I will start with a quick background for those who have not come across Ruby before.
Sorry it is long, but I need to get this right.
Ruby is 3.5 years old and currently lives alone.
Initially as a baby she lived with Eddi (neutered boar) and Lucy.
When the 3 of them were around 1.5 years old we introduced Oreo (12 week old female). Eddi and Lucy loved her, and Ruby reluctantly 'tolerated' her.
At age 2 Ruby had a falling out with Eddi for no obvious reason - at this point we split our 4 pigs into 2 groups. Eddi and Oreo (total soul mates) and Ruby and Lucy.
Ruby and Lucy got on well until Ruby was seriously ill with bladder sludge, and then Ruby attacked Lucy. We never managed to rebond them, and for the next 7 months Ruby couldn't even stand the sight of another guinea pig - if she saw one through the bars in her C&C she would fly at them, chattering her teeth and puffing herself up. She was extremely cage aggressive. We moved her cage to a lower level so she wouldn't have contact through the bars with any other guinea pigs.
After loosing both Eddi and Oreo we decided to move Ruby's cage back on to the same level as Lucy and Harry's (Harry is a young boar we got to keep Lucy company after she fell out with Ruby).
Initially there had to be a solid barrier between them, but in the past 6 months we noticed a change in Ruby's behaviour. She seems to have mellowed, and although it has been a slow process, she now shares 2 open grids with Lucy and Harry, and regularly chooses to lay against the bars and seek out the companionship of Harry in particular. Harry often rumbles at the bars, and Ruby will come up and popcorn. They have only ever had contact through a C&C grid, but Ruby now seems very happy with this, so much so that I recently considered trying to bond her with Harry and Lucy.
But tonight a new situation arose.
A neighbour has asked if we would consider rehoming her 3.5 year old boar.
He recently lost his companion (a female of the same age), they don't want to buy a baby guinea pig, and rescue pigs are impossible to get in Switzerland.
For this to work I would need to be able to bond him with Ruby.
I would start slowly and put them in a large C&C side by side (but away from Harry and Lucy), separated by grids for a week or two.
My real concern is that once this new boar has been in our home for a couple of weeks my children will be devastated if we have to give him back.
I can't keep him on his own, and if he doesn't bond with Ruby I also don't want to have to buy a baby pig to keep him company.
The family I will give him back to will hand him over to a rescue, but their own children are desperate for him to come to us, so they can still see him.
So many kids will be sad if I can't make this work, but Ruby is complex.
So do I try it, or at 3.5 years old is Ruby highly unlikely to accept another guinea pig in her own space?
Sorry it is long, but I need to get this right.
Ruby is 3.5 years old and currently lives alone.
Initially as a baby she lived with Eddi (neutered boar) and Lucy.
When the 3 of them were around 1.5 years old we introduced Oreo (12 week old female). Eddi and Lucy loved her, and Ruby reluctantly 'tolerated' her.
At age 2 Ruby had a falling out with Eddi for no obvious reason - at this point we split our 4 pigs into 2 groups. Eddi and Oreo (total soul mates) and Ruby and Lucy.
Ruby and Lucy got on well until Ruby was seriously ill with bladder sludge, and then Ruby attacked Lucy. We never managed to rebond them, and for the next 7 months Ruby couldn't even stand the sight of another guinea pig - if she saw one through the bars in her C&C she would fly at them, chattering her teeth and puffing herself up. She was extremely cage aggressive. We moved her cage to a lower level so she wouldn't have contact through the bars with any other guinea pigs.
After loosing both Eddi and Oreo we decided to move Ruby's cage back on to the same level as Lucy and Harry's (Harry is a young boar we got to keep Lucy company after she fell out with Ruby).
Initially there had to be a solid barrier between them, but in the past 6 months we noticed a change in Ruby's behaviour. She seems to have mellowed, and although it has been a slow process, she now shares 2 open grids with Lucy and Harry, and regularly chooses to lay against the bars and seek out the companionship of Harry in particular. Harry often rumbles at the bars, and Ruby will come up and popcorn. They have only ever had contact through a C&C grid, but Ruby now seems very happy with this, so much so that I recently considered trying to bond her with Harry and Lucy.
But tonight a new situation arose.
A neighbour has asked if we would consider rehoming her 3.5 year old boar.
He recently lost his companion (a female of the same age), they don't want to buy a baby guinea pig, and rescue pigs are impossible to get in Switzerland.
For this to work I would need to be able to bond him with Ruby.
I would start slowly and put them in a large C&C side by side (but away from Harry and Lucy), separated by grids for a week or two.
My real concern is that once this new boar has been in our home for a couple of weeks my children will be devastated if we have to give him back.
I can't keep him on his own, and if he doesn't bond with Ruby I also don't want to have to buy a baby pig to keep him company.
The family I will give him back to will hand him over to a rescue, but their own children are desperate for him to come to us, so they can still see him.
So many kids will be sad if I can't make this work, but Ruby is complex.
So do I try it, or at 3.5 years old is Ruby highly unlikely to accept another guinea pig in her own space?
