Trial separation

If not I’ll just have to describe the behaviour, there was minimal teeth chattering and three instances of chin raising, one attempted nibble and an attempt I believe to stop the under piggy from eating hay (she ended up chewing on the paper towel the hay was on)
 
GlimmerandGreta said:
Are you able to access the YouTube link?
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Yes, I have thank you.

The tenseness seemed to be mostly due to the noise of the environment, so it is impossible to judge their interaction because they kept relying on each other for to best cope.

Do you have a quieter place for re-bonding them?
 
Yes I’m sure I could find somewhere better, is best for the environment to be darker and with less household noise?
 
GlimmerandGreta said:
Yes I’m sure I could find somewhere better, is best for the environment to be darker and with less household noise?
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The household noises are the big issue here; light is no problem. In addition to the extra stress factor from the background noise that makes them to stick together but won't tell you anything about the true state of their relationship, I can also not hear any vocalisations. Keep in mind that guinea pigs are prey animals.

They are two gorgeous girls, though.
 
Aww thank you so much
The noise will probably be the bathroom fan but I can set up a another larger bonding pen in a quieter room, should I be doing the bonding sessions every day for half an hour to an hour?
 
GlimmerandGreta said:
Aww thank you so much
The noise will probably be the bathroom fan but I can set up a another larger bonding pen in a quieter room, should I be doing the bonding sessions every day for half an hour to an hour?
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No, when you are testing the relationship, all you need is one bonding session to assess whether the bond is still viable or whether the conflict is boiling up very quickly. If it is the latter, then the bond has quite obviously failed.
You have already half the answer by your under-sow being happy to be away from her dominant sister, so there is a problem there.
 
I realised watching these back I forgot to put a cover over the pen and any noise in the video wasn’t actually in the room
 
Hi

There is not much in the way of interaction. The one with the white crest is very tense and nervous; the other one is more relaxed and very tentatively friendly. That is about all I can read from your video clips.

See how they are together in the cage but please remove any housing with only one entrance and any dead corners the under-girl can get caught in.
 
Just put my pigs together and the dominant pig is popcorning non stop, both are eating and I haven’t witnessed and teeth chattering or rearing, the only issue I have at the moment is the dominant pig following the other around the cage constantly
 
GlimmerandGreta said:
Just put my pigs together and the dominant pig is popcorning non stop, both are eating and I haven’t witnessed and teeth chattering or rearing, the only issue I have at the moment is the dominant pig following the other around the cage constantly
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Just leave her to settle down with her excitement but the more dominant one is striking me as a very insecure piggy at heart while her sister is obviously more the peacemaker.

Things were getting out of hand the other day but the bond seems viable as long as the leader is respecting her sister's limits. That will be the crack point. But there doesn't seem any major aggression in it. See how things are by tomorrow.
 
Update:
It’s been about a week and things aren’t the best but they aren’t the worst, my dominant girl is still being overly domineering and my littler girl still seems skittish around her, they can sometimes share a space but they most often are distancing themselves. Things aren’t looking hopeful but I’m honestly just taking it day by day.
 
GlimmerandGreta said:
Update:
It’s been about a week and things aren’t the best but they aren’t the worst, my dominant girl is still being overly domineering and my littler girl still seems skittish around her, they can sometimes share a space but they most often are distancing themselves. Things aren’t looking hopeful but I’m honestly just taking it day by day.
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Ah it’s tough isn’t it - they might still be ‘settling down’ and piggies always have little moments
My boars have been bonded for a year but now and again the gentler older pig will boss the younger one
The younger one will annoy the older one by trying to steal his food while he’s eating it etc
Try not to worry hopefully it’ll work out just fine 🥰
 
GlimmerandGreta said:
Update:
It’s been about a week and things aren’t the best but they aren’t the worst, my dominant girl is still being overly domineering and my littler girl still seems skittish around her, they can sometimes share a space but they most often are distancing themselves. Things aren’t looking hopeful but I’m honestly just taking it day by day.
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If they are choosing not to interact, and one piggy appears uncomfortable around the other then I think I would be inclined to call it unsuccessful and separate them. You don’t want your skittish piggy to be living in an environment where she is being bullied - things won’t improve in a bullying case, they tend to just get worse
 
Another update I didn’t see this I apologise but I’ve kept them together and as of recently they’ve been sharing space and hides quite well
 
But of course things can always change and I’ll be ready to separate if behaviour declines again
 
Piggies&buns said:
If they are choosing not to interact, and one piggy appears uncomfortable around the other then I think I would be inclined to call it unsuccessful and separate them. You don’t want your skittish piggy to be living in an environment where she is being bullied - things won’t improve in a bullying case, they tend to just get worse
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Also wanted to clarify that the only place they weren’t sharing was the hides
 
Also any spats they are having there’s no teeth chattering or overly aggressive behaviour and my subordinate pig isn’t being a push over
 
GlimmerandGreta said:
Another update I didn’t see this I apologise but I’ve kept them together and as of recently they’ve been sharing space and hides quite well
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I take this back the dominant one was reluctant to go into the hide with the subordinate pig and then the subordinate pig ran out of the hide squeaking very quickly
 
GlimmerandGreta said:
I take this back the dominant one was reluctant to go into the hide with the subordinate pig and then the subordinate pig ran out of the hide squeaking very quickly
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Hi

It is very normal not to share hides. Unlike rats or mice, guinea pigs actually don't sleep snuggled up in a nest; they have their own little nooks and crannies in their denning area. Chucking under-piggies out of huts is throwing their weight around dominance behaviour behaviour from the dominant sow. Is she coming into season again?
 
Yes I believe so but the dominant behaviour is constant but never over the top and it never escalates to teeth chattering, but they can get along, as of just now they’re side by side in the hide
 
It’s been a while since I’ve updated and I’m afraid they still don’t like being around each other that much and the dominance behaviours are still present. I’ve been having to clean pee spray off the floor boards almost every day and the rumble strutting is still a constant. They don’t cuddle, groom each other or play, the most they get along is sharing hay with a little distance and sharing veggies. They also only share a hide when I accidentally scare them, I have to provide four hides when they have bonding time in their play pen. So I think it’s time to call it quits on the bonding if I’m being honest.
 
And I know these are all normal behaviours but there is no good behaviour accompanying it to balance it out
 
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