I got a new friend for my guinea pig about a month ago, and the introduction went fine. there was chasing, like all normal intros, but my guinea pigs are still chasing after a month. They dont fight or bite, just nipping. (without blood or teeth).I make sure Pebbles (my newest Pig) isnt bullied by putting two water bottles, two food bowls with pellets and multiple hideys. We have the C&C 2x3.5 cage (medium), so it is large enough for my two sows but on the C&C website it says they need to be bonded, so it wont be big enough for a new pair of guinea pigs .Should I get a Small cage and conbine it to my medium? Do they need to be seperated, or should i give them more time?
My Guinea Pigs Are Still Chasing....
- Thread starter maddy888
- Start date
So to help my understand, you say the introduction went well but that your cage won’t be big enough when they were Bonded? So are you putting them together and then separating them again? If so, then that could be why they are still chasing each other as their hierarchy has never been established due to constant interruptions. Once piggies meet, they need to be kept together permanently. So you do the bonding for a few hours in a neutral bonding pen and then when they are happy to be with each other, you move both together into a fully cleaned out cage (ao that it doesn’t smell of your original piggy) and they then live together forever. You can’t put them together and separate constantly them as if is stressful and causes them to go into dominance (chasing etc) and establishing a hierarchy every single time.
If I’ve misunderstood and they are permamently living together now since their initial introduction, then do correct me. But you also need to bear in mind that they may simply not get on. I have boars but I know sow behaviour can be different so I don’t know whether the nipping is the sow equivalent of a boar full on fight which means the bonding has failed.
However, cage size is a very important factor and a cage of your size is not big enough for two. You would need a 2x4 c&c but going one size bigger is always better, so a 2x5 if you have the space. Too small a cage can cause them to fight.
If I’ve misunderstood and they are permamently living together now since their initial introduction, then do correct me. But you also need to bear in mind that they may simply not get on. I have boars but I know sow behaviour can be different so I don’t know whether the nipping is the sow equivalent of a boar full on fight which means the bonding has failed.
However, cage size is a very important factor and a cage of your size is not big enough for two. You would need a 2x4 c&c but going one size bigger is always better, so a 2x5 if you have the space. Too small a cage can cause them to fight.
Hi!
How much chasing is there in a day and is it intense or just more in the way of your dominant sow throwing her weight around a bit more. Are you taking into account that sows come into season about every two weeks and that that can cause a renewal of the dominance behaviour?
It would be great if they could have more space to get away from each other.
Sow Behaviour
When Sows Experience A Strong Season (videos)
Bonds In Trouble
Ok, i will attach a smaller cage to my medium one. The website says that they need to be bonded, so the cage isnt big enough for chasing. i dont seperate them when they chase, as ive researched that it will only make matters worse. they have lived together since the introduction. I hope the cage upgrade will stop the chasing (:
the chasing isnt alot, but somedays are worse than others. Same with if its intense, sometimes they will mount eachother and somedays they will chase once. I am getting a smaller cage to attach to my medium one, because i have read from other people that my cage now is too small. It may be because sows come into season, because i feel they chase more every two weeks. Thanks for the links (: will watch them now
Here is our cage size guide with minimal welfare recommendations:
Cage Size Guide
You may also want to double-check the gender of your three girls to be on the safe side. Mis-sexing is sadly not uncommon.
What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)
Young guinea pigs also play zoomies and dodgems where they deliberately bump into each other at the end of a mad run.
This is a video when I introduced my single boar Dylan to two baby boars which had been born at my house so he could choose which one (or any) he was gelling with as his future companion.
I just wanted to ask - I am a bit confused by the sentence ‘the website says that they need to be bonded, so the cage isn’t big enough for chasing’. What do you mean by this? If your guinea pigs have been introduced to each other, have formed a relationship and are living together then they are already bonded.
If your cage isn’t big enough for them to run around, then that is a separate issue. Too small a cage can cause their bond to breakdown. So, yes, making a bigger cage can ease dominance behaviours when they have more space to get away from each other.
Chasing and mounting are usually normal dominance behaviours.