How long before I start the bonding process - 2 boars

[KK327]

Morning all

As you may have seen from my other posts, I am currently introducing a new friend to my recently bereaved Stan.

I have looked through the forum a lot to try and find how long once the piggies have been living side-by-side, I should start the bonding process fully.

The rescue gave me a handout explaining the process and said allow two weeks with various things in between like swapping bedding handling et cetera, but reading posts this doesn’t seem to be the way forward.

I am an anxious to get it right how will I know when they are ready to start the next phase? Everything is going really well and Stan is very happy to have a new friend currently divided by wire.

I appreciate everyone’s experience will be different, but I’d really like to know as I don’t want to leave it too long or not long enough

Just for some context Stan was the dominant Pig in the relationship. He is between 2 1/2 and three years old and the new Pig is 2 1/2 years old and he was bereaved at Easter

Thanks in advance

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Please do NOT swap bedding. Guinea pigs are actually territorial and this has in our collective long term experience usually exactly the opposite effect - it is seen as a sneaky intrusion of the other party and instead of helping, it generally starts them off on the wrong foot with the bonding failing more often than not compared to bondings without scent swapping.
It is sadly yet another debunked 'magic wand' bonding myth that has not stood the test of time.

There is no set time as to when is the right time to introduce adults. The newbie needs to have settled into your surroundings and daily routine and any excited territorial behaviour through the divider needs to have stopped and the boars have ideally had time to get used to each other's presence. Ignoring each other mostly but coordinating their feeding in adjoining hay corners etc. is actually not a bad sign - it means that they have got used to each other.

Please also note that lying by the divider is a territorial border marking behaviour and not a sign that they want to be friends - for that to happen, it usually needs weeks or even months of living next to each other and it has to be accompanied by friendly overtures, likes mutual piggy washing.

For territorial and other behaviours please see this link here: A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours

All the best.

 

[KK327]

You are SO brilliant @Wiebke - you can see why I’m a bit anxious with all the contradicting information.

Here’s me thinking that Stan wants to be close to Waffles but he is actually sending a signal to him that this is mine.

Waffles is very settled into our routine but I think I’ll give him more time - I just didn’t want to miss my window of opportunity !

Thanks so much again

 

[KK327]

Also thanks for the link I’m off to do some more reading

 

[Wiebke]

Here is our bonding guide if you need it: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated Bonding Dynamics and Behaviours

If you want to learn more about behaviours and what makes our domestic piggies tick as a species, then you may these two links here interesting:
Guinea Pig Behaviours in their Context
The Herd, the Group and I: Investigating Guinea Pig Identity and Society

This here is the link to our full information collection. You will find it pretty comprehensive although there are still a few gaps. The guides format allows us to update and add, as we have need or time. You may want to bookmark the link:
Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection

 

[Wiebke]

Morning all

As you may have seen from my other posts, I am currently introducing a new friend to my recently bereaved Stan.

I have looked through the forum a lot to try and find how long once the piggies have been living side-by-side, I should start the bonding process fully.

The rescue gave me a handout explaining the process and said allow two weeks with various things in between like swapping bedding handling et cetera, but reading posts this doesn’t seem to be the way forward.

I am an anxious to get it right how will I know when they are ready to start the next phase? Everything is going really well and Stan is very happy to have a new friend currently divided by wire.

I appreciate everyone’s experience will be different, but I’d really like to know as I don’t want to leave it too long or not long enough

Just for some context Stan was the dominant Pig in the relationship. He is between 2 1/2 and three years old and the new Pig is 2 1/2 years old and he was bereaved at Easter

Thanks in advance

What a cutie! He reminds me of one of the wives of my first own piggy (she belonged to my sister).


Give it a try whenever you have the feel that the time is right and whenever you have time to separate straight away but to also give them an overnight in the bonding area.

It depends on how submissive/dominant the newbie is and that is not something you can predict - whether the two will vibe with each other is something you will always only find out when they are in the bonding pen and are interacting with each other. But if you want to wait another week, that is not a problem.