Introducing Lola…

A conversation taken from the Guinea Pig Welfare Facebook page (with permission) about introducing guinea pigs to each other when you are faced with having to introduce rather than the ideal situation where the guineas choose…

Lola

“I am looking for advice please on methods you may have used which worked when bonding guineas. I am trying to bond my widowed 3 1/2 yr old Lola with a pair of beautiful bonded sisters who are approx 10 months. Tried towel method and neutral territory both ended up with Lola and one sister face lunging so separated immediately. Thanks in advance.”

“How did you go about the introduction process the first time?”

“I made a pen out of a big cardboard TV box (approx 1.5m square) put in a freshly washed cover and lots of piles of food plus some Pigloos. Next I put all the girls in and they all hid so I decided to take the Pigloos out. They all stood still, staring at each other for ages then Lola went for a wander over to the sisters and started sniffing. Face licking ensued between Lola and Princess Piglet, Pepsi, Piglet’s sister just lay there looking bored! Then Lola picked up some parsley, began to eat it and Piglet decided to grab the rest of it from her mouth.
Then it all went wrong teeth chattering started then Piglet started going for Lola’s face, really snapping at her and Lola was going back at her so I threw a towel over Piglet and moved Lola out of the way. This happened again so I put the Pigloos back in and they all hid again then came out and sniffed a little then the teeth chattering and head raising started again – then Piglet lunged at Lola so I towelled her again and called it a night!”

“Ordinarily I would advise letting Lola choose her friend but it isn’t always like that! I put them in an open neutral run with heaps of hay and go from there. Some will get on immediately others need time, use your judgement but they do kind of need to work things out as well so let behaviour happen. If all isn’t going well. calmly separate them and try again in a bare neutral run (save for heaps of hay!). This time separate them before it all goes wrong (if you feel that is the right thing to do), that way they have some positive time together, make a note of the time they are together so you have an idea of progress. Gradually introduce houses/fiddlestix/Pigloos etc. Rescue Remedy is useful for guineas and humans too.”

“Got the pen out again yesterday for some playtime and I only put in piles of fresh hay this time. I cuddled each piggy for a while before putting them in the pen so they were all calm. Lola was purring like a cat! Put them all in the pen, they all hid in hay then Lola started chattering…..lots of bum nips, squeaking and chasing followed, all the chasing and nipping was done by Lola! Then something strange happened in that Princess, the piggy who she was face lunging with, suddenly crouched down flat as Lola was chasing her! Then Lola started licking her bum and looked like she was “soft dropping”pinching! This happened a few times until they both lay together eating hay!! Pepsi her sister just hid in a corner and went to sleep at one point, then Lola woke her up by nipping her bum then they started chasing each other! They played for around an hour then Lola curled up in some hay and went to sleep! I am so pleased!! Looking forward to today’s play session and hope it goes well again! How many play sessions do you think are needed before I put the new sisters into Lola’s C and C pen and try them there? The sisters are in a Ferplast cage and as Lola is in a C and C pen I cannot put cages side to side so they can see each other.”

“Remember this behaviour has to happen. You will also get “behaviour” when you introduce them to Lola’s pen but it all passes eventually. I have only introduced rescues on neutral territory, when I introduce newbies to my herd they go straight in the pen because I know my own guineas- Zen will always prod and poke the newbie and test their patience the others are fine. Zen really pushed it when I introduced Breeze and Mr. Fantastic stepped up and actually stood between the two sows. All is fine now, Zen still has a little pop but Breeze is secure in her new surroundings and just puts her head down and ignores her rather than retaliating out of fear. If you want you could take the top off of the Ferplast and put the new people under it in the C and C pen? You need to gauge things and do what you think is right and when you think it’s right, they’ll let you know, but do expect some “behaviour” to happen!”

“The girls are now all in Lola’s C and C pen! Playtime today went fabulously! Little bit of teeth chattering from Lola and a couple of bum nips and then they all went to sleep together! The sisters seem to back off from her or just stand still and wheek when she teeth chattered so I am guessing Lola has told them she is top pig! Girls all seem fine now; put them in C and C pen around 2pm and no incidents! Do you think they have settled in now? Sisters love the big pen and were popcorning around! Lola was acting like a spoilt child wherever the sisters were she wanted to be so would oof them out!”

“Yeah am sure they’ll settle into a group, Lola sounds a bit bewildered by it all but she’ll be fine. I never really know whether those making all the fuss (Zen in my group) are the underpigs trying to establish themselves/fight for their place or are the top pigs, I am pretty sure that in Zen’s case she is bottom pig hence all the insecurity when a new Pigson is introduced but whatever! Enjoy your herd!”

“I clucked like a mother hen last night and got up several times to check on them all! Last check at 5 am and they were all snuggled up together under the dog bed! All good today too so I am very happy! Shed a few tears yesterday as Lola hasn’t uttered a wheek or squeak since Peppa went to the Bridge. She never even squeaked for numnums like she used to. No matter how many cuddles she had with me she looked terribly sad Since her adopted sisters have been in her pen with her she hasn’t stopped chatting! It’s been very hard for me after losing Peppa so suddenly and I still have some bad days but I know that her new adopted sisters will look after her and Pepps is still looking down on her. One is never enough! Loving my new herd and will post some pigtures for you. Thanks again for the help.”

BIG thank you to Nicola for letting me retell her story. I think real life experiences are so important. Every introduction is going to be different and this makes it a very hard process to advise on so this is a very welcome addition to the website! 🙂