Guinea Pig Boy Bonding with Saskia 

Sushi: WhAt HaS HaPpEned To mE

the piggies in the background look so interested that they look like they are watching a reality tv series hahaha

warning ⚠️: don’t watch this while holding one of your pigs !!!! they will go crazy 😂

Your fence had me more nervous than the actual bonding.

Sushi looks so traumatized lol thanks for the video it’s super fascinating

I like this video because it shows negative behavior too. Too often you will see one of these videos of a pair of bonded pigs and they don't show you any of the negative behavior.

Sushi said "get me out of here!!!!"

I love watching the way they interact, the body language, the sounds, going back and forth. I think for a good bonding its a matter of finding 2 boars with the exact same temperament so that neither one is overly dominant or submissive. I think then they just decide to call a truce and live in peace. The little "punch" you mentioned made me laugh because my one girl does that to me when she doesn't like what I'm doing, usually cleaning her cage, she's very possessive of her 💩💩 and gets mad when I take it away. Weirdo.

Just like people, personality clashes happen and there are some people you just can't get along with no matter how hard you try. There are also good matches where you just click, too. So I see it like that 😊

Make an appointment and all the volunteers are happy and excited to find your Piggies new friends

you are such a wise and relaxed woman, saskia. you really know, what you are talking about. very nice video! 👍🌸🤗🌸

i remember we just put them in the cage and the new one was mounted like ten times then when we let them eat a pile of grass together they immediately snuggled up after a huge feast haha

… a whole world of communication when two boys get together! 😁

I had boys only for 5 years now. Did the bonding game countless times. some boys couples lasted for months before falling apart regardless of age some didn't last more than a day and some stays friends forever. Always in large c&c cages with plenty of everything to avoid arguments. One of my single boys, Harry always plays submissive for a week and after that time turns dominant and aggressive, never lasted longer than 2 weeks with any friend. My way for single boys is massive c&c cage split in the middle so each boy can have neighbour to talk to and share meals with while keeping his own territory, All are calm and happy. Good luck with Your piggie bonding and don't give up one them to quickly. Sending loads of love to all L.A. Guinea pigs and their amazing care takers.

Seeing this makes it all the more clearer that I made the right choice when I kept 2 of my girls separated from my other girls. The two alpha females went into a full on tussle flying at each other in a fury, and both of them bit the other. I tried a few more times with different approaches but it was clear that they were absolutely out for blood and hated each other. Really sad. However, I have them each in a midwest side by side, with a wooden "fence" between them. They actually lay next to each other sometimes on each side of the fence, which is hilarious. Just don't remove that fence....lol!

I discovered you through the dodo and my mom actually used to teach at a school near your rescue in chatsworth. But my aunt rescues guinea pigs in ridgecrest CA. So i have had little guys like this for years. I just wanted to say thank you for showing people how to care for them and how they are as pets. So many kids get them and don’t treat them well. I seriously loved mine. I had 3 named named Harry Ron and Hermione. I appreciate the time you’ve spent learning about them and the fact you sometimes know more than vets about their behaviors! Keep up the great work and I’m definitely donating to this because you’re doing great work.

I am so lucky, I used to have a male trio that didn't work out (two of the boys were fighting the third one, but they were all completely fine in any kinds of pairs with eachoter) But then hen I had another trio with 3 different male piggies, they never fought. One of them passed, I adopted two more and now I have 4 males together. It's all about their personality.

imagine 2 humans doing this in a job interview xD

You should have a tour of your shelter and all the cages and stuff

I love Sushi's coloring, gorgeous. Great video, as per usual 💜

I find GP bonding fascinating! Thanks for sharing, guys. x

Super informative and fascinating to watch ! Thank you very much for this video 👍❤️

FINALLY YOU DO THIS VIDEO!! THANK YOU SASKIA!!💖

This is so funny 😂 I love your confidence in these little piggy’s bonding time!

