction. If you separate you stop the bonding and cause them to had to start all over again when you try to reunite them. This causes stress.
You can add double exit hides when you move the to their cage.
It takes two weeks of them being together for the bond to be fully sorted.

If they do not accept each other in the neutral territory, or if the bonding fails during the first two week period, or if the bonding fails once they hit their teens - then you will need to keep them permanently separated but in side by side cages

I’ve added our guide below to explain it all further

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated Bonding Dynamics and Behaviours
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry you lost a piggy.

Good luck with the bonding. It can seem a bit dramatic sometimes and then sometimes not and it goes calmly. Can’t wait to see pictures of your beautiful boys.

I have two boys Pebble and Patrick.
 
Thank you all for your help! Ben (13 weeks) & Charlie (9 weeks) spent a few hours together yesterday on the grass in a run (neutral) and I took down the divider between their cages and gave it a good clean out. They are now in their shared 6 x 2 C&C cage and have loads of room to run! They spent much of yesterday chasing each other, humping each other and giving happy squeaks and popcorning. They both seem so much happier with the divider down. The humping was relentless for a while, but didn't seem aggressive and they both seemed to cope well, so I hope this isn't going to become an issue. They have calmed down over night and when I went downstairs this morning they were side by side munching hay. I put in 2 separate food bowls of greens and they shared them both nicely. Early days but wish us luck!
 
I'm so glad all went well.
It will take the next two weeks for them to fully sort out their hierarchy.
As they are coming into their teens you are highly likely to see a lot more mounting, chasing and general dominance. It’s fine and something they need to do through but it important to keep an eye on things as hormones ramp up.

I would say that we do not recommend the use of food bowls. We say that for two reasons:
1. it can cause food hogging and dominance issues; 2. Eating from a bowl isn’t mentally stimulating.
We recommend scatter feeding veg and pellets around the cage and into loose piles of hay. This means that both piggies get the same chance to eat with no risk of the dominant hogging. It also encourages them to move around and use their natural foraging abilities which is excellent mental stimulation and simulates how they eat naturally, instead of sitting and eating mindlessly at a bowl.
 
Glad it went so well. With boys remember to have two of everything so they don’t have to share and also use hides with two exits so they can’t trap each other in them. Can’t wait to see pictures 😍
 
Welcome to the forum and I am so sorry for your loss.
Glad to hear that Ben and Charlie’s bonding has gone well.
We look forward to pictures of the boys and getting to know you
 
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