Tomorrow my boys will finally meet ...

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Briony_S

Briony_S

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I'm so excited I have had my new boy tiger for 8 days and tomorrow he gets to play with my george!

George had mites and had just had last dose of mite treatment the day before tiger arrived. I had to wait just to be sure for 10 days before introducing them incase George was contagious (as per the vet). George is better now (but waiting the extra day whilst holding back the excitment).

They already seem like good friends once one of the starts shouting the other joins in and they talk for a good while. They have both started shouting for veggies when I go in the fridge which is a first for both of them so they must be encouraging each other.

They are always looking for each other when one is talking which is very sweet!

Am going to take it slow, clean out the playpen & let them play for an hour or so the first day & take it from there (towel at ready). I don't think there will be a problem though as they seem to like talking from a distance but obviously won't leave them unsupervised for first few days. :)

Yay I'm so excited ... more than them i think :))
 
Aww how exciting, I'm sure they will be both but it sounds like your in control :))

Let us know how they get on tomorrow

x
 
will do! Hope they don't fight! I don't think they will to be honest but I guess all mummys have a bit of worry in the back of their heads! don't know how many days of "playing together" they will need before putting them in a cage together.

It is a brand new cage so there it won't be anyones territory do you just let them play for an hour or two the first day & increase it. Is there any set timescales?
 
The best timescale is to not keep giving playdates, but to go straight into full introductions with the intention of them living together that day. Continually reintroducing them (playdates) rarely works as they have to re-establish dominance each time they meet, so allowing them to work out dominance and keep developing that relationship is usually less stressful than having playdates. Make sure you have a full day to devote to them. I like to keep the pigs out on the floor for at least 2-3 hours happily getting along before putting them into the cage, and the stay with them for another hour once they are in the cage to be sure they have settled enough.

What size cage have you got lined up for George and Tiger? Remember young boys need a big cage. So many boar relationships don't work out just because the cage is too small.
 
I agree about the re-establishing dominance thing, would just put Tiger and George in play pen for 2 - 3 hours then back in your big cage together. Hopefully all will be well, they are both really cute piggies. No doubt there will be some chins up, bum wiggles and rumbles. Have they got a hidey hole each? that often helps too. I have sometimes taken out the plastic Nero house thing and replaced with two boxes, then they each have somewhere. Keep us informed. Tiger is very lucky to have found you. (and George) xx
 
sounds like a plan I have them both one of those sleeping bags which stay open & also they both have a wooden bridge type thing to go over the top so will try that & I will take out the plastic house. I have two of everything & a nero 4 so all should be well wish me goodluck as will be doing it after tea! :))
 
Oh well they have been together for 50 mins now & all seems to be well! (hope so anyway) we had a scarey 10mins at beginning where we had a lot of bottoms doing funny things horrible noises and teeth grinding and chasing but all subsided very quickly now not sure but think tiger is the boss :)) they are both now minding their own business and away from each other.

Think lots of veggies helpt as they don't like same things so seemed to occupy them through the rumbles fingers crossed :)
 
How are they this morning, Briony? I hope they are settled and getting along well!
 
Tiger has bitten george's ear checked him when I came home from work about 6.30 and just looked in at them now & he has a couple of nips and dried blood on his ear. Tiger is completely unharmed. I don't know what to do now should I keep them apart and try a bath in few days and re-introduce? It's getting quite late and don't want to risk them tearing shreads out of each other in the night !
 
Were they getting along fine when you checked them? I forget if it was already mentioned but do they have two separate food areas?
 
two bowls, two bottles, two treat bars, two sleeping bags, two hidey holes. They live in living room so when "checking on them" I mean fishing them out and examining them! I hear what goes on whilst i'm at home and they do rumble a little bit but seems to be over things like the last piece of lettuce.

