Mable and Lottie

Stacey292015

Stacey292015

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
35
Reaction score
61
Points
200
Hi all!

So Mable has now done a 2 week quarantine and all is fine. Tonight I decided to let Mable and Lottie meet. Lottie is 3.5 years old and Mable 4 months. I barricaded a space with no hiding.

There was a lot of bum sniffing and poo eating from both piggies, no high pitched squeeks, more a soft squeek if that makes Sense? Some face to face stand offs and Mable had quite a bit of teeth chattering. Lottie was nudging under Mables chin and nudging her body. Wasn’t sure if Lottie was trying to bite- it was hard to tell. I’ve taken videos but they won’t upload. I’m just looking for any advice. They were together for around 10 mins.
 
Did you separate them after the 10mins? If you you’ve decided to bond them you need to leave them a couple of hours and then return them to a ‘fragrance free’ cage together. Guinea pigs don’t do play dates, putting them together then separating causes them stress. If you do a search you’ll find information on bonding. Good luck.
 
Stacey292015 said:
Hi all!

So Mable has now done a 2 week quarantine and all is fine. Tonight I decided to let Mable and Lottie meet. Lottie is 3.5 years old and Mable 4 months. I barricaded a space with no hiding.

There was a lot of bum sniffing and poo eating from both piggies, no high pitched squeeks, more a soft squeek if that makes Sense? Some face to face stand offs and Mable had quite a bit of teeth chattering. Lottie was nudging under Mables chin and nudging her body. Wasn’t sure if Lottie was trying to bite- it was hard to tell. I’ve taken videos but they won’t upload. I’m just looking for any advice. They were together for around 10 mins.
Click to expand...

Chinning, forcing the chin of a less dominant piggy up is a normal gesture of establishing dominance. The behaviours are typical for establishing a hierarchy. Please sit by and try not to interfere as hard as this is for you. ;)
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
 
How long do I leave them for? I’ve created a bigger area with hay bales, food and an opener ended hidey
 
Stacey292015 said:
Update. That’s been an hour and a half. All is now quiet and they are both in the hidey together! Wayyyy!
Click to expand...
I left mine together for a few hours before returning them to the cage.
Just make sure the cage doesn't contain anything that has the scent of just one of them. I put some of the hay and the hidey from the bonding pen into the cage as they had all their scents on them. It can take a couple of weeks for them to settle completely into the hierarchy so be prepared for some dominance behaviours to continue for a while.
 
Mine were together at the rescue for about 30 minutes no we then brought them home in the same carrier. Quite a lot of wheeking on the journey home!

They have been together for nearly 3 weeks now and we had a bit of half hearted humping from Betty yesterday but they seem to be bonding well!
 
Thank you everyone! So best to put them together in the big cage tonight? Hoping I’ve read all the signs right. There’s quite a bit squeaking going on just now but not loud and there are washing them selves and eating. I’ve got two of everything for the cage.
 
Washing themselves together is a good sign.
Hope all goes well when you put them into their big cage.
 
Stacey292015 said:
Thank you everyone! So best to put them together in the big cage tonight? Hoping I’ve read all the signs right. There’s quite a bit squeaking going on just now but not loud and there are washing them selves and eating. I’ve got two of everything for the cage.
Click to expand...

I personally would put them in the permanent cage!

Lots of squeaking is very normal although it can be quite scary when you aren't used to their bonding chat!

Hope all continues to go well! Xx
 
For me, once they've accepted each other in the neutral space, I will move them to the cage. If you're using a cage that belongs to one of them already, scrub it down really good and wash all the accessories to make it 'neutral.' Hopefully all will continue to go well!
 
All is good! They are in the same cage and had their first night! Thank you for everyone’s advice!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top