Victoria Jones
Junior Guinea Pig
Gilbert and Gandalf are my two boys. I got Gilbert almost three weeks ago and got Gandalf this past Sunday. They are not fighting at all thankfully but how can you tell if they have bonded?
Guinea Pig Bonding...
- Thread starter Victoria Jones
- Start date
It takes about 2-3 weeks after they are first put together for them to establish a hierarchy and a relationship, so you’ve got a while yet to be sure that they are settling in together properly. However, the fact that fights haven’t happened immediately means that they are happy to be together (if they instantly hated each other, then you would have seen problems quickly). Keep an eye on them but it sounds like everything is fine!
PigglePuggle
Senior Guinea Pig
Sounds very promising, I've never bonded boys but I think girls can actually be worse! Our only failed bonding took less than 10 minutes before there was blood everywhere and we were off to the emergency vet, so if you havent seen any aggression so far its hopefully a good sign! Eating together and napping at the same time are also good signs, even if they dont actually want to snuggle together, most piggies are not snugglers and even great pals sleep seperately!
Ellie-May
Teenage Guinea Pig
I agree with what @PigglePuggle has said. I have had my two boars for about a month (four months old) and it took them about two weeks to get used to each other and their environment. Every piggy is different and it depends on the personalities, but it sounds like it is going well. You will know if anything serious has happened or is about to happen. At first, I was unsure of the behaviours, but I read the guides on here and they helped. Ideally, if one is dominant and the other submissive that helps but is not always the case, unfortunately. Mine have their moments but it is mainly Ernie (the dominant) putting Bert (the submissive) in his place and reminding him. Other than that they get on well and Ernie even lets Bert groom him at times. They are also happy to eat from the same food bowl, share food and sleep together
Victoria Jones
Junior Guinea Pig
My boys love to snuggle in there hideaway togeather and there has not really been any aggression only gilbert tends to hump gandalf which I was told it is his way of showing dominance
Victoria Jones
Junior Guinea Pig
Gilbert is the dominate one of my two I adopted him first. They eat out of the same food bowl and hay manger as well as share a waterbottle. I have noticed that Gandalf will try to groom Gilbert but Gilbert wont do the same back but will let Gandalf groom him. It really is funny watching them togeather. I cant wait to get them a bigger cage for christmas and see how they react.
Ellie-May
Teenage Guinea Pig
Maybe having more space will help them. It’s not always the case but it tries to ease any tension and plenty of space for zoomies!
Victoria Jones
Junior Guinea Pig
My newest guniea pig Gandalf acts like it is the end of the world when I try and pet him. He seems like he doesnt like to be pet or picked up. This sunday I will have had him a week. and I am frustrated with not being able to hold him or pick him up when I need too. My other Guinea pig gilbert was the same way but it only took him a few days to get to the point where he would come to me when I opened the cage. Is there anything I can do to help Gandalf trust me more?
A week is a very short amount of time for a piggy to settle in. Weeks to months in some cases. You also need to be aware that a lot of piggies simply do not like to be touched and picked up, they aren’t the cuddly creatures people expect them to be. It is too close to their prey instincts to be picked up.
To carry out health checks, herding him into a pet carrier or snuggle sack can help.
The collection of guides in this link should help you
New Owners' Most Helpful How-To Guides and Information
Ellie-May
Teenage Guinea Pig
It just takes time as every piggy is different. I know it has already been mentioned, but they are prey animals and some will simply not like being picked up. It toook about two weeks for mine to get settled, but it is different for everyone. The best thing to do is to let them settle and get them to use to their environment, the sounds etc. When I first got Bert (the submissive one) he was very, very skittish and hated being picked up, but now he is less skittish and is the instigator for everything lol! He is definitely the most vocal weirdly enough. He still isn't a big fan of being picked up, but what I normally do is just put them in a hidey or tube and it helps
PigglePuggle
Senior Guinea Pig
I think if your boys have bonded so well with each other (all the things you say about sleeping together and eating together and grooming sound like they already have a very special bond!) this is way more important for a happy life than their bond with a hooman person. Usually a skittish new piggy will learn to follow the cues from their trusted piggy pal about whether hoomans are scary or not, but it can take time and they can still spook and run at times! We still cant catch Blod easily after a whole year, she'll take food through the bars and pop her face out of a hidey for her food dish, but she's still quite nervy around hoomans- but that's ok because when we arent interfering she's very relaxed and sassy with her friends which is what matters!