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We adopted Darwin and Lily a few weeks ago from a local rescue centre but we had to keep them separate for about another month as Darwin had only recently been neutered. This gave us plenty of time to consider their eventual introduction. As I did not want either of them to feel that they were "moving in" to the other's pad, we alternated their living quarters on a daily basis and, as much as possible, kept their runs side by side so that they could actually touch noses through the wire.
Their personality and backgrounds are very different. Darwin was confident, assertive and LARGE (I measured him at about ten and a half inches from nose to "tail" when he was neither curled up nor particularly stretching his neck out). He came to us at about six months of age from a loving home where he had been very used to being handled but had little or no experience either of other guinea pigs or of living out doors. Lily, on the other hand, was about two thirds his size and all we know of her history is that she is a "young adult" who had been rescued from somewhere by the R.S.P.C.A., that she had been living with at least one other female and that she was decidedly timid.
Both piggies were quite excited at constant access to SO MUCH GRASS but Darwin saved his paroxysms of ecstasy for the moments when Lily deigned to come up to the wire to speak to him. This caused Darwin to "chirrup" almost deafeningly and, in between times, his chief hobby was trying to chew through the wire to get to the object of his desire. He became similarly excited whenever placed in a hutch or run that still smelled of Lily. We felt for Darwin in his impatience but were concerned that, with his size and determination, it would be all too easy for him to bully and torment little Lily if they were together.
Eventually, however, the long awaited day came. I made a cardboard box hidey-hole with exists small enough for only Lily to use and gave this to her a few hours in advance so she would be familiar with it (a complete waste of time as, for the first time ever, she immediately set about chewing the openings to make them substantially bigger!). I put this, plus a few other favourite things in the run before letting them both in there and we all watched with bated breath.
Darwin, of course, was beside himself with excitement. He spent several minutes chasing Lily around the run, which she seemed to tolerate quite well. When, finally she ran into one of the plastic domes, Darwin followed her in there - but only for a moment before he let out a sharp squeak and made a quick exit. This happened about three times in a row, whereupon a very dismayed Darwin wandered dejectedly into a corner with a desparing expression that clearly said said, "she doesn't like me!" However, once a few minutes had passed without any attempt on Darwin's part to make further contact, Lily took control again by coming out of the dome and starting to chase him in a playful and "pop-cornish" way. All Darwin's happiness was immediately restored and he started chirruping again as loudly as ever! By the end of the day they seemed to have worked everything out and their deep mutual affection was unmistakable.
Eleven days later, they are still the picture of love's young dream! They both know that Lily will have the last word in all things but Darwin is far to much in love to object to that and she is far to fond of him to do any actual bullying. Indeed, she clearly looks to him for protection, running to his side if ever she is startled by anything (even if that means coming out of the apparent safety of a hidey-hole). On the whole though, these occasions are becoming less frequent as being with Darwin seems to have made Lily much more confident in general - I am beginning to feel quite sorry for the local cats whose attempts to menace our pets result in the total humiliation of having the two piggies just hopping around nonchalantly literally under their noses!
Although Darwin and Lily do wander round their run independently quite a bit now, Darwin will still stop to coo lovingly from time to time when Lily passes by and they spend most of their time simply snuggled up together as close as they can get!
Their personality and backgrounds are very different. Darwin was confident, assertive and LARGE (I measured him at about ten and a half inches from nose to "tail" when he was neither curled up nor particularly stretching his neck out). He came to us at about six months of age from a loving home where he had been very used to being handled but had little or no experience either of other guinea pigs or of living out doors. Lily, on the other hand, was about two thirds his size and all we know of her history is that she is a "young adult" who had been rescued from somewhere by the R.S.P.C.A., that she had been living with at least one other female and that she was decidedly timid.
Both piggies were quite excited at constant access to SO MUCH GRASS but Darwin saved his paroxysms of ecstasy for the moments when Lily deigned to come up to the wire to speak to him. This caused Darwin to "chirrup" almost deafeningly and, in between times, his chief hobby was trying to chew through the wire to get to the object of his desire. He became similarly excited whenever placed in a hutch or run that still smelled of Lily. We felt for Darwin in his impatience but were concerned that, with his size and determination, it would be all too easy for him to bully and torment little Lily if they were together.
Eventually, however, the long awaited day came. I made a cardboard box hidey-hole with exists small enough for only Lily to use and gave this to her a few hours in advance so she would be familiar with it (a complete waste of time as, for the first time ever, she immediately set about chewing the openings to make them substantially bigger!). I put this, plus a few other favourite things in the run before letting them both in there and we all watched with bated breath.
Darwin, of course, was beside himself with excitement. He spent several minutes chasing Lily around the run, which she seemed to tolerate quite well. When, finally she ran into one of the plastic domes, Darwin followed her in there - but only for a moment before he let out a sharp squeak and made a quick exit. This happened about three times in a row, whereupon a very dismayed Darwin wandered dejectedly into a corner with a desparing expression that clearly said said, "she doesn't like me!" However, once a few minutes had passed without any attempt on Darwin's part to make further contact, Lily took control again by coming out of the dome and starting to chase him in a playful and "pop-cornish" way. All Darwin's happiness was immediately restored and he started chirruping again as loudly as ever! By the end of the day they seemed to have worked everything out and their deep mutual affection was unmistakable.
Eleven days later, they are still the picture of love's young dream! They both know that Lily will have the last word in all things but Darwin is far to much in love to object to that and she is far to fond of him to do any actual bullying. Indeed, she clearly looks to him for protection, running to his side if ever she is startled by anything (even if that means coming out of the apparent safety of a hidey-hole). On the whole though, these occasions are becoming less frequent as being with Darwin seems to have made Lily much more confident in general - I am beginning to feel quite sorry for the local cats whose attempts to menace our pets result in the total humiliation of having the two piggies just hopping around nonchalantly literally under their noses!
Although Darwin and Lily do wander round their run independently quite a bit now, Darwin will still stop to coo lovingly from time to time when Lily passes by and they spend most of their time simply snuggled up together as close as they can get!
