BritneyyMarie
New Born Pup
Hello so I am still very new to the guinea pig community and owning guinea pigs. I really feel like I’m at a loss and just have no clue what to do now. I have three females that a long while back used to be bonded. However, one of them ended up getting sick and so I separated her from the group. whenever I tried to put them back together the two would basically single her out and chase her and bite at her. it was so bad that she didn’t even want to really move she would stay in one corner of the cage and try to avoid the others and they would both come around on both sides to corner her and then chase and bite her. So then I ended up taking her out and putting her on her own and she was instantly so much happier. I tried a couple times after that to put them together and the same thing would happen so I ended up leaving her on her own. Then one of the two my gray one (Nala) ended up getting sick and for some reason my brown one (Pumpkin) out of nowhere attacked her and started fighting very viciously right as I put her in the cage from bringing her home from the vet. The Nala and my blonde one (Hazel) that was now alone didn’t seem to really have any problems she was always nicer to her and it seemed as though the Pumpkin would be more of the instigator so I decided to put Hazel and Nala together since they were both sick anyway and take Pumpkin out and for her to be alone. When I put the Nala and Hazel together she did continue to hide but it didn’t take much time for her to feel comfortable and be happy living with my Nala again. I have tried to put all three of them together again and each time pumpkin the would attack Hazel and pull out hair so I would always pull them away and nala would more so defend the hazel and be teeth chattering and chasing pumpkin for dominance. Last night after waiting a while I tried one more final time because I’m trying to avoid giving the pumpkin away because I can’t have just one separated. And immediately Nala and pumpkin were teeth chattering and doing the tense dominance behaviors while Hazel was trying to hide and avoid them. Also I do put them in a neutral space on the floor for bonding with at least three Hideys that have multiple entrances. I also make sure to fully clean the cage to leave no scent from anyone. With the bonding they eventually settled their hierarchy and now pumpkin was in charge instead of Nala like it always was but Hazel is still very scared and she was getting chased by pumpkin and nipped at. Once I saw that they were pretty calm I put them back in the cage and once I was cleaning up I did notice that there were some small chunks of Hazel’s fur pulled out that I didn’t see. In the cage things still seem to be tense and there is still a lot of chasing and Hazel is still hiding in the corner. There are short times when they are all relaxed sleeping or laying around. That doesn’t last long and it goes back to being tense. And now with the new hierarchy where pumpkin is in charge Nala is also fairly scared of her but isn’t hiding in a corner. They have been acting this way all night. What should I do? should I just give up and leave Hazel and Nala together and rehome pumpkin because at this point it feels like I have no other option. Please help! I just don’t understand how if they were once bonded why they are acting like this. Also my cage is a 2x4 C&C that they have been in since the beginning when they were all originally bonded.