Girl Bonding after Bite

[DylElla]

I have a pair of girls Myah and Holly. Last week I tried introducing a new female called Maple. I did the bonding in a large, neutral area with two hay piles and a two way open ended tunnel. I put them in and observed them for 5 hours and they were eating together and Myah and the new girl were snuggled in the tunnel together. I left them in the neutral space for half an hour to do the school run and when I came home my girl Myah had a bite wound to her top lip. I separated them and have put them side by side. Myah had her lip repaired at the vet.

Could I try them together again? I was surprised there was an incident after 5 hours together and the fact Myah and the new girl were cuddled together in the tunnel. I never had a problem introducing girls to girls before.

Photos show the bonding area I used and Myah and the new girl snuggled together.

 

[Wiebke]

I have a pair of girls Myah and Holly. Last week I tried introducing a new female called Maple. I did the bonding in a large, neutral area with two hay piles and a two way open ended tunnel. I put them in and observed them for 5 hours and they were eating together and Myah and the new girl were snuggled in the tunnel together. I left them in the neutral space for half an hour to do the school run and when I came home my girl Myah had a bite wound to her top lip. I separated them and have put them side by side. Myah had her lip repaired at the vet.

Could I try them together again? I was surprised there was an incident after 5 hours together and the fact Myah and the new girl were cuddled together in the tunnel. I never had a problem introducing girls to girls before.

Photos show the bonding area I used and Myah and the new girl snuggled together.

Hi

In my own experience, a bonding has failed after a full on bite to the face or rump. They will never become friends and the issue will have a nasty habit of surfacing in full strength at the worst possible time if you insist on merging them.

The location of the bite and timing point strongly to a instinctive defence bite from a piggy on edge that feels trapped in a corner or hut during the dominance phase in which the hierarchy is being established. these happen rounds with rest phases in between. A bonding can fail at any stage and it doesn't take much to upset a piggy already very much on edge. Adding a third piggy to a well bonded pair is unfortunately one of the trickier bondings that is more prone to fail.

Defence bites: " Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)
Fear-aggression - how to spot the signs: A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours (see relevant entry)
The different stages of the bonding process (also includes a chapter on fear-aggression): Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

I am sorry not to have better news.

 

[DylElla]

I did wonder if the tunnel was the problem as even though open ended it was still a tight space.