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Guinea pig bonding UD Success :)

Liz47

Wise Old Thumper
We adopted Marcie after Ellie lost her partner Arnie, she has settled in well so started bonding this afternoon. My one and only experience of bonding piggies went very well, Ellie and Arnie just sniffed each other than sat and ate their veg and went to sleep! Growing up we had two separate female piggy cages but used to let them mix randomly on the floor during clean outs (before we knew any better!) and they got on well. Sadly it looks like Ellie appears to be a bit of a bully and will take longer to welcome Marcie. Both have been teeth chattering, puffing up, going sidewides towards eachother and fighting were they lock and roll. So we tried to end todays meet on a good note while they were sat munching and back to their own cages to settle and will swap bedding and do daily meets for now. Marcie is a lovely pig, I hope they will both come round soon!

IMG_20180527_153323872 by Hliz, on Flickr

IMG_20180527_145518152 by Hliz, on Flickr

IMG_20180526_192256669 by Hliz, on Flickr
 
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Lovely piggies :love: I hope that they settle and start to like each other soon. Glad that you seem to have sorted the transport for Marcie.
 
We adopted Marcie after Ellie lost her partner Arnie, she has settled in well so started bonding this afternoon. My one and only experience of bonding piggies went very well, Ellie and Arnie just sniffed each other than sat and ate their veg and went to sleep! Growing up we had two separate female piggy cages but used to let them mix randomly on the floor during clean outs (before we knew any better!) and they got on well. Sadly it looks like Ellie appears to be a bit of a bully and will take longer to welcome Marcie. Both have been teeth chattering, puffing up, going sidewides towards eachother and fighting were they lock and roll. So we tried to end todays meet on a good note while they were sat munching and back to their own cages to settle and will swap bedding and do daily meets for now. Marcie is a lovely pig, I hope they will both come round soon!

IMG_20180527_153323872 by Hliz, on Flickr

IMG_20180527_145518152 by Hliz, on Flickr

IMG_20180526_192256669 by Hliz, on Flickr


Good luck with the bonding Liz - those piggies do look quite similar, don't they?

I hope Ellie settles down and becomes more accepting of Marcie. Those are lovely photos :love:
 
Oooh - they are beautiful cavies. Such adorable colours - very unique and I hope that you are successful with the bonding.
 
Yikes... Sorry to sound pessimistic, but I don't like the sound of this bond! I really hope it works out for you.
 
Thank you all :love: SarahP I am shocked at their behaviour, trying to read up on it it seems quite rare for two females to act like this. I don't want either to be unhappy, I adopted Marcie for Ellie so she wouldn't be alone, but want the best for the new piggy too so hope they both have a positive interaction tomorrow.
 
If they dont get on you could always have a divider in their pen so that they can still interact. Hope it all works out for them.
 
Aww they are gorgeous little piggies ❤️ I really hope they'll be able to live happily together.

Come on lady piggies, I thought you guys were supposed to be the easy ones to bond!


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If they dont get on you could always have a divider in their pen so that they can still interact. Hope it all works out for them.

Yes, I think that's probably the better way of getting used to each other than sudden interactions. Although, are their cages right next to each other?

What worries me about this bond is that both seem to want to be dominant - one of them needs to concede to the other's dominance. They may both be too feisty for each other. Obviously I hope I'm wrong!
 
They are side by side at the moment, before the end of yesterdays meet Marcie was teeth chattering less and ignoring or avoiding Ellie, sadly it looked like Ellie just ignored this but I hope it means Marcie has accepted Ellie as being dominat?
 
How long have they been next to each other? I think it is going to take these two a long time to accept each other, if they are going to. Every time you have to stop the meeting you risk going back to square one, although I know you've got to be very sure they are OK before leaving them to it!

I don't personally think female pigs are easy bonds. Easier than rabbits, yes, but I do think the personalities have to be right: either two easy going pigs, or one dominant and one submissive obviously works well. You've obviously got two fairly feisty pigs there (one especially), but they will also be reacting to the stress of the new bond.
 
They've been next to eachother for 24 hours before actually meeting, then we started the bond in neutral pen and separated about 6pm last night. Been back in their own cages next to eachother since with bedding and toys swapping round as I've been at work since 10am this morning and finished an hour ago so they've been unable to go into the bonding pen today. I don't want to keep separating them as don't want to set them back, I finish work weds afternoon and am off Thursdays so potentially they could have an overnight stay together then fully supervised. I noticed a lot of yawning coming from both pigs yesterday, I think I read that was a bad sign?
 
They've been next to eachother for 24 hours before actually meeting, then we started the bond in neutral pen and separated about 6pm last night. Been back in their own cages next to eachother since with bedding and toys swapping round as I've been at work since 10am this morning and finished an hour ago so they've been unable to go into the bonding pen today. I don't want to keep separating them as don't want to set them back, I finish work weds afternoon and am off Thursdays so potentially they could have an overnight stay together then fully supervised. I noticed a lot of yawning coming from both pigs yesterday, I think I read that was a bad sign?


Gracious Liz you've done a 12 hour shift?

Regards the piggies and yawning ... I came across this years ago when I was bonding piggies. I had to refresh my memory and came up with this:

Guinea pigs will yawn for one of two reasons. Firstly, a yawn will come on as your furry little friend is getting ready for a kip or is feeling relaxed. They may also yawn as a way of showing their teeth at another cavy. Don’t be alarmed by this behaviour though, as it is their way of showing dominance in a non-aggressive way.


How's your foot held up today?
 
I've heard that about yawning too, but never witnessed it. I've got everything crossed this works out.
 
Apologies for the late update on this thread. We took the bonding very slowly, we had them in a large pen in our room for 4 nights before adding bits like the food bowl and toys. The first night we had some chasing and teeth chattering etc but nothing like before and always Ellie would back down. So now it appears Marcie is the dominant pig and Ellie has accepted this! They're cage is still very bare, we daren't add the igloo or anything like that in atm but they have tunnels and plenty of hay to hide in. Both popcorn regularly, which we never used to see Ellie do actually, and they sleep next to one another. I'm very surprised but happy :love:

34268726_1671760832920899_8435685510193610752_n by Hliz, on Flickr

34189477_1671760769587572_5349071816558116864_n by Hliz, on Flickr
 
Apologies for the late update on this thread. We took the bonding very slowly, we had them in a large pen in our room for 4 nights before adding bits like the food bowl and toys. The first night we had some chasing and teeth chattering etc but nothing like before and always Ellie would back down. So now it appears Marcie is the dominant pig and Ellie has accepted this! They're cage is still very bare, we daren't add the igloo or anything like that in atm but they have tunnels and plenty of hay to hide in. Both popcorn regularly, which we never used to see Ellie do actually, and they sleep next to one another. I'm very surprised but happy :love:

34268726_1671760832920899_8435685510193610752_n by Hliz, on Flickr

34189477_1671760769587572_5349071816558116864_n by Hliz, on Flickr


How lovely :love:
 
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