I absolutely love everything you all do at the rescue, you all are amazing! Your videos are very educational and I look forward to your videos! Thank you for helping all these piggies! Love you Saskia!! I wish I lived closer to California so I could come and adopt a piggie or 2 or 3.

I introduced my one year old male, (Bean) to my six month old male, (Coco) There was humping for only about five minutes and my six month old let it happen. They are best friends now! Bean is like Cocos father ❤️

Thank you Miss Saskia, This is the most educational Piggy bonding video on The Tube!!

Thank you so much for this video! I adopted a single boy from our shelter a year ago. I recently bought him a larger cage and wanted to adopt another boy to hopefully have a bonded pair of boys. Success! The shelter had another single boy that I adopted last week. Using your bonding method the boys bonded and are doing great! They are both so happy to have a friend. Thank you for your detailed videos!

These videos have been so helpful as we venture into the world of guinea pigs.

Your videos have helped me so much. I had guinea pigs growing up (one at a time) but now that I’m older I’ve relied on your channel so much for giving my boar the best life. A few days ago I got him a brother and have been using your channel as a basis for my introduction. Been keeping them separate but today put them in a play pen to see how things went. Your advice taught me what was normal and what behaviors to look out for. Thank you!

It is so nice that you take the interest to deep dive into a species like this, then educate us all with your knowledge. I’m learning so much! Thank You!

This is super interesting ! Thank you very much for all your real time explainations !

Love your videos. My daughter enjoys watching and learning.

That was a fun lesson, thank you. It’s very interesting to see how the piggies communicate with each other. Much more to it then initially saw. :) take care.

This was really useful! I've never dared try 2 males together.

Thank you Saskia!

This was so helpful💞💞 Thanks so much for all the help with bonding. I fill more confidence about my male guinea pig getting a friend.💞👍🏻🐹

I am watching so many bonding videos as my other guinea pig is getting a friend. He lost his friend on the 19th of March 2020 and it hit our family hard, we’ve come to a point we’re I can talk about with with no pain and just great memories. Put other guinea pig is getting lonely so we think it’s the best time now. We are collecting him tomorrow and I couldn’t be more happy for my other guinea pig. Fly high Theo ❤️

The best situation is when you have 2 (or more) brothers. That's my case, we have 2 🤭 They were born at ~ same time => no fighting, instant friendship, happy fellows 😍 Well, they still chatter and one of them is dominant, but hey, they don't ever fight!

Thank you so much for this information. I just came home from my local SPCA for a meet and greet with my GP and one they had for adoption. Your info was so helpful for both me and the staff. No match for the two boys but now we know. The staff there took a video too as it was their first time having a guinea pig bonding attempt at their shelter.

I keep watching Saskia bonding videos. I think we need more bonding videos!! Please do more!!! 🙏

Just stumbled accross your channel and love it. Have had guinea pigs all my life, rescued many and currently about to find my boy a new friend. Even though i knew some of this info and have done many introductions i found it extremely helpful and im so glad you're showing people. It can take a while and a lot of patience..esp with boys. Couldnt have found this clip at a better time. Thank you for showing the world what all us guinea pig ppl already know..how awesome they are. Will def subscribe.

Thank you for great video!

Girl bondings are sooo much easier in my experience!

Love you guys 🖤

This helped a lot thank you

Glad you did this video my younger guinea pig likes to every so often get on top like these boys were doing but they get along good for the most part now I know its normal.

Great info!

So cute

I'm learning so much from you.!

Very interesting video. We all hoped, but in time, I'm sure they can each find a buddy. I'm happy no one was hurt :) ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

As someone who definitely has experience with bonding piggies I agree 100% with Saskia. I however use a dust pan folks I HAVE PERSONALLY BEEN BIT WHILE SEPERATING 2 MALES it was lighting quick I did it with out thinking and 6 HOURS IN THE ER AND SEVERAL STICHES ON MY FINGER shewwww ALWAYS BE ON GUARD when doing this. USE THAT DUSTPAN GUYS as a barrier. I would try a younger boar with him myself. That smell is like Skunking each other YASSSS it stinks.

