Bullied Piggy

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ClaudetteDoom

Junior Guinea Pig
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I'm going to pop a little back ground, apologies for it being so long. I had a bonded pair of guinea pigs, Almond (neutered boar) and Hyacinth. Around 18 months ago, we added two babies (Coconut and Hazelnut, both sows) to the herd.

In February we adopted my husband's aunts sow (around 3/3.5 years I think) Tank. After a week or so living side by side we attempted bonding with the herd. This ended badly when Almond bit her face, drawing quite a bit of blood.

Tank has had several cage mates before coming here, all died prematurely, I don't think she killed them, but I wonder if this has made her difficult to bond. We didn't want to split our happy herd, so Tank has continued to live next door in a split C&C.

Fast forward to now. Coconut had some strange scabs on her behind, the vet has ruled out skin conditions and it looks like she is being picked on. I've spent a long time watching them and it looks like everyone shoves her off and we hadn't noticed because her weight has been stable (but they are all frequently hand fed by my daughter). She used to be the slightly bossy second in command, so it's a bit of a shock.

Ideally, I'm hoping to attempt to bond Coconut and Tank tomorrow to end with two harmonious households 🤞🤞🤞. I've re read the bonding guides, but is there anything extra I should keep in mind with two tricky customers?

If it doesn't work out, I shall take her speed dating and some how find room for a third set up, but it would be tough!
 
Can't you just have her side by side with your others?
 
ClaudetteDoom said:
I don't have the space to have one singleton each side. I would rather bond if it's possible than have singles, for them to have the best life.
Click to expand...

There is nothing special to do regarding bonding them - it really just comes down to whether they are going to be able to get or whether they are both going to try to be dominant.

Getting them each their own friend if the bonding fails a great thing to be able to do for them.

As a space saving thought and/or if you aren’t able to get friends - if you are able to stack the c&c cage then that will save you space. Keep the herd at the bottom and then have the two singles side by side at the top (or vice versa).
It would obviously mean you have to have a 6x2 stacked to enable the split side to be big enough for each single
 
Piggies&buns said:
There is nothing special to do regarding bonding them - it really just comes down to whether they are going to be able to get or whether they are both going to try to be dominant.

Getting them each their own friend if the bonding fails a great thing to be able to do for them.

As a space saving thought and/or if you aren’t able to get friends - if you are able to stack the c&c cage then that will save you space. Keep the herd at the bottom and then have the two singles side by side at the top (or vice versa).
It would obviously mean you have to have a 6x2 stacked to enable the split side to be big enough for each single
Click to expand...
Thank you.

Stacking is definitely being considered. They are currently in a really central area of the house in a C&C with no lid, so feel really part of the family and I'm worried it might change that. I'm also a little worried about cleaning out as my husband is disabled and my daughter too small to reach the whole cage. Life is already hectic, hahaha.
 
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