lauryn1289
Teenage Guinea Pig
Hi everyone, if anyone was following any of my other posts over the last couple weeks you might remember, since the passing of my Kip and Bobby I’m hoping to bond Ollie and the newest addition Eggs. I read through the bonding guide and just had a few extra questions if that’s okay!
To specify Ollie is (estimating here) around 2 1/2 or a bit older. Eggs, no idea, but I’d say maybe 7-9 months? He seems very very young. On my post about getting Eggs people agreed he seemed very young so I’ll go with 7-9 months anyway. My experience with bonding is very limited! My first boy Rico and Kip were a breeze to bond, then I stupidly didn’t know 3 boars wouldn’t work so Kip and Ollie and Bobby ended up as neighbours.
I know this is far from ideal and I shouldn't have done this, but the night I got Kip put to sleep, I put Ollie and Eggs out in a neutral space intending to start bonding there and then. I realised quickly though I just didn’t have the mental capacity to do it properly then at that moment so I stopped it very quickly and moved them into the same cage with a barrier. For the time they did spend together, Ollie was humping him a lot and there was a few tussles and fights (no blood) and lots of rumble-strutting.
Ollie is very boisterous and dominant, he even chews my fingers when I clip his nails. He’s a bar biter while he rumblestruts and did it a lot to (I assume) intimidate Kip and Bobby. He’s absolutely fearless as far as guinea pigs go, he has the personality of one of those feral small dogs. We literally call him the demon. Eggs is very docile with humans but he was rumble-strutting and bickering with Ollie too and instigating, but he never humped Ollie.
The first night in the same cage behind bars, they were bickering and squealing for HOURS. They’ve calmed down a lot now, and Ollie’s spending time on the opposite side of the cage now too instead of spending all his time lying beside the barrier which I think is a good sign?
I was going to attempt bonding today, but I’m worried because I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning and I’ll be gone for a few hours and then on Wednesday I have bloodwork in a hospital an hour away so will be gone even longer then. I keep thinking of how Rico and Kip were the BEST friends in the whole world, and this never impacted their relationship at all for some reason they were always two peas in a pod, they did once have a VERY aggressive fight when they were already bonded that ended up with me getting Kip’s teeth into my knuckles. I’m worried that no matter how well bonding seems to go (if it does go well) that as soon as I leave the house a fight might break out? I’m petrified of either of them getting hurt when I’m not there.
Basically what I'm wondering is based on what I've said does bonding these two seem like it could even be successful? And I know pigs can fall out at any time (and seemingly stay best buddies like Rico and Kip did) but is there any warning signs I could possibly miss even when things seem to be going well?
I’d really love this bonding to be a success, I feel awful that Ollie lost both of his friends within 15 days and I’d love him to have a buddy in his own cage and not behind a barrier if it’s even remotely possible
To specify Ollie is (estimating here) around 2 1/2 or a bit older. Eggs, no idea, but I’d say maybe 7-9 months? He seems very very young. On my post about getting Eggs people agreed he seemed very young so I’ll go with 7-9 months anyway. My experience with bonding is very limited! My first boy Rico and Kip were a breeze to bond, then I stupidly didn’t know 3 boars wouldn’t work so Kip and Ollie and Bobby ended up as neighbours.
I know this is far from ideal and I shouldn't have done this, but the night I got Kip put to sleep, I put Ollie and Eggs out in a neutral space intending to start bonding there and then. I realised quickly though I just didn’t have the mental capacity to do it properly then at that moment so I stopped it very quickly and moved them into the same cage with a barrier. For the time they did spend together, Ollie was humping him a lot and there was a few tussles and fights (no blood) and lots of rumble-strutting.
Ollie is very boisterous and dominant, he even chews my fingers when I clip his nails. He’s a bar biter while he rumblestruts and did it a lot to (I assume) intimidate Kip and Bobby. He’s absolutely fearless as far as guinea pigs go, he has the personality of one of those feral small dogs. We literally call him the demon. Eggs is very docile with humans but he was rumble-strutting and bickering with Ollie too and instigating, but he never humped Ollie.
The first night in the same cage behind bars, they were bickering and squealing for HOURS. They’ve calmed down a lot now, and Ollie’s spending time on the opposite side of the cage now too instead of spending all his time lying beside the barrier which I think is a good sign?
I was going to attempt bonding today, but I’m worried because I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning and I’ll be gone for a few hours and then on Wednesday I have bloodwork in a hospital an hour away so will be gone even longer then. I keep thinking of how Rico and Kip were the BEST friends in the whole world, and this never impacted their relationship at all for some reason they were always two peas in a pod, they did once have a VERY aggressive fight when they were already bonded that ended up with me getting Kip’s teeth into my knuckles. I’m worried that no matter how well bonding seems to go (if it does go well) that as soon as I leave the house a fight might break out? I’m petrified of either of them getting hurt when I’m not there.
Basically what I'm wondering is based on what I've said does bonding these two seem like it could even be successful? And I know pigs can fall out at any time (and seemingly stay best buddies like Rico and Kip did) but is there any warning signs I could possibly miss even when things seem to be going well?
I’d really love this bonding to be a success, I feel awful that Ollie lost both of his friends within 15 days and I’d love him to have a buddy in his own cage and not behind a barrier if it’s even remotely possible
lol. I hope it all goes well. I get so nervous when they teeth chatter.
! I hope your cat feels better soon! I wouldn't have left them together either.