Saskia I'll say it again, you are a Saint! I was so stressed the whole time! 😂 I can't wait to see one that goes well. Tfs! ❤🐹😘

First!!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂 you're a genius .thank you for sharing your knowledge

This is very helpful thank you I just purchased a neutered male guinea pig from you guys and it seemed like he didn’t love the ladies until I heard of this method! 😄

Very helpful! thanks!

You are AWESOME !!!

Really interesting Saskia, thanks

Hello and many greatings from germany🙋‍♀️ This video is sooooo interesting to watch the behavior of the two piggies👍 Thank you

Thank you so much , after this video I successfully bonded my adult male and my baby male together!!

My oldest male just passed away yesterday, had him put to sleep after battling to get him to eat for a couple days, with nothing to show for it but two sleepless nights of syringe feedings and weight loss and him just lying there passively. He was done. I speculate the pain of his arthritic rear legs was too much to bear. I used the cbd every 3 or 4 hours but he was so locked up he must have hurt a lot. He even dragged his legs a few times and had trouble getting them under his body. The xrays showed the damage in his legs. You could see it. Im gonna misss that guy a lot. For years I started each day by waking to him ringing the bell in the boys side of the pen, for breakfast lettuce. This morning it was silent and that was when I realized how big a part of my life that bell had been. He rang for me each morning, and rang it as soon as i stepped in the house after work. ( And lots of times when I was home!) He had a male friend on his side of the pen, a young fella. The girls are next door seperated by mesh so they can kiss through it, and sometimes have carefully supervised visitations. So this video is perfectly timed, as little Ronnie Red will need a new friend. My impression of boys dwelling together is you need two components. 1 A mismatch in strength, age, or willfull temperment so that one pig agrees the other can be top dog ( top pig?) 2 A gentle temperment in the dominant pig so that they dont use that position to abuse the other pig. #1 you can venture a guess by looking at them before trying....but.... #2 you just dont know until you try, and has to be observed over time. I mean several weeks. So anyway, perfectly timed vid. Ill be taking this up eventually, just need some time to recover from losing my friend. RIP Kirito-San, my little bellringer. I'll always love you.

I've learned very much!

6:20 sushis face 🤣🤣😂

I love your channel

Great video, I love to learn and watch about so many useful topics. Sadly last Monday I had to put to sleep my boy, and his son was left alone, he looks depressed and he's eating less. I'm obviously thinking to get him company. The problem is I can't have piggies to choose from, to see if they get along, but this video has been sooooo useful, cause now I know what to look for to make sure they can be roomies. I'm waiting for that second video with no patience I must say hahaha

Omg I’m so happy I came across your channel today I love your work and you are a very beautiful woman as well, Kisses from Holland

22:39 me: .......it’s a match (if you ever have two guinea pigs, like males, and they lay down, you know it’s official ☺️😆😂)

I had a pair of males years ago and after one died I got the remaining a younger male friend. I just put them together on a blanket and they ate and didn’t even mind each other at all al. Remained best of friends for years. Shared their house too. I have recently got a pair of 2 males who came together, and show more small signs of dominance than the 2 piggies from years back. I suspect it may be because the older one was very big and older so the hierarchy was already set and the baby didn’t try to even test it, or they just suited each other very well. My current pair won’t share the house but one likes the tubes and sleeping under the hay rack anyway so it works.

Would definitely recommend lots of hay and veggies already in the bonding enclosure before putting the pigs together. Two way tunnels, or a place for the submissive pig to kind of back off from the stress periodically throughout the bonding experience is important too.

