Help: First Pigs Wont Bond!

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Pumpkin&Mocha

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Okay I am a brand new guinea pig owner and I got two babies a couple days ago. We pretty much did everything wrong... First we bought Mocha from petsmart where he lived with his two brothers, we bought a tiny cage (1.5 by 3 feet) and called it good. The next day we did some research and discovered they are better in pairs (which fyi I told my family the whole time :doh:). My mom and my sister ten came home with pumpkin, a slightly fatter guinea pig that was living with Mocha in the petsmart cage. We attempted to bond them by just putting them together but they got really aggressive and since we did not know what we were doing we took them out and researched. We tried the Buddy Bath method but it didn't work. we don't have another cage so right now they are taking turns in a makeshift dog crate cage. We are going to get a c and c cage of the internet today (one that is 2 by 5 or 6 feet) and a divider. How can we bond them? will they have to live in a divided cage forever?:coat:
 
HI there, I'm guessing you're in the USA as you mentioned Petsmart (do take a moment to add your location to your profile as it can help when giving advice that is applicable to country and area.

Firstly, yes piggies live in pairs and herds in actual fact. Apart from the bathing method and then you should try putting them together in a neutral area whereby there are no smells from either piggy. If they we're once together it makes sense they should be okay back together, albeit they've had a break. The problem is you don't really know if they got on before at the petstore, another piggy and other distractions could have been an influencer on their environment at the time.

The rule of thumb is they can stay together until they sort out the hierachy or draw blood. It takes patience and nerves of steel in some cases, with watching a lot of mounting behaviour, rumble strutting (wagging their bums at each other, and making grumbly sounds). However their is no guideline as to how long it can take, some can bond within an hour, others longer. No piggy is the same, as we say, they have their own pigsonalities.

So depending on your bonding session, it maybe you will need your C&C homestead for them but if they don't get on, then perhaps designing a C&C with separate compartments. Hope that helps.
 
Thanks you so much, the second time we tried to bond them (bath tub) we had to separate because they drew blood. I think Pumpkin is more dominate because he is bigger and faster to attack then little Mocha.
 
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