Guinea Pigs Showing Signs of Bonding Going wrong.

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TheCaviiesHut

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Hi

I purchased two guinea pigs in September 2023 from PTH. They’ve been showing signs ever since that their bond just isn’t sticking. Like they kick each other, they start getting into scraps. One Guinea pig (Ginny) is the instigator she seems to want to be on her own all the time when Hermonie wants to be friendly. They have their own spaces they can go off into two of everything. Hides, bowls and hay but Hermonie wants to be friendly but Ginny just kicks up a fuss bites and I hear cries from Hermonie. I temporarily seperate them but this just isn’t working. At first I thought it was dominance in the first few weeks of having them they were trying to sniff each others bums and hump so I let it play out but now it’s got to the point where hairs being pulled out and no blood involved but they just are exhibiting bonding behaviours wanting to play together, eat together and sleep cuddle up. I just feel they haven’t been bonded properly.
 
:wel:

Rumbling and chattering are normal behaviours but unfortunately we can’t gauge how far what you are seeing is going beyond dominance and potentially into bullying.
You don’t separate for normal behaviour and their normal can look quite aggressive to us.

How old are they? Teenagers I assume?

If you are worried about their bond then you carry out a temporary separation for a few days. You then reintroduce them on neutral territory and allow them to decide if they want to be together. If they go back together without issue (albeit with dominance) then that’s great. If they show signs they don’t want to be together then their separation needs to be made permanent.

Bonds In Trouble
 
When we bought them they were between 10-12 weeks. I will keep them temporary separated and then neutral ground again. Would you remove hides and things when reintroducing?
 
When introducing you only have a (a pile of) hay and food at their usual time. No hides or anything else they could hide in. Good luck and I hope it works out.

PS have a read of the dominance levels below and see where you’d have put them. It’ll also be useful to have for when you reintroduce them.

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
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