Hi there - I’m new here and I come with a question. And some backstory…
We’ve had guinea pigs for about three years, starting with a pair of sows. I have learned about basic care but not tons of nuances.
One of our sows died over the summer. She stopped eating and passed pretty quickly. It hit hard, especially for my daughter. We got another guinea pig pretty quickly, bringing us back to two girls.
Both my kids have been wanting more guinea pigs, and my husband and I have been leaning yes. We all really like them. Then a friend told us about a family that needs to rehome a few guinea pigs, including a pregnant sow. We agreed to take the sow in. We ordered a big new cage, and I read about guinea pig pregnancy and separating baby boys from the girls before they become fertile.
We brought our new girl (S’more) home yesterday. She is beautiful! And she’s very pregnant. We can feel the babies wiggling in her belly. S’more is just under three months old and my best guess is she is about eight weeks pregnant. She’s wide in the belly and the family we adopted her from said they started to feel the babies move last week. The dad is either her father or her brother.
But… I realized when we introduced S’more to our pair that I know nothing about guinea pig bonding. That’s what led me here.
When we put S’more in with Sisi and Lily, at first they seemed ok. They were eating together and sniffing each other. Then Sisi and Lily seemed more territorial, cornering S’more and sniffing her booty kind of aggressively. I’m not sure if there was biting (I don’t think so, though there was some face nudging?). Sisi especially seemed mad. (She’s one of our original pair and usually chill.) I tried introducing S’more twice yesterday but I got nervous and put S’more into a separate part of the cage. She stayed there last night.
I read the info pages here and some posts but I’m honestly not sure what to do! When we had two guinea pigs, the girls got along with each other so quickly I didn’t even notice a bonding period. So, this is different.
I wonder… Does it make sense to try to introduce the girls soon or might it be better to wait until the babies are born? Could neutral ground help their chances? Also, when should I move them into the new cage? (It arrives end of week.)
I can’t tell if I’m seeing bonding or rejection (or too soon to tell). I also can’t tell what is dangerous for S’more and her pups. I’d appreciate any advice. Thank you.
We’ve had guinea pigs for about three years, starting with a pair of sows. I have learned about basic care but not tons of nuances.
One of our sows died over the summer. She stopped eating and passed pretty quickly. It hit hard, especially for my daughter. We got another guinea pig pretty quickly, bringing us back to two girls.
Both my kids have been wanting more guinea pigs, and my husband and I have been leaning yes. We all really like them. Then a friend told us about a family that needs to rehome a few guinea pigs, including a pregnant sow. We agreed to take the sow in. We ordered a big new cage, and I read about guinea pig pregnancy and separating baby boys from the girls before they become fertile.
We brought our new girl (S’more) home yesterday. She is beautiful! And she’s very pregnant. We can feel the babies wiggling in her belly. S’more is just under three months old and my best guess is she is about eight weeks pregnant. She’s wide in the belly and the family we adopted her from said they started to feel the babies move last week. The dad is either her father or her brother.
But… I realized when we introduced S’more to our pair that I know nothing about guinea pig bonding. That’s what led me here.
When we put S’more in with Sisi and Lily, at first they seemed ok. They were eating together and sniffing each other. Then Sisi and Lily seemed more territorial, cornering S’more and sniffing her booty kind of aggressively. I’m not sure if there was biting (I don’t think so, though there was some face nudging?). Sisi especially seemed mad. (She’s one of our original pair and usually chill.) I tried introducing S’more twice yesterday but I got nervous and put S’more into a separate part of the cage. She stayed there last night.
I read the info pages here and some posts but I’m honestly not sure what to do! When we had two guinea pigs, the girls got along with each other so quickly I didn’t even notice a bonding period. So, this is different.
I wonder… Does it make sense to try to introduce the girls soon or might it be better to wait until the babies are born? Could neutral ground help their chances? Also, when should I move them into the new cage? (It arrives end of week.)
I can’t tell if I’m seeing bonding or rejection (or too soon to tell). I also can’t tell what is dangerous for S’more and her pups. I’d appreciate any advice. Thank you.
