Ophelia

Please could we have futher advice? Betsie is definitely settling in, having found her voice and, at times, happy to be out in the open. We pile hay at the bars and she will sometimes eat alongside Ophelia and occasionally lift her nose to sniff Ophelia's. To our eyes, it looks as though it is Ophelia who wants to be friends as she hangs around the bars waiting for Betsie to take notice. We haven't observed any hostility but the nose-sniffing episodes are relatively brief. They do not appear to be vocalising to each other.

Would you expect more interaction?

Is it pushing it to attempt a bonding session tomorrow? Or should we wait a few more days/another week?

An issue is that we will be going on holiday in two-and-a-half weeks and and a friend will be looking after Ophelia [and Betsie?] in the Ferplast 160 elsewhere. I think that if we were to try tomorrow and it didn't work, we might have just enough time to try again IF a guinea pig is available. I would have to ring Burford Blue Cross to ask. [The first pair we were offered, and then Betsie, weren't yet on the website when we applied.] If another is not available, then it would prolong the amount of time Ophelia is on her own. But do we want to drag this situation out for longer if the strongest likelihood is that it will not work and poor Betsie has to go back?

I am going around in circles.
 
Tricky situation.
I would inclined to leave it a couple more days before attempting it again. She does sound to be settling in but I’m not sure doing a bonding tomorrow would be wise.
I guess if you left it a few more days and you know she is more settled, and it still fails then you know it is because they don’t like each other and not because you tried a day or two too soon.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Tricky situation.
I would inclined to leave it a couple more days before attempting it again. She does sound to be settling in but I’m not sure doing a bonding tomorrow would be wise.
I guess if you left it a few more days and you know she is more settled, and it still fails then you know it is because they don’t like each other and not because you tried a day or two too soon.
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Thank you very much. We will wait.

Do you generally see more interaction between bars than this?
 
If it's any consolation, when my boys were in the cage together they did all the rumbling, ear licking and squealing.

But when I had to separate them they totally ignored each other apart from occasionally peeking at each other through the bars. Never heard another rumble and it used to be an all day thing.
 
I’ve only bonded piggies once and they were both boars, but they largely ignored each other through the bars before I bonded them and they were great friends after bonding. The first few hours there was lots of sniffing and greeting each other but after that they just went about their business

I have everything crossed Betsie continues to settle in and they have a chance to be friends 😊
 
Betsie has been doing little hop-turns with a chunter, as she goes from one pile of fresh hay to another. She’s so much happier. It will be so sad if it doesn’t work tomorrow. She doesn’t know that her staying is conditional upon liking Ophelia, whom she largely ignores, with Ophelia loitering at the bars. :(
 
This is nerve-wracking. I wish one of you were here to read their behaviour. It has been about 45 minutes in a 6 foot run outside. There have been lots of bouts of chasing in tight circles, rumblestrutting and a little submissive squeaking, and then they settle back to eating. For about the last 10 minutes both have been chuntering as they move around. Near the beginning, Betsie washed, without Ophelia watching, and a little later Ophelia did, without Betsie washing. It’s not negative - no teeth-chattering that we noticed. Does this sound ok as a bonding process?
 
Aw that's lovely that Betsie popcorned! I'm not at all an expert, but that all sounds like normal bonding behaviour to me. Face washing is friendly and they often have rounds of dominance in between rounds of eating together. That's all what you want to see for a positive bonding I believe

I'm sure one of the more experienced people (@Piggies&buns if you have time?) will be along soon ☺️ keep your nerve and take care of yourself too, bonding is very stressful for the humans!
 
If we are able to put them back in their home enclosure, should we take both mini-hutches out? One has very much become Betsie’s domain, and yet the whole run is definitely Ophelia’s. This would be temporary and there will be hideys.
 
This sounds positive so far!

In the permanent cage, I would take out anything which is definitely seen as their personal territory such as the hutches.
Since the main cage has been divided, each half has become their own territory so Remove all bedding, give it a clean and put in fresh bedding. Add hides with two exits
 
Piggies&buns said:
This sounds positive so far!

In the permanent cage, I would take out anything which is definitely seen as their personal territory such as the hutches.
Since the main cage has been divided, each half has become their own territory so Remove all bedding, give it a clean and put in fresh bedding. Add hides with two exits
Click to expand...
Thank you! I’ll get to it whilst the other slaves watch the pair. That will be a lot of work…
 
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