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Follow Dot’s Guinea Pig Introduction Story:
Today marks the fifth day of attempting to introduce Dot to the rest of the HappyCavy Herd. It has been a long and arduous process.
As we wrote in a previous post, Dot’s entrance to the HappyCavy Forever Home was postponed after Dot attacked Buttercup in the fifth hour of introductions on Day #1.
Since Introduction Day #1, Dot has spent nearly every day with her new family, except at nights when she was separated and put into a cage alongside the HappyCavy Forever Home.
Out of the entire 5 day process, yesterday was the most traumatic. Shortly into yesterday’s introduction attempt, things got rather ugly. Within just several hours of Dot spending time with her new sisters, she took a sudden, violent lunge at Buttercup that resulted in Buttercup suffering two cuts on her mouth.
This was the second time Dot had displayed aggression towards Buttercup, the first time being Introduction Day #1 when Human #2 was bit by Dot as he intervened to prevent an attack.
After seeing this most recent attack unfold, Human #1 quickly threw a towel over Dot to stop her.
The Humans’ eyes quickly darted around the cage, looking for Buttercup. She quickly scurried away and hide near the kitchen area. Buttercup had suffered a large-sized cut on her nose and her bottom lip.
The cuts were quite bloody — The Humans sprang into action. They scooped up Cups, calmed her down, and cleaned off her wounds. They applied a few dabs of antibiotic ointment and waited several minutes to ensure that the bleeding had stopped.
Needless to say, Dot was separated for the rest of the day and the Herd was given a chance to calm down. Conventional “guinea pig wisdom” dictates that a herd should not be separated until their hierarchy has been determined. However, The Humans didn’t feel safe during any of the 5 introduction days to leave Dot alone overnight, and so separated her in a next-door-neighbor cage set-up.
Despite the constant interruptions to integration, today Dot have been getting along splendidly with her new family. Save for a few minor arguments, there have not been any major altercations.
Guinea pig introductions can be a challenge, and this introduction is no exception. Admittedly, the Humans have made some mistakes along the way, and we’re reminded that nobody, human or fuzzy, is perfect.
We will be writing more about our experience with guinea pig introductions: what The Humans did right and how they can improve with future guinea pig introductions. Please continue to check back on Dot’s introduction story!
Follow Dot’s Guinea Pig Introduction Story:
We adopted a single piggy from a friend whose family no longer wanted her. She was beautiful and sweet and everything we could want in a pet. But, she was lonely. So, we worked with the local rescue and had to try pairing about four times before she finally found a companion that she was satisfied with. There were a few piggies that she liked, but they didn’t like her, and vice versa. So, after about 8 piggy pairing attempts, we found her companion (finally.) It can be difficult and I can’t imagine introducing a piggy without all the process we did … it’s pretty surprising at how opinionated these little critters can be. Good luck!
I was watching the webcam tonight and it looked like Dot was doing great. 🙂 Her and Buttercup were right by eachother the whole time I was watching. So cute. I can tell that Dot has a big personality in that little body.
This made my heart drop when I saw the picture of Buttercup!
Hi All, I just lost one of my two sows in June so I’m looking for two more to have a little herd of 3 in the end. I haven’t done introductions yet so I’m watching this with intense interest. As far as I can tell, mostly it eventually works out. After all, you all have done this pre-Dot with several pigs and it seems to be calming down here with Dot now.
I’ve only been watching a lot these last few days so don’t have the whole picture. I notice that Feebee is staying upstairs a lot. Maybe this is just the way she is naturally or maybe it has to do with Dot? Either way, does she have food and water up there? In the end, if not, this can create a situation where she doesn’t have access? I know human #1 and human #2 are quite attentive and probably weigh each member of the herd so would notice if there was something going on. Just a thought that occurred to me.
Thanks so much. I have learned so much from your experiences.
Hi, there! Thanks so much for comment, you’ve asked some great questions!
Feebee isn’t normally so shy and skittish, which is why The Humans are becoming increasingly worried as to Dot’s compatibility with the rest of us. In fact, Feebee was the bully during her introduction process.
The Humans are keeping a separate supply of pellets, hay, and water on the second level since Feebee, and even Hammy, are spending a lot more time there.
Guinea pig introductions do usually work out well, after much patience from Human and fuzzy alike. …But sometimes they don’t go so well. It will be interesting to see how Dot’s story works out! We are hoping for the best!
We love you for commenting, thanks for keeping up with this story! 😀
You’re right, they were getting along quite well for a while! Dot certainly does have quite a unique personality for such a tiny cavy 😀
just like whene my guinea pigs met. they were nice at first and then they started to hurt each other.