Bonding the trio to Treacle!

So this morning I went for it. I cleaned the entire cage, took out all cosies/hides and put the hay-tray in a different place.

Got a large storage box, filled with water and placed the 4 of them in there expecting mayhem. All sat and let me wash them, even snuggled in together to try and hide. Molly managed to escape twice, little madam! For those who don't know my pigs, Marley is black texel boy, Mabel is the little smooth tricolour, Molly is the tricolour swiss looking up and Treacle is the brown peruvian (she is the new girl)



Then they were all rinsed and placed in the 'drying box', once again I expected trouble and there was none (although of course Molly tried to escape numerous times!):




Then they all went back in the cage. There was nothing for a long while, then the squeaking and chattering started (I knew it was too good to be true!). From what I can interpret, Molly has completely sub missed to Treacle, it only took one little lunge/nip. Molly is now staying well clear and not joining in with any chattering or squeaking.

Then Treacle had a bit of a lunge with Mabel, then ran away.

She then went over to Marley a couple of times, got chattered at and ran away. One time she got a bit close and he literally flew at her! Little nip, and she ran away. Im pretty sure that Marley has asserted his dominance over her now after that lunge.

At the moment, the only trouble is coming from Mabel and Treacle, they don't seem to have sorted out who is 2nd and 3rd pig yet, and there is a lot of squeaking and chattering and a few lunges, but nothing more serious than that. There are times where there is complete silence, then one will start squeaking/chattering and the other will start. They are both in the hay box, and Molly and Marley are the other end of the cage staying out of it!

Current state of affairs - all three girls in the hay box. Bouts of squeaking but a lot of quiet and much less chattering, 30 mins in!

:shock: I know nothing about guineas , is that how they are bonded? Love how they are having a bath together!

Hope it continues well. What a massive set-up they have there!

AnnieElms said:

:shock: I know nothing about guineas , is that how they are bonded? Love how they are having a bath together!

Hope it continues well. What a massive set-up they have there!

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It's all different to bonding rabbits!

The general way of doing it is by bathing all of them together, this is so they smell the same and means there is less chance of disagreements. Bathing guineas is something that is recommended doing every 2 months or so - as they have hair rather than fur, they are prone to mites and so bathing regularly helps this (unlike rabbits where bathing them is very stressful and not needed).

Having a larger space for guineas is better, whereas with rabbits a smaller space is recommended. They make a hell of a lot of noise while sorting out the hierarchy :lol: but it rarely will descend into a full blown fight. Sounds scary at times though!!!

catherine09 said:

It's all different to bonding rabbits!

The general way of doing it is by bathing all of them together, this is so they smell the same and means there is less chance of disagreements. Bathing guineas is something that is recommended doing every 2 months or so - as they have hair rather than fur, they are prone to mites and so bathing regularly helps this (unlike rabbits where bathing them is very stressful and not needed).

Having a larger space for guineas is better, whereas with rabbits a smaller space is recommended. They make a hell of a lot of noise while sorting out the hierarchy :lol: but it rarely will descend into a full blown fight. Sounds scary at times though!!!

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I never knew it was so different to buns! I learned something today :thumb:.

They are all lovely. I hope they all fall for each other

I have separated Treacle from the others as I think she was getting a bit overwhelmed by it all - Mabel and her were having bouts of chasing and I think she was tired - sat in a corner not really moving at all and loud squeaking when anyone came close.

She's been back in her cage 5 mins and is already back to normal, so I think she just needed a bit of a break. Will re-commence with bonding tomorrow