Introducing New Guinea pig

[Diane1984]

Hi kind of new to guinea pigs I had my 2 boys for just over 2 years. We had went on holiday and my mum let me know one of them had past away suddenly. My daughter is really attached to them so when we returned home today I have got another male who’s is 11 months and looks like the one who past away so she never noticed. Only problem I have is how to introduce them at the moment I had tried to put them in the house cage to see how they are together but they are fighting all the time. So I have put a separator between them at the moment . I am planning to put them back out in there large hutch outside in the next few days but not sure how I go about them being left alone together? All help appreciated thanks

 

[Mother Hubbard]

Hi,
Welcome to the forum, sadly it's not as easy as just putting guinea pigs together. Firstly, a new guinea pig should be quarantined to ensure it shows no signs of illness and actually in the event of your existing guinea pig it's probably a good idea to keep them separate for two weeks - again in case of signs of illness. for the benefit of doubt - this can be hunched up in the corner, not eating and doing non solid healthy looking poo's.

Anyway, since you have your new pig, you need to bath them thorough to remove any previous smells, you can use a none chemical shampoo - i.e. natural, or you can pop along to gorgeous guineas web site and order some of their fabulous shampoo - oh yes we even have shampoo!
After bathing...do go along and have a look at the care section on How to do these things.
The enclosure should have been washed and disinfected thoroughly including bowls, bottles, bedding etc to ensure no smells are left over - milton sterilising fluid is good for this ensuring it has been thoroughly rinsed.

bonding needs to take place in a neutral zone - no smells without any houses in i.e. no one entrance. There is a thread on here on how to bond actually I will try and find the link for you and suggest you have a good read.
Failing to bond properly will mean that they will always fight.

Oh yes and make sure they are dried off - your pigs so they don't get cold and give themselves a chill also.

This is quite a short notice but didn't want you thinking no one was around to answer your questions, anything else just shout up.

You can only put them in the hutch after they are bonding properly and aren't fighting at all. It can take anything from 1hr to well... all day it really depends on the personality of the pigs.
good luck!

 

[Nick G]

Some great advice

 

[Diane1984]

Hi,
Welcome to the forum, sadly it's not as easy as just putting guinea pigs together. Firstly, a new guinea pig should be quarantined to ensure it shows no signs of illness and actually in the event of your existing guinea pig it's probably a good idea to keep them separate for two weeks - again in case of signs of illness. for the benefit of doubt - this can be hunched up in the corner, not eating and doing non solid healthy looking poo's.

Anyway, since you have your new pig, you need to bath them thorough to remove any previous smells, you can use a none chemical shampoo - i.e. natural, or you can pop along to gorgeous guineas web site and order some of their fabulous shampoo - oh yes we even have shampoo!
After bathing...do go along and have a look at the care section on How to do these things.
The enclosure should have been washed and disinfected thoroughly including bowls, bottles, bedding etc to ensure no smells are left over - milton sterilising fluid is good for this ensuring it has been thoroughly rinsed.

bonding needs to take place in a neutral zone - no smells without any houses in i.e. no one entrance. There is a thread on here on how to bond actually I will try and find the link for you and suggest you have a good read.
Failing to bond properly will mean that they will always fight.

Oh yes and make sure they are dried off - your pigs so they don't get cold and give themselves a chill also.

This is quite a short notice but didn't want you thinking no one was around to answer your questions, anything else just shout up.

You can only put them in the hutch after they are bonding properly and aren't fighting at all. It can take anything from 1hr to well... all day it really depends on the personality of the pigs.
good luck!

That’s great thanks. My 2 boys enjoyed a bath so will do that to make sure there are no scents.
I sat with the 2 of them there on my lap at each side and they seem quite happy to just sniff each other.
Yeah I won’t be putting them in the outside hutch until am sure they aren’t going to hurt each other. Really hope they bond wouldn’t like them to have to be kept separate. My other 2 boys got on fine but they were only 8 weeks when they were put together so bonded quicker even though they had the odd disagreement.

Thank you for you quick reply.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Hi and welcome to the forum. For someone who has not bonded piggies before their dominance behaviours can look like fighting. It is important to set time aside to bond properly and not intervene unless they are actually fighting as every time you separate them and put them back together they have to start from square one. We do have some really useful bonding guides which I would recommend reading through before you start
Boars: A guide to successful companionship.
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Introducing And Re-introducing Guinea Pigs
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs