Not long to go now...

[Sue and Smartie]

...before I can introduce my two girls to each other. Next Wednesday Fifi will have her last lice treatment. I shall borrow my husband's large magnifier and check her thoroughly for signs of lice, before moving her cage next to Kanga's. I plan on leaving them for a few days with their cages next door to each other, to see how they interact. If it looks promising I plan on moving them in together in to the big cage, but with a divider in place. If it still looks promising, they can go in together and see what happens. I will have towels ready and another pair of hands, for any emergency separations.
I am limited in space to put up a bonding pen and will have to use the main cage I think, due to it being cat-proof. But I have got new fleece beds for this process and I will be thoroughly scrubbing any cage furniture before this stage. I am also collecting long cardboard boxes to make up some new hideys which have open fronts to avoid trapping. I have many food bowls so can put in extra feeding stations. Is there anything else that you can think of that I might need?
I have read through the bonding guide on here, but I do have another question. If we get to the stage of them both being in the big cage, with a divider, is there any benefit to swapping their sides over so they get used to the scent of the other?
It's quite exciting but also quite terrifying!

 

[weepweeps]

Exciting times. I hope the bonding goes well.

 

[Merab]

Looking forward to a successful bonding and celebrating with you.
Hope it does go well.

 

[Betsy]

When Christian and Meg where bonded with Patsy at the rescue, they were side by side for a while then they were swapped sides to get used to the smell of each other. After that they went into the bonding pen and Patsy showed fear aggression after a short time where she had been on her own for a while. The rescue tried again a couple of days later and Patsy then accepted the other two and Christian and Meg accepted her.

 

[Siikibam]

Exciting. Just be aware that how they act when next to each other isn’t an indicator of whether they’ll get along. You also need to be careful about just removing the divider. It can be seen as an invasion if the other piggy goes in what they took to be their space. I would just do the bonding and leave out putting in the divider. Good luck and post pictures, we love them.