Bonding in a cage?

I'm getting closer to the exciting times of bonding Niles & Daphne! I am so nervous, I hope they like each other. I am moving my guinea pigs into a new cage soon & wondered if I could bond the buns in their old cage so it's neutral? I was going to use a pen, but my OH is worried about mess :/ I did think about using the base of the guinea pig cage, surrounded by the pen as opposed to the top of the cage so I can get in easier. Does this sound ok? Its a 150cm cage. It'll be a week and a half before I start trying to bond, Daphne should be 5 weeks post spay then.

Yes I am sure the cage will be fine. Good luck when the time comes.

I have never bonded any animals so take this advice with a pinch of salt maybe, ha ha, but the first thing that sprang to my mind was that if they are in a cage together and don't get on, there's nowhere to run to. Bloodbath springs to mind?! :shock:

I bonded my 4 in a xxl dog crate in the initial stage without any problems, but I did think that if there had been any issues I wouldn't have been able to intervene as quickly as if I'd have done it in a puppy pen.

I did think about putting the base of the cage on the floor & then surrounding it with a puppy pen? That way I can gradually increase the size of their bonding area too.. The cage is really tricky to get to certain parts of it (it's a nightmare to clean the back corners!! I'm only 5'4", I have to pretty much climb inside it to clean it! Not good if I have fighting buns..)

My Vet has advised that I can start bonding them now (Niles is 5.5yrs & Daphne is around 1yr, 3wks post spay). I can't do it just yet as I have things coming up, I need a completely free schedule for a few days, or someone who can watch them at least! So we won't be starting just yet.

This is what I'm thinking about doing for my trio, use a cage base and put the pen around it because the cage lid with the lid on is really short, then if all goes well and I can expand I'll ditch the cage base and just use puppy pads and hay on the floor of the puppy pen.

Well.. I tried a bunny date last night, just to see if they'd get on. It didn't go well. Niles attacked her 3 times The first two times weren't too bad, he boxed her a bit. But the third time he went in to bite. I'm glad I tried them together, I guess that answers a lot of my questions! Neither of them are depressed alone so I will leave them as they are for now. It's such a shame.. I was really hoping they would be happy together. Niles is just a bit too grumpy!

Oh dear I'd maybe try again when Daphne is at least 6 weeks post spay and in a totally neutral area, see if it works next time. I would pick a time when you can observe them for a week or so, If they are ok together I would leave them together so they aren't starting from scratch each time.

Don't give up at all!

Give them some time and try again