Thx for the info. This helped ease my mind on some of the behaviour my two boys portray on rare occasions. They are brothers and have been together since being babbies. Generally they are realy peaceful but sometimes they still do the humping/ chasing. I never understood who the dominant was. but now I know thanks to your explanation of the sounds. Also good to know that guinea piggs are not food aggressive I always thought one taking food from the other was a dominance thing. But i guess its just like whoever is smarter/faster eater ;) thx a lot i will continue watching your videos to continue learning about my boys.

omg that dude is dropping friggin land mines. huge

Also, I always like to remind people that with boys, the first week may very well be like this as they get to know each other. But with patience, two strangers can become fast friends.

I’m so glad you did this video! I am planning on bonding my boys after 2 1/2 week quarantine this afternoon! I am nervous but I hope it goes well. If not, separate cages for both.

Good interpretations.

this makes me even more exited to get my guinea pigs! i wish they had a shelter where live though!

When I got my two boys they bonded so well. The more sub male (riot) would normally sit there until he got annoyed somewhat and knocked the more dominant male (perry) off

This is what my two male guinea pigs do alllll the time! They love each other and sleep in the same hut together every night but they do still make a purring type sound with each other and make that noise with each other too but it’s not a constant round the clock thing. So I hope it’s all good! I got them as babies, different litters. I got one and then two days later I got another one and the second I brought the second one home the first ones behavior and personality was super super different and happy, completely perked up! These guys remind me of My boys! Lol kinda anyway.

Is so cute😁😁👍

They both want the power lol ❤️❤️❤️💙

I needed to see this! I’m bonding my male soon and I’m anxious because he’s very territorial and excitable

After seeing this I am now very nervous to introduce my 2 boys to each other!

I had my two boys since birth.They get along cute together and are the only two of my 6 that sleep next to each other nightly.

That’s exhausting just watching!

Hi Saskia! I purchased all the Peter Gurney books I could find...the piggy potions one is obviously the most complicated! He gave his piggies brown bread and milk occasionally....!

I love to much Guinea Pigs I have four Guinea Pigs, They are crazy and very cute :)

My piggie Pumba was 4 months a dominant boy. About a month later I brought my Pudge who was 1 month old and naturally small. They established their hierarchy and are very happy and bonded right away lots of stinky smells but love each other.

it's a back and forth with boys. I have two boys, they are brothers from the same litter. Every day they have moments when they chase each other around and try to top each other. At first I was concerned, but now it looks more like they are playing and I think it's good for them to get that energy out anyway.

I adopted a male guinea pig when he was 2 and a half years and he was alone all of his life. You teached me that even in this situation, my guinea pig can find a friend and be happier. I can't have two guinea pigs at my house (i'm a student so time and money is a little bit tight) so i'm searching for a new house for him where he will have a friend and it's breaking my hearts.... but I know it will help him to live a better life :( ♥

Girl bonding also, please? My two girls always fight when I put them together. :(

I loved this. your commentary is gold. I use the blow technique on my dog when i need to distract her, she then licks me. You look extra pretty today

My older guinea did the nonstop humping to my new guinea boy for almost two weeks. I was starting to get worried they weren't gonna work or start to fight because i heard a lot of teeth chattering from both but after a LOOOOONG long time, they are now the best of buds and the older one even feels like he has to "protect" the baby when i go get them from the cage

A great lesson in Guinea Pig civics. 😊

Makes me glad I only have one boy! Always wanted to get him a friend but I just couldn’t take the chance on them fighting. I have my boy with me out of the cage almost 16hr a day, so he gets plenty of love and attention but I know he would love to be with one of his own. Maybe one day!

I must have gotten really lucky with my two boars. They have never fought in they're a little over a year apart and I just kind of put them together and they just fit. They still chatter and strut all the time but there's never any humping or fights and they eat together just fine

I've actually never had a problem bonding but one was always older than the other. Fingers crossed. Bonding can be hard.

Everyone who is bringing a single boy or who wants to pair