EXCITING NEWS! (long thread sorry)

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SweetsPig11

SweetsPig11

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So, after the months of begging and pleading my Hubs has decided to let me.......



GET ANOTHER PIGGY!


I don't know what this piggy will look like or what type he will be. All I know is he is going to be male and hopefully bond nicely with my Sweets :) I cannot wait to hear their conversations they have (hopefully about how good of a slave I am) and ahhh I just can't wait..

It will be in about 10+ days. We are leaving on vacation and decided that it wouldn't be best to introduce the boys and then travel and cause them to stress and fight over nothing.

AND I will have a new cage when we come back. (a 2x4 cage) and two pigloo's a blue and a green plus the tunnel and then we bought a new hay rack, I already have two water bottles. We will be getting two NEW food dishes and two veggies dishes.

Please, any information and advice on bonding will be totally helpful.

I am waiting to bath Sweets till we have the new piggy so that they can bath together and smell the same then after that the new untouched by piggles cage will be all set up and they will have some floor time CLOSELY monitored by a nervous me ready with a towel just in case. I'm hoping that the new cage and accessories will distract Sweets enough not to be a big rude head to the new addition.

So for TWO males. Here is what I have got down

LARGE cage
two houses
two water bottles
two food dishes
two veggie dishes
treats to bond over
a bath ready
two hay racks

Introduce on neutral ground (where Sweets has NOT been in the house)
Let them argue and chatter as much as they want as long as there is no blood drawn. (I am hoping to get new piggy in the morning so that they can have a WHOLE day together with a watchful eye just so that I am comfortable leaving them to sleep in the same cage :... I am nervous already and it's 10 days away.

I would LOVE to go boar dating I really would. but there aren't any piggy rescues and I have checked all the shelters around here and none have piggies available 8... so this is going to be a rehoming case.

When I put them in the cage together should I not let them have the igloo's until I know all is going well? I don't want one cornered without an escape. So no hideys that don't have two exits.

I think that is all for now, so sorry about the long post. I just want to be ABSOLUTELY ready for anything possible. (I also have a spare cage incase things go badly)

Thanks again

xx Mercedes
 
Sorry I have no experience of introducing boars at all so cant help there but just wanted to say congratulations thats fantastic. I'm sure he'll love having a friend to play with :))
x
 
Wow your very well prepared well done!
Good to have two of everything so it prepares the possiblility of unnecessary fighting if there was say only one food bowl.

I'd introduce them in a neutral environment and see how it goes - obviously rumbling, humping, mild teeth chattering is fine. Even a little yawning can be okay (well there not actually yawning but baring their teeth) Butterscotch did this when I introduced him to Bounty and although Butterscotch wasn't the fighting type I think he was just being causious with a naughty Bounty.

If things don't seem like they're going well on the floor then maybe have the two cages ready and put one in each cage for a day and have them next to one another and then the following day swap them over so they'll get each others scent on them.
 
I would let them live next to each other for a day or two, so the newbie can settle down and get his bearings. The boars can also meet through the bars and you can get a first idea on how it is going to go. I find that this takes a lot of the extra stress factors out of any intro. if I may ask - what are the ages of the two boars?

Suzygpr, who runs a boar dating service at her rescue in Wales, finds that a humping toy is vital for a success - it will hopefully take some of the strain when a boars goes most likely overboard.

Here is her thread about her experiences: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=59233&highlight=boar+dating

Best of luck! You are certainly preparing well for it. perhaps you can contact Suzy and ask whether she will help you with advice (considering the time difference) on the day.
 
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hey fab news! Hopefully it will all go well for you!

I took my boy boar dating and what Helen did at the rescue, which you might find helpful, was put my boy on the floor first then she got Tyler, the baby and rubbed him with the towel that fuzzy had had in his travel carrier so he smelt familiar. Another tip is to put vicks on both of their bums and I've been told this works well too.

Good luck and post pigtures! :)
 
What wonderful news looking forward to pigtures drool
 
wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek Sweets is getting a new pal wooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooooooo x)x)x)

ahhhhhhhh can't wait to see upcoming threads :)

Have a wonderful holiday first and then...........ta ** ** daaaaaaaaaaaaa

Mercedes have fun looking around for Sweets new buddy love xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>
 
So I have now decided to get some wire mesh to divide the cage in half... and for the first two days sweets will have one side and the new piggy the other. THEN two day's later I will flop them so they will be on the opposite sides in the others smell and what not and they will still have the mesh divider. THEN AGAIN a couple days later if there aren't any SERIOUS aggression signs I will then put them on the floor to be introuduced with no divider and all gloves off for them both BUT towels on for me :))

I do have a stuffed animal that is Sweets (that big green thing that's really a dog toy but it works for sweets) hope that helps! Thank you all so much for your replies and advice!

Thanks Weibke for the link I'm having a look now :)
 
I hope it all goes well, looks like you've got everything covered. My only other tip is to have a towel ready just incase they do have a fight you can scoop one out without getting scratched and bitten yourself. Fingers crossed you won't need it!
 
This forum has been such a great help and I sure have my fingers crossed that it all goes well!
 
I can't wait to TAKE pigtures to show everyone! I am going to be one happy lady :) my husband thinks I'm such a little kid because I want small animals lol I'm twenty and got a guinea pig for my birthday.

I have to thank this forum though because without reading on here how important it was to have a pair and not a lonely boar I would never have pestered my husband for 4 months to get another one lol so

THANKS EVERYONE!
 
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