Merging Pairs - Panicking Pig Mum

Not2but4

Not2but4

Junior Guinea Pig
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Ok so as some of you might already know i have 2 pairs of sows... 1 pair are 8 months and the other are approx. 4 months. First time I put them into a pen, i had little Piles of food and nothing else. It went ok for about 10 minutes. I made the mistake of putting in a couple of hides and they all tried to cram into one. One of the younger piggies pushed a bigger piggy out and this kicked off a downward spiral of teeth chattering and charging at each other. All while the other two remained huddled in the hide... I panicked and separated them. There wasn't any blood. I have read loads about introducing and bonding and dominance etc. I'm so cross at myself for putting in the hides and setting it all off...

So I left if for a few days. And then I put them all in together again. Straight away the same two as before started chattering and rumble strutting and charging but I waited it out. There was some churping but not sure what that was about. The big girl who was part of the troublesome two was even chattering at her own cage mate. I still waited it out, dustpan in hand should it get Really bad... the chattering and rumble strutting continued intermittently. The other little one had run and hid under a ramp. I panicked that she was so petrified that something bad would happen and I took her out. Put her back in 5 mins later and the other little one had taken her hiding space and wouldn't come out. At this stage big grumpy bum had relegated everyone else to the other side of the hutch and claimed all the food. She would let them eat for a few minutes and then chatter at them and chase them off...

I didn't want to have to take the new pair back out to have to go through this all again but I didn't want to leave them in there unsupervised as one little one was still hiding (grumpy kept sniffing at her bum while she hid) and the other one had taken to gnawing on the wood. So I put them back into their own cages. Gave them both some nibbles and called it a night.

Have I blown it? Do I just need to be more patient? I've read loads on here of what to expect but I'm still not sure what I'm seeing is counter productive or not?!?! Any help is appreciated. :soz::soz:
 
I would say you need to be patient. Never interrupt bonding except there is blood.

Never take out all hidies they are scared till death otherwise. Put in some tunnels or boxes with more then one way in and out.

Give them lots of food all over the place and then patience.

Some teeth chattering and rumble strutting is normal and will happen quite often the next days. Bonding needs time more time then just some hours.

Guinea pig girls are usually friendly just sometimes a bit bitchy. It can be hard to just sit there and do nothing but it’s the best thing you can do. Even some nibbles wouldn’t be that awful as long as there’s no blood.
 
Bonding can be a nerve wracking time. When I bonded my lot there was much wee spraying, bum sniffing, humping, teeth chattering, nipping and chasing but nothing too serious. Now everyone gets on and has done for nearly 2 years which is very surprising as I have a bonded herd of 3 sows with 2 boars which really shouldn't work but does. I just don't think anyone has told the boys they are not supposed to get on if they are in with the girls. They share the girls between them. I do have a Plan B and am on the constant lookout for any changes in dynamics. Velvet is :yikes::yikes:DA BOSS:yikes::yikes: (be afraid, be very afraid if you are a piggy and cue music to The Shower Scene from Psycho) and keeps everyone in line and stops any squabbles almost before they start.
 
Not2but4 said:
Thank you both so much. I'm just going to have to hold my nerve lol :blink:
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You are unfortunately. The piggies know what to do and although it looks brutal to us it is just part of the way they live and work out the strict hierarchy of a herd so that it works.
 
When we first introduced our 2 pairs of girls it was a complete disaster, chasing and snapping and fur flying, but now they are all good friends and have even accepted a little husboar into the herd. It will just a few days or even a couple of weeks for everyone to get used to things!
 
When I recently bonded 2 pairs of sows I thought it would be easy because I'd read up about all the dynamics.
Ha!

The experience stretched my nerves and the bonding guides and patience for from members to my panicked posts made such a difference.
In the end we had some minor nose nicks but no blood was drawn.

By the end of 2 weeks however the herd had settled down and the 2 who were causing me most stress are now firm friends and partners in mischief.

Hold your nerve.
 
