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New baby guinea pig trying to suckle on older females?

Nicolepiggie

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Hi! I'm new here. I have two older female guinea pigs (around 2 years) i used to have a third but she passed two weeks ago. Three days ago i got a female baby guinea pig thats around 7 weeks old. Ive been housing her in the upper level of their c&c cage for the past few days and I'm letting them meet eachother now. My baby guinea pig seems to think one of the older females is her mother? She keeps trying to suckle on her nipples which is aggravating my older pig and making her be mean :(. Does anyone know why shes doing this to my older pig and howto properly introduce them?
 
Hi! I'm new here. I have two older female guinea pigs (around 2 years) i used to have a third but she passed two weeks ago. Three days ago i got a female baby guinea pig thats around 7 weeks old. Ive been housing her in the upper level of their c&c cage for the past few days and I'm letting them meet eachother now. My baby guinea pig seems to think one of the older females is her mother? She keeps trying to suckle on her nipples which is aggravating my older pig and making her be mean :(. Does anyone know why shes doing this to my older pig and howto properly introduce them?

Hi!

Some youngsters feeling lost will do that - even if the older piggy is a male. It is more of an instinctive desire to hide and be safe again after the fright of the separation.

What you are witnessing is normal dominance behaviour from the older sow and the same way a mother and the other elders in the group treat any babies they consider weaned to put them emphatically at the bottom of the group hierarchy; this happens around 3-4 weeks of age. The strongest dominance always comes for the piggy just ranked above. The post-intro dominance phase lasts around 2 weeks. it may look rough to you, but you have to sit by and bear it; the baby won't come to any harm!

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
 
Do you mean she’s wedging herself under the older piggy? It may be she’s trying to hide rather than suckle. Piggies don’t do play dates. So you need to decide you’re doing it and go ahead.

Introduction needs to be on neutral ground. Just a pile of hay in the middle and no hides. Put them all in and observe. Make sure you thoroughly clean out the cage so it doesn’t smell of any of them. And rearrange. Make sure you have three of everything, including some hides that only the baby will fit inside. All should have two exits. I’ll link the threads on bonding below for you to have a read through.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
 
Thats my cage setup! I just kinda took the covering i had off the top level and let her go down. All her stuff is on top and the adult piggies stuff is on the bottom. Ive been switching out their tunnels and huts everyday to get them used to eachothers smell
 

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