arkmint
New Born Pup
this is my first time posting here, i apologize for any mistakes made while posting in this particular thread or etc.
i had two guinea pigs rehomed to me recently, and am a first time owner after researching and wanting some for three years now. their names are honeybee (5 years old), and cinnamon, (3 years old). when they were given to us (my family), i was mainly told that they can be together occasionally, but have to be seperated at night to prevent fighting.
i got them on june 21st, and up until roughly 3 days ago, they were kept in completely seperate cages. due to storage and space reasons, i downsized and opted to put them in a cage with a divider for space sake in my room, as it is very small. the cage is 6x3, and the divider makes both sections a 3x3. i'm aware this isn't the optimal set up, but it is honestly the best i can do.
anyway, the night we got them, my mother suggested to put them in the same cage to see how they'd interact since it wasn't a cage they hadn't both been in before, but they were quickly seperated since they started chattering aggressively at one another. we had tried making them interact and be introduced once more, (roughly around a week ago(?)) where they both put in my brother's room, a place they hadn't been in, but honeybee started chasing after cinnamon and generally intimidating her. since then up until a few hours ago, they haven't interacted one on one.
earlier, without my knowledge, my brother tried to introduce them to each other by putting cinnamon into honeybee's section of the cage. i wasn't aware until the last 10 minutes when i came in to see this, and they were consistently chattering their teeth, being chased around by the other, and overall not getting along. my brother tried to supervise it and seemed to occasionally interact by having his hand in or near the cage, and picked honeybee up once or twice to try and get her away from cinnamon i suppose, but he ended up putting her back each time.
after he left, both guinea pigs seemed very anxious, moreso honeybee. she sat in her house for a while, and chattered her teeth if i tried to come close with a small treat. cinnamon seemed fine for the most part, and didn't really pay much attention i don't think? after around 15-20 minutes, they began interacting between the divider, which is 3 panels with opaque plastic on each. (basically frosted glass but plastic) they started chittering their teeth again, but i didn't think too much of it, as they occasionally do this and give up very quickly. however, honeybee seemed much more persistent, as she stayed by the divider almost always and seemed to be watching cinnamon. cinnamon was eating hay half the time and didn't seem to care too hard, but i was concerned with honeybee's behavior. briefly, i put a blanket over the divider so they wouldn't be able to see each other, but while considering how to secure the blanket, they both got underneath it and began chittering at each other once more. i mainly did this because i noticed honeybee trying to chew on the plastic and get over to cinnamon's side, which she hadn't done at all before. (in the time i've had her, at least)
for a while, honeybee repeatedly paced her cage and looked around like she was trying to find an exit, but gave up some time after. throughout all of this, i wasn't very concerned with cinnamon as rude as that might sound, since it was primarily honeybee expressing these behaviors. (cinnamon actually started popcorning later on, so i think she isn't too bothered)
as of right now, they both have calmed down significantly, since the interaction was about 2 hours ago now. however, i worry about honeybee repeating these behaviors, and am looking for advice on how to prevent these from happening further, potential divider ideas, or anything else that people may find helpful. additionally, i'm open to any sort of guinea pig advice or tips.
thank you.
i had two guinea pigs rehomed to me recently, and am a first time owner after researching and wanting some for three years now. their names are honeybee (5 years old), and cinnamon, (3 years old). when they were given to us (my family), i was mainly told that they can be together occasionally, but have to be seperated at night to prevent fighting.
i got them on june 21st, and up until roughly 3 days ago, they were kept in completely seperate cages. due to storage and space reasons, i downsized and opted to put them in a cage with a divider for space sake in my room, as it is very small. the cage is 6x3, and the divider makes both sections a 3x3. i'm aware this isn't the optimal set up, but it is honestly the best i can do.
anyway, the night we got them, my mother suggested to put them in the same cage to see how they'd interact since it wasn't a cage they hadn't both been in before, but they were quickly seperated since they started chattering aggressively at one another. we had tried making them interact and be introduced once more, (roughly around a week ago(?)) where they both put in my brother's room, a place they hadn't been in, but honeybee started chasing after cinnamon and generally intimidating her. since then up until a few hours ago, they haven't interacted one on one.
earlier, without my knowledge, my brother tried to introduce them to each other by putting cinnamon into honeybee's section of the cage. i wasn't aware until the last 10 minutes when i came in to see this, and they were consistently chattering their teeth, being chased around by the other, and overall not getting along. my brother tried to supervise it and seemed to occasionally interact by having his hand in or near the cage, and picked honeybee up once or twice to try and get her away from cinnamon i suppose, but he ended up putting her back each time.
after he left, both guinea pigs seemed very anxious, moreso honeybee. she sat in her house for a while, and chattered her teeth if i tried to come close with a small treat. cinnamon seemed fine for the most part, and didn't really pay much attention i don't think? after around 15-20 minutes, they began interacting between the divider, which is 3 panels with opaque plastic on each. (basically frosted glass but plastic) they started chittering their teeth again, but i didn't think too much of it, as they occasionally do this and give up very quickly. however, honeybee seemed much more persistent, as she stayed by the divider almost always and seemed to be watching cinnamon. cinnamon was eating hay half the time and didn't seem to care too hard, but i was concerned with honeybee's behavior. briefly, i put a blanket over the divider so they wouldn't be able to see each other, but while considering how to secure the blanket, they both got underneath it and began chittering at each other once more. i mainly did this because i noticed honeybee trying to chew on the plastic and get over to cinnamon's side, which she hadn't done at all before. (in the time i've had her, at least)
for a while, honeybee repeatedly paced her cage and looked around like she was trying to find an exit, but gave up some time after. throughout all of this, i wasn't very concerned with cinnamon as rude as that might sound, since it was primarily honeybee expressing these behaviors. (cinnamon actually started popcorning later on, so i think she isn't too bothered)
as of right now, they both have calmed down significantly, since the interaction was about 2 hours ago now. however, i worry about honeybee repeating these behaviors, and am looking for advice on how to prevent these from happening further, potential divider ideas, or anything else that people may find helpful. additionally, i'm open to any sort of guinea pig advice or tips.
thank you.