Yes I read all the bonding guides and bonding threads too and thought I was all prepared, but for some reason the piggies hadnt read any of the guides themselves and it didnt quite go to plan at first!
 
Even an old hand at sow bondings like me gets nervy. No 2 bondings are the same. Holding your nerve is never easy. A plain uncluttered bonding pen with nothing to hide in is the best. I’ll dig out some photos from my old bonding sessions.
 
Merab's Slave said:
When I recently bonded 2 pairs of sows I thought it would be easy because I'd read up about all the dynamics.
Ha!

The experience stretched my nerves and the bonding guides and patience for from members to my panicked posts made such a difference.
In the end we had some minor nose nicks but no blood was drawn.

By the end of 2 weeks however the herd had settled down and the 2 who were causing me most stress are now firm friends and partners in mischief.

Hold your nerve.
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And did you keep them all togerher for the 2 weeks or separate them at night or when you couldn't keep an eye on them?
 
VickiA said:
Even an old hand at sow bondings like me gets nervy. No 2 bondings are the same. Holding your nerve is never easy. A plain uncluttered bonding pen with nothing to hide in is the best. I’ll dig out some photos from my old bonding sessions.
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My other half just finished a huge big run for them all so we put them all in it but Houdini was still coming across as quite aggressive. Wasn't me that lost their nerve this time! My other half put Houdini in time out. I was quite cross with him. I don't think continuing to separate them is going to help them work it out. She'll have to continue trying to prove her dominance the next day?
 
Not2but4 said:
My other half just finished a huge big run for them all so we put them all in it but Houdini was still coming across as quite aggressive. Wasn't me that lost their nerve this time! My other half put Houdini in time out. I was quite cross with him. I don't think continuing to separate them is going to help them work it out. She'll have to continue trying to prove her dominance the next day?
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Actually being aggressive maybe isn't the correct wording. He lost his nerve when he thought one of the young ones was cornered. But imo the young one, Daisy, had plenty of space to run if necessary. Any way. It was the other young one, Roxy that wasn't backing down before but this time, within a few minutes of being together and teeth chattering and chasing, Roxy had let out some high pitched squeaks, which I was taking as submission to Houdini and that's why Houdini moved on to Daisy? Am I misreading that? During all this Cosmo just did her own thing. If Houdini came chattering to her she just ignored her. Daisy and Cosmo seem quite close now. Huddled together observing the nonsense of the other 2. Its wonderful how they all have such different wee characteristics lol Houdini has always been bossy but will let you pick her up, brush her, takes food from your hand and nail trimming is a walk in the park, Cosmo who seems sooo laid back in everything else in life doesn't like being held. She will bite. Won't take food from any hand and grumbles the whole time she's getting brushed. Nail trimmimg is a two man job. My other half being the one suffering while I trim. The other two, it's still early days but it was only when I tried to bond all 4 that I realized it was actually Roxy who was the dominant one of that pair. I had been thinking it was Daisy as she was always lying on top of Roxy. What I did notice was when my other half put Houdini into time out, she went straight into the hay and took a nap, like she was now happier, the other 3 were popcorning and having a great time... Cosmo seemed a little forlorn at the start, Houdini is her cage mate and I think she was looking for her but soon forgot and was popcorning with the rest....
 
Ok so this morning I had nipping. That's new... Houdini nipped each of the wee ones in the bum. Again more high pitched squeals from Roxy (small black hairy one)... Daisy just ran away. I put in 4 separate food and hay piles and scattered nuts everywhere and they all ended up in one corner lol from left to right you have Houdini, Cosmo, Roxy and Daisy.... 20180902_103706.webp
 
Not2but4 said:
And did you keep them all togerher for the 2 weeks or separate them at night or when you couldn't keep an eye on them?
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I left them together in the cage to get on with it.
The cage is a 2x5 with 2x2 extension furnished with 3 water bottles, 2 food bowls, a forage bowl and 5 assorted hideys so there was space for them to escape each other.
 
Thank you 😊 I put mine in a pen and left them to it and they seem fine now, for the most part lol hopefully this is a good sign
 
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