Sugar Got Into Other Ella’s Cage

[A Guinea Pig]

Hello, I went down to my basement to give the girls their veggies and I see Sugar with Lulu and Ella. She wasn’t there this morning but she sure is now. I was under the impression that because Ella and Sugar did not like each other at all, they would not again, but they seem completely fine in the same cage. Nothing more than a little nip over a veggie. Spice is still on the other side of the cage, though, and I'm not sure if I should let them all be together or put Sugar back with her baby, Spice.

On the topic of how Sugar got into the cage, I’m not quite sure. The grids are all zip-tied together and do not move from the floor. There are also no hideouts along the wall that’s shared. I think she might’ve just figured out how to climb over, which would not surprise me since she is taller than the 14-inch grids.

Sugar is the brown one on the top, Ella is the gray one on the right and Lulu is the one on the left.

 

[CTWC]

I'm no expert at all but I can imagine it's tempting to leave them together
Are you able to monitor them closely throughout the day to see how they behave?

 

[Truffolo]

Perhaps Sugar was being a bit protective of Spice and this has faded now with the reduction in pregnancy hormones?

 

[Merab]

If they want to be together and don’t fight then leave them but watch carefully

 

[Wiebke]

Keep an eye on them and see how it goes.

Fear-aggressive piggies can sometimes relax and things can settle down. Any formal re-intros should happen on neutral ground outside any cage.

Issues may however come up again when hormonal ovarian cysts hit, so you have to stay flexible.

 

[A Guinea Pig]

Keep an eye on them and see how it goes.

Fear-aggressive piggies can sometimes relax and things can settle down. Any formal re-intros should happen on neutral ground outside any cage.

Issues may however come up again when hormonal ovarian cysts hit, so you have to stay flexible.

I was with them for about three hours last night while I worked and they seemed fine, so I left them for the night. They were fine again in the morning so I left them together, but I won't be home for a few hours so would it still be okay to try to re-bond them all then?

 

[Claire W]

If they’ve all been together fine overnight, I’d be inclined to leave them together now as if you separate them now, you will have to go through the bonding process all over again.

It’s great though that they’ve been together overnight and it sounds like you have a happy herd of girls x

 

[Wiebke]

Please let them get on with the bonding/rebonding process and do not interfere. They are by now well into the group establishment phase.

 

[Merab]

Glad that they are settling into a being a herd.

 

[A Guinea Pig]

The girls have been getting along very well! Sugar and Ella seem to enjoy each other's company surprisingly. Spice is the one who is struggling a little, she chases Ella and Lulu around and nips at them but other than that they are good.

 

[Merab]

Chasing and nipping are fine as they sort out their places in the herd.
Only if it escalates into a full on fight do need to worry.
When Jemimah and Priscilla were working out their relationship we had chin offs, fur pulling, nipping and chasing until the day they decided they were the best of friends.

 

[Wiebke]

The girls have been getting along very well! Sugar and Ella seem to enjoy each other's company surprisingly. Spice is the one who is struggling a little, she chases Ella and Lulu around and nips at them but other than that they are good.

Spice is obviously not quite confident in her group hierarchy standing and is throwing her weight around. That is not unusual. The dominance behaviour is on a tolerable level.

 

[A Guinea Pig]

Spice seems to have calmed down a good amount. The girls have been getting along very well. The only thing I noticed is that Ella has one or two bite marks on her ears, not bloody at all, but raised crusty bumps. Should I be concerned about that?

 

[CTWC]

Maybe you could try and attach a photo for us to look at.
If you're worried in any way though I would go to the vet.

 

[A Guinea Pig]

Maybe you could try and attach a photo for us to look at.
If you're worried in any way though I would go to the vet.

I was going to take a picture the other day but her ears seem to have completely healed. I can still kind of tell where the nips were, but you can't tell at all with a camera.

 

[Wiebke]

I was going to take a picture the other day but her ears seem to have completely healed. I can still kind of tell where the nips were, but you can't tell at all with a camera.

It was probably just an overenthusiastic nibble or scratch has has healed quickly.

 

[CTWC]

Brilliant x

 

[Merab]

That’s good news