I have two new guinea pigs and want to introduce them to my existing guinea pig.

Livi

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Hi everyone, first of all, I just wanted to say that sadly one of my guinea pigs has died :'(:(. I have never posted about her, the posts I have made in the past are about my other guinea pig Lottie who is still here today and seems to have recovered from whatever she had in the past (thank you for the advice for helping her, it seems to have worked!). But Dottie died of a kidney condition (i am not sure which one). Anyway, to prevent Lottie from being lonely, I have bought two new baby guinea pigs! (their names are Molly and Polly). I have put a wire mesh divider in the cage so Lottie can see the two and I am watching to see what she thinks of them. So far, Lottie seems to be very interested in the new piggies and is not showing any signs of aggression towards them :D. I have been getting the new piggies out and letting them run around in a large closed - off area of my room (they enjoy it very much and love to popcorn around!). After a few times of getting just the new piggies out, I decided to get Lottie out too. At first, I had Lottie on my lap and let the little ones sniff her and they look at each other. Then I put Lottie on the floor with them ( with a small blanket ready to throw over her if she became aggressive). They looked at each other for a bit and showed no signs of aggression towards each other and the little ones started running around again. After a while, I put them all back in their parts of the cage and Lottie seemed very intrigued by what the new piggies were doing and were looking at them a lot through the mesh. She even stood on her back legs and leaned against it looking as if she wanted to get over to them. Yet again she seemed to show no aggressive behaviour towards them. Finally, I just wanted to ask, what I should do to help the piggies get to know each other and when I should take the divider out. Thanks again for all the help and support - Livi.

A video on my youtube channel remembering Dottie:
 
Hi everyone, first of all, I just wanted to say that sadly one of my guinea pigs has died :'(:(. I have never posted about her, the posts I have made in the past are about my other guinea pig Lottie who is still here today and seems to have recovered from whatever she had in the past (thank you for the advice for helping her, it seems to have worked!). But Dottie died of a kidney condition (i am not sure which one). Anyway, to prevent Lottie from being lonely, I have bought two new baby guinea pigs! (their names are Molly and Polly). I have put a wire mesh divider in the cage so Lottie can see the two and I am watching to see what she thinks of them. So far, Lottie seems to be very interested in the new piggies and is not showing any signs of aggression towards them :D. I have been getting the new piggies out and letting them run around in a large closed - off area of my room (they enjoy it very much and love to popcorn around!). After a few times of getting just the new piggies out, I decided to get Lottie out too. At first, I had Lottie on my lap and let the little ones sniff her and they look at each other. Then I put Lottie on the floor with them ( with a small blanket ready to throw over her if she became aggressive). They looked at each other for a bit and showed no signs of aggression towards each other and the little ones started running around again. After a while, I put them all back in their parts of the cage and Lottie seemed very intrigued by what the new piggies were doing and were looking at them a lot through the mesh. She even stood on her back legs and leaned against it looking as if she wanted to get over to them. Yet again she seemed to show no aggressive behaviour towards them. Finally, I just wanted to ask, what I should do to help the piggies get to know each other and when I should take the divider out. Thanks again for all the help and support - Livi.

A video on my youtube channel remembering Dottie:

Hi!

I am very sorry for Dottie's loss! You are welcome to post a tribute to her in our Rainbow Bridge, if at all or whenever it feels right for you. We all grieve differently. The section is there for those who would like to make use of it.


Please start bonding them properly and fully as soon as you have several hours.

They are too young to challenge Lottie taking the leadership, so there shouldn't be any major issues. You will see Dotty putting the youngsters, especially the more dominant one rather emphatically in their place, but that is normal guinea pig behaviour - even from their mother once they are weaned!

Please take the time to read our very detailed step-by-step bonding guide; you will find it very helpful!
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics

PS: Dotty and Lottie were the names I adopted my sisters Nerys and Nia under; but as they weren't loved and never handled in their first home, I wanted to give them a completely new start with new Welsh names. They both had a little dot of colour in the middle of their brow, hence their original names.
 
So sorry to hear about your loss.
Dottie was a lovely piggy.
@Wiebke ’s advice matches my experience of bonding an older bereaved sow with 2 babies and that worked very well.
Hope your bonding goes well.
It would be lovely to see pics
 
So sorry to hear about your loss.
Dottie was a lovely piggy.
@Wiebke ’s advice matches my experience of bonding an older bereaved sow with 2 babies and that worked very well.
Hope your bonding goes well.
It would be lovely to see pics
Thank you!
 
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