I gave them some when I got in and went in kitchen heard them bickering and came out I took the lettuce off them and split it in half. I suppose it could have happened then! They do try to go into each others houses which seems to be a source for arguements too and I tell them off but can't obviously do that when am in bed or at work. Boyfriend is watching them at the minute so I can try and find out what to do
 
Well, it is still early days, hopefully the ear thing was getting a little bit carried away and it was a one-off anomaly if they appear to be getting on fine now?

Have you got open ended hidey holes (like the tunnel things, Playstix/Fiddlestix or chubes?) as I find these are far more suitable than closed up houses as they can move freely through them if one starts a bit of bullying or chasing. It's very easy for one to block the other one from either going into or coming out of a blocked off house and (in my experience) aggravate things a bit.
 
well they do have play sticks houses but their sleeping bags are ones with the hoops in to keep them open so although one of them can run through it there isn't really room for them to both go in same direction. Should i remove these for now then? I have them both play stick houses in middle of the cage so both ends are open! One is bigger than the other also (playsticks thingies) should I get two the same so there is no deciding who gets the best one (do they even think like that?)
 
Ha, now, that's the question! I have no idea, but judging from my pairs behaviours with one wanting whatever the other one has, i wouldn't be entirely surprised!

You could always try removing the sleeping bags if you feel these may present a problem - it's hard to say as they will likely find something to squabble about, bless their little piggy socks...but otherwise it sounds like you have a good arrangement there :) Just keep a beady eye on them as much as possible. The best thing about indoor pigs is just as you said in your previous post - that when something starts, you can usually get to sorting it and noticing it far quicker than with outside pigs, or in a shed, so all in all it sounds like you are doing everything right and it's just a question of hanging in there and keeping a watchful eye on them until you are confident on them one way or another.

There is a post up in Behaviour about what's normal in boarworld: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949 hopefully it may help you determine if there are any serious signs to worry about.

Good luck!
 
thanks did read all the signs hard to tell though the difference between a small rumble and a louder one. I was very worried when I spotted george but they both seem chilled out again now so may have been the lettuce thing. I will keep an eye on them during "veg time" over the next few days so I can put a stop to any bickering & hopefully all should be well. Will see about getting george a bigger house to match george's previous one which tiger seems to think is his and george keeps going into!
 
Yay! they are getting better, were in playpen today (again containing two of everything) and I went upstairs for a minute came back and they were snuggled up in the same play stix house together not even talking just looked peaceful! (i now have two of the same playstix thingies so stop them deciding who gets the best one but they seem to both prefer the new one :{ )bless! I layed on the floor a minute enjoying the site before leaving them to it.

Saying that though half an hour later george wee'd in tigers face on purpose luckly didn't cause a fight though as tiger just shook a few times and walked off!

I think I understand the whole psycology of it now. Sometimes george wants to play & tiger is not in mood so he tells him to go away and chases him. Sometimes tiger is fine with it and lets him mess about & sometimes george decides he is the boss and likes to show it by wiggling his bum in tigers face!

I think there is a power struggle still going on as orginally I thought tiger was in charge and george was being bossed around a lot. Now it seems to be going the other way!

They seem to be getting on much better but still seem to have a bit of arguing over who is in charge yet to go!

Yesterday I thought they hated each other, earlier today I thought they just kinda tolerated each other & now I think a lovely friendsip is forming if not with a few blips.

I have some "just for boars" on order so as soon as it comes it's bath time as george is very smelly, also hoping the horror of being bathed will make them look out for each other more! :))
 
It can take a few days - even a few weeks - for complete peace to befall new friendships. It sounds like George and Tiger are doing well together. Any pictures of the happy couple? :)
 
nope no piccies yet was waiting for them to both calm down a bit will try later tonight.Tiger is black so will be hard to photograph was hoping after he had chilled out a bit I could take one against a light background as their vetbed is brown!

I got a card through my door to collect my "just for boars" shampoo from depot so will get it tomorrow & they will have a nice bath tomorrow or sunday!
 
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