Introductions - when to stop a bonding?

Post Reply
JinHasPiggies

Post   » Mon Jul 01, 2019 12:52 am


Hi all, I looked through a bunch forum posts and videos and I just want to be reassured I'm doing the right thing. I also want to be descriptive as possible so you guys can easily point out if I did something wrong, so sorry in advance if it reads like a long blog post!

The background: Snowball is a 6-year-old sow who recently lost her partner Pip this past Tuesday. They had been together for 5 years, but they always had... an admittedly rocky relationship. She was depressed for a couple days and I had to help encourage her to keep eating. By Friday she seemed normal again and didn't lose much weight, but I was worried about leaving her alone for too long. This Saturday we went to a guinea pig rescue and I picked out a 1-year old female. The initial 15 minutes together went great, so we took her home.

Here's my setup: 2x4 C&C cage for morning and night, free-roaming in the living room during the afternoon and evenings. I power-washed my carpets the night before and changed out everything in the cage in the morning. There are two-hideys (double/multiple exits), two water bottles, and a long pellet bowl and I rearranged everything.

Snowball has always been an aggressive, dominant pig and I had doubts about a volunteer's claim that they become more docile as they get older. They told me I didn't need to do the "neutral ground" practice, but I tried ways to minimize the scents anyways. No quarantine either- I trust the rescue she comes from and they do really great health checks. I had also visited my personal vet two weeks ago for Snowball's check up. Also for reference- Snowball is around 1100g and the new one, Junebug, is 975g.

I let them do their domination practice- they raised noses, tried nipping at each other, chased around, fur pulling, teeth chattering, the whole sha-bang. I'm used to this because I've seen it happen twice with Snowball. The new pig, however, began lunging at Snowball and I would briefly stop them to check for injuries. For the most part though, they ate together fine and would be facing each other when they sat to relax. I even brought them to the couch with me and Junebug acted as the submissive (I did not interfere with Snowball biting her). When I transferred them to the cage, Snowball did her usual rumblestrutting and the new pig lunged at her yet again, but this time, completely missing her. They relaxed after this and slept facing each other in their separate cozies through the night.

This morning was not so great though. I have no idea what got on their nerves, but Snowball began doing the prolonged super loud teeth chattering. Junebug got on top of a tunnel cozy, took her position, and lunged at Snowball. This time, Snowball took a bite to the face and it drew blood. I separated them immediately and tended to her wound with saltwater and Neosporin (I cleaned it again moments later with hydrogen peroxide when I saw a cut on her mouth). I kept Snowball with me for an hour before putting her back in the cage to see what would happen. Snowball got chased and took some bites to the body, but wasn't seriously hurt.

When I brought them out to the living room, the new pig would get close to Snowball, she would run, and once she would turn around, both would get spooked and run far away from each other. Snowball is now refusing to eat with her and Junebug is eager to approach, but also runs away scared from her. I'm not hovering over them when this happens!

Luckily a family member came by to give me her extra cage, so I'm planning to keep them in separate cages tonight. Since Snowball came away injured, should I stop trying to bond them altogether? I know this happens a lot with boars, so does the same apply for really aggressive females? Did I get a new pig too soon? Did I not do enough neutralizing their space? I've been feeling overwhelmed and I'm not over Pip's death yet, but I don't want to give up so easily.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:40 am


I don't think you tried to get a new pig too soon. Their personalities might not fit (don't know). People with more experience than I have matching guinea pigs will give better advice. With the injuries, separating them does make sense right now.

Do not use hydrogen peroxide. The salt water (warm sterile saline solution is best) for flushing the wound is good. If you use Neosporin, do so extremely sparingly. If your guinea pig licks it off, the antibiotics can badly affect the digestive system. Do a thorough look over for more injuries. Watch for infection (warm to touch, tender, etc.). You might consider making their normal cage much bigger, breaking it up visually with fringed fleece if/when you try to bond them again.

Also examine Snowball for possible hormonal issues which could partly explain her aggressive behavior.
https://www.guinealynx.info/ovarian_cysts.html

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Jul 01, 2019 9:40 am


Also, start again, this time with a large neutral area. No hideys, just piles of food. Leave them in there all day if you have to. Rewash the cage and everything in it, including wiping down all the wires. Remove anything that can't be washed, least temporarily.

When you put them back in the cage, no hideys there either. Fleece forests or fleece clipped across the corners of the cage will break up the lines of sight.

Give them a buddy bath, and put a teeny drop of vanilla on each nose before you put them back in.

JinHasPiggies

Post   » Mon Jul 01, 2019 12:15 pm


Ah I see, the saltwater makes sense since its so close to her face. So far the scabbing is normal and she's eating fine, just shaken up by the ordeal. Her ears were really warm though, but I'm not sure if that's because she had woken up from sleeping. I made a vet appointment for tonight just to give myself peace of mind.

I've also tried to get a hormonal test years ago for Snowball but the vets turned me down for saying the tests would be too expensive and unnecessary for an otherwise healthy pig. She has no other symptoms of ovarian cysts other than the aggression.

I'll try again tomorrow and give everything a good wipe down today. Thanks for the advice bpatters, the vanilla trick sounds new to me and I will give it a try.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Jul 01, 2019 12:21 pm


They regulate their body temperatures through their ears. Unless they're very red all the time when the temperature isn't unduly hot, it's nothing to worry about.

My vet charges less than $100 for an ultrasound.

JinHasPiggies

Post   » Mon Jul 01, 2019 3:07 pm


The summer heat finally arrived in Southern California, but no red ears so far. I could just be paranoid after all! I will ask about the ultrasound though.

samim21

Post   » Mon Jul 01, 2019 5:01 pm


You might consider keeping your gals in separate cages within view of each other if you don't have success in bonding them. I was in the same situation as you a little over a year ago. My gal's cagemate passed away and I decided to get her a new buddy. I tried introducing them many times (even tried buddy baths, though I believe those are no longer recommended). They always popped off immediately, lunging at each other, tornadoing (terrible to watch) and drew blood a few times. Some guinea pigs just do not like each other.

However, I found that my girls really like being in view of each other. I separated them completely (with cages in different rooms) once, but they both got completely upset. They are now in side by side cages and enjoy staring at each other through the bars lol.

That might be a solution for you as well. My gals really like being in proximity to each other without invading each others territories.

You could also consider bringing your gals to a shelter for guinea pig speed dating. Some shelters will let your pig interact with one or two pigs they have up for adoption to see if they will get along. Though I love my gals, I wish I had done this initially.

If you've tried introductions a couple times and they keep drawing blood, they are probably not a good fit for each other. But, like I said, side by side cages might work for you! It reduces loneliness without the aggression (at least in my experience with older females).

Good luck and I hope you find what works for your piggies!

JinHasPiggies

Post   » Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:40 pm


Yeah, I've tried the buddy bath thing with Snowball on her previous partner, but I didn't see a change in anything.I would have to try the vanilla trick bpatters mentioned earlier. And I had just given her a bath two weeks ago, so I'm holding it off as the last, last resort.

I'm doing the side-by-side cage method right now, so I'll monitor their behavior. Glad to know you've been in a similar situation, samim! I don't want to force them to be together if they don't want to, but we'll see how things pan out.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Mon Jul 01, 2019 10:55 pm


Two of my boars have the same issue with bonding. They waste no time going after each other and drawing blood. They'll never bond, but they enjoy laying together with the wire cage between them. They sniff noses and show every sign of friendship as long as the cage is between them. It's true that some guinea pigs just aren't meant to be bonded; male or female.

Post Reply