Successfully bonded Aurora into the group! But Weird behavior from her now?

TheLottiediarys

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Guys!
Its taken weeks of preparation and getting everybody well enough, But it looks like Bear, Anya and most importantly Lottie have accepted Aurora back into the group!

Hurray!
And Well done me for not stressing out the whole time,
And Thank You Scott (Boyfriend) for keeping me cool through the whole introduction tonight!

Some of you may remember previous posts about the Illness that meant Aurora had to be quarantined till she got well and the all-mightily stress that trying to reintroduce her was.
But tonight after a rocky start shes finally back with the group!

I don't know if any of you have reintroduced this way before, But here is how it went down:

Instead of putting all three in at the same time as Aurora, Like i had last time, I introduced Aurora and Bear first, when that meeting went off without a hitch, a bit of Follow-The-Leader which was adorable I must say, we added Anya who is the lowest ranking female in the group, Interestingly when it was Bear, Anya and Aurora, all Aurora did was chatter and face off Anya a bit, but Anya wasn't too bothered, I did wonder whether this meant Aurora could swipe herself a higher ranking position then she had previously as originally she was the lowest in the group, But when we added Lottie last tensions really kicked off.
Oh my, it was dramatic and I wasn't sure if it would work to begin with, Lottie has recently become a bit of an aggressive pig compared to the timid Pig from 5 years ago, I suspect its because shes literally had to work her way from bottom Pig to Top pig, But Aurora had obviously decided she wanted a higher spot and since Anya wasn't challanging her for it she went after Lottie, She chattered at her a bit then lounged and well, Lottie didn't like it one bit! She Chattered back and lounged at her, Gave chase when Aurora did it back and got Aurora on her back, We stepped in here, Looking back it might have been a bit soon but after being separated by a towel they backed off, this whole thing happened again about 5 Minutes later but we didn't intervene, and After that Aurora seemed to accept that she was going to rank lower then Lottie.

Around here something really interested happened that hasnt happened to me before.
Aurora started chattering at Lottie with her hair standing on end, And Lottie chattered right back, then Anya went over and stood by Lottie facing Aurora and chattered at her too, then Bear did the same, it was a row of Piggies Chattering at Auorora.
That was so interesting to me, What they were saying to her i can only imagine, Something along the lines off 'If you want to be accepted by us you have to stand down' and amazingly after this Aurora did stand down. She ran away when they chased her instead of squaring off and lounging back, and she squealed to show submission.

This all happened about 20 minutes ago and since then they've eaten together and left Aurora alone, No more lounging, But Aurora is sulking on her own and didn't come over when i gave them some Leafy veg to munch on, Shes sat either in the corner facing away from them or she is next to bear facing away from them.

Right now, Shes facing away from everybody, But Bear is lying near her and Lottie is as well, Lottie has just come up to Aurora and plucked a hair from her rump after chattering at her, But Aurora just squealed when she took the hair and hasn't even turned around, Now Lottie is lying down as well which I'm taking as a good sign, That shes been accepted, but the way Aurora is just facing away from everyone for so long is worrying me, She didn't even want any leafy veg!

I'm guessing shes just accepting her place and is feeling a little hard done by?
 
That’s one symptom of depression, but it might not be x Guniea pig face the walls when there unhappy x
 
Yes, I am hoping that shes just a little bit unhappy because shes been shifted around a bit, She has turned around now and is looking at me, And facing them as well, I'm hoping one of the other two will sit with her and make her feel a little better soon! I hate to think shes sad but she need to be with other Pigs ad its been so hard to get someone to accept her and for her to not attack them too!
 
Guys!
Its taken weeks of preparation and getting everybody well enough, But it looks like Bear, Anya and most importantly Lottie have accepted Aurora back into the group!

Hurray!
And Well done me for not stressing out the whole time,
And Thank You Scott (Boyfriend) for keeping me cool through the whole introduction tonight!

Some of you may remember previous posts about the Illness that meant Aurora had to be quarantined till she got well and the all-mightily stress that trying to reintroduce her was.
But tonight after a rocky start shes finally back with the group!

I don't know if any of you have reintroduced this way before, But here is how it went down:

Instead of putting all three in at the same time as Aurora, Like i had last time, I introduced Aurora and Bear first, when that meeting went off without a hitch, a bit of Follow-The-Leader which was adorable I must say, we added Anya who is the lowest ranking female in the group, Interestingly when it was Bear, Anya and Aurora, all Aurora did was chatter and face off Anya a bit, but Anya wasn't too bothered, I did wonder whether this meant Aurora could swipe herself a higher ranking position then she had previously as originally she was the lowest in the group, But when we added Lottie last tensions really kicked off.
Oh my, it was dramatic and I wasn't sure if it would work to begin with, Lottie has recently become a bit of an aggressive pig compared to the timid Pig from 5 years ago, I suspect its because shes literally had to work her way from bottom Pig to Top pig, But Aurora had obviously decided she wanted a higher spot and since Anya wasn't challanging her for it she went after Lottie, She chattered at her a bit then lounged and well, Lottie didn't like it one bit! She Chattered back and lounged at her, Gave chase when Aurora did it back and got Aurora on her back, We stepped in here, Looking back it might have been a bit soon but after being separated by a towel they backed off, this whole thing happened again about 5 Minutes later but we didn't intervene, and After that Aurora seemed to accept that she was going to rank lower then Lottie.

Around here something really interested happened that hasnt happened to me before.
Aurora started chattering at Lottie with her hair standing on end, And Lottie chattered right back, then Anya went over and stood by Lottie facing Aurora and chattered at her too, then Bear did the same, it was a row of Piggies Chattering at Auorora.
That was so interesting to me, What they were saying to her i can only imagine, Something along the lines off 'If you want to be accepted by us you have to stand down' and amazingly after this Aurora did stand down. She ran away when they chased her instead of squaring off and lounging back, and she squealed to show submission.

This all happened about 20 minutes ago and since then they've eaten together and left Aurora alone, No more lounging, But Aurora is sulking on her own and didn't come over when i gave them some Leafy veg to munch on, Shes sat either in the corner facing away from them or she is next to bear facing away from them.

Right now, Shes facing away from everybody, But Bear is lying near her and Lottie is as well, Lottie has just come up to Aurora and plucked a hair from her rump after chattering at her, But Aurora just squealed when she took the hair and hasn't even turned around, Now Lottie is lying down as well which I'm taking as a good sign, That shes been accepted, but the way Aurora is just facing away from everyone for so long is worrying me, She didn't even want any leafy veg!

I'm guessing shes just accepting her place and is feeling a little hard done by?

Have a look at our bonding guide; you can see that behaviour illustrated in one of the bonding dynamics that are discussed in it. Acceptance into a group stands and falls with the top piggy unless you are dealing with a personal feud which runs independently from the group dynamic. The underpiggies will take their cues from the top piggy and close ranks.
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
 
Have a look at our bonding guide; you can see that behaviour illustrated in one of the bonding dynamics that are discussed in it. Acceptance into a group stands and falls with the top piggy unless you are dealing with a personal feud which runs independently from the group dynamic. The underpiggies will take their cues from the top piggy and close ranks.
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics

Yes I’ve read the guide lines quite a bit but it seems I end up frazzeled it in the heat of the moment! And go off the book ☺️

I imagine in hindsight it would have been better to introduce Lottie then Anya. As Lottie is the top girl.

Hmm, I’m not sure how that would have gone down, I think in someways I was anxious to see how Aurora reacted to Anya because they were living together before they both entered the group last year.
I think I also wanted Bear to accept Aurora so that Lottie felt the Male had accepted the new Pig hoping it would lead to acceptance from the girls. Maybe in the end it was just a fluke that this worked out.
Would you say it’s better to introduce one at a time or to add the group all at the same time?

I’ve seen people do it both ways and for Aurora it seems like the one-on-one add-in seems to have worked and reduced the stress on her, where as the last time I tried to bond her to the group as a whole she lashed out straight away, maybe she felt cornered by so many new faces? 🤨
 
Yes I’ve read the guide lines quite a bit but it seems I end up frazzeled it in the heat of the moment! And go off the book ☺️

I imagine in hindsight it would have been better to introduce Lottie then Anya. As Lottie is the top girl.

Hmm, I’m not sure how that would have gone down, I think in someways I was anxious to see how Aurora reacted to Anya because they were living together before they both entered the group last year.
I think I also wanted Bear to accept Aurora so that Lottie felt the Male had accepted the new Pig hoping it would lead to acceptance from the girls. Maybe in the end it was just a fluke that this worked out.
Would you say it’s better to introduce one at a time or to add the group all at the same time?

I’ve seen people do it both ways and for Aurora it seems like the one-on-one add-in seems to have worked and reduced the stress on her, where as the last time I tried to bond her to the group as a whole she lashed out straight away, maybe she felt cornered by so many new faces? 🤨

There is no one right way. The more you get to know your piggies, the more you can do intros as you feel is best for the piggies involved in the bonding and their individual personalities as well as the group dynamics, in case of a rebonding. Bonding is an ongoing learning curve; you learn as much by your mistakes as by what you are doing right.
My bonding guide only covers some 'typical' aspects, not the whole range as every introduction is different and has its very own dynamics.
 
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