New sow introduction not so smooth!

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Kschuck

Post   » Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:36 pm


Hi, I have a 7.5 yr old spayed sow who lost her cage mate (unneutered boar) of 4 yrs recently. I wanted to get her company so I adopted a 5 yr old sow (not spayed) and introduced them in neutral territory. I don't have experience with bonding, but I watched some of LA guinea pig rescue videos, which seemed useful in seeing the behaviors that are expected and what to watch out for.

It seemed like things were going ok. The new pig was expressing dominance by rumble strutting and mounting. My older pig was totally accepting of the submissive role. I kept them in a neutral space for about 5 hours and then moved them into the existing space- I have an open C&C cage in part of a room, so they have a big space. They were there all day and it seemed the new sow was pretty relentless in mounting my older pig, but I wasn't sure if this is what normally happens. My poor older girl just wanted to be left alone- she kept crying out when she was getting mounted.

She was not challenging at all. My older pig is small and has some health issues so I weigh her alot and noticed she dropped nearly 25 g in 24 hrs and because I feel she can't afford to loose anymore weight, I decided to separate them. I don't know if the weight loss was a stress reaction but I think it probably was. I put a grid between them and the new sow relentlessly tried to get back to her.

She pulled and pulled on the grid with her teeth and was able to move it. I kept trying to secure the partition and she kept trying to get through. I was surprised at the level of determination that she displayed. I finally had to put up a solid heavier barrier, which I didn't want to do because I was hoping they could at least see each other. And still she seems focused on figuring out a way in. After reading as much as I can I was wondering if this is more a hormonal issue?

My older pig seems interested but she can't take that level of abuse. The former owner described this sow as laid-back but she has been a solo pig in a small Kaytee cage and a previous attempt to bond her with another sow failed because apparently she was the one getting bullied.
I made an appointment for the new pig to see my vet, but they are booked 3 weeks out.

I guess I am wondering if there is any hope these 2 can be together? Has anyone seen this kind of behavior?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Aug 11, 2020 10:03 pm


I broke up your long paragraphs into more paragraphs and added a space between paragraphs to improve readability. Please write future posts more readably.

Now I can go read your post to see if I have any ideas.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Aug 11, 2020 10:09 pm


You mentioned it possibly being a hormonal issue. Do you notice any signs of ovarian cysts? They can cause behavior changes. You are right to want to rule this out. Signs listed on this page:
https://www.guinealynx.info/ovarian_cysts.html

Have you read this page? It is our go to page for introductions.
https://www.guinealynx.info/introductions.html

Glad to see you are weighing your older guinea pig to try to tell how she is reacting. Making the living area more complex with breaks in visual fields (like string a long piece of fringed fleece across the space and using other tricks so your original guinea pig has more places to "hide" may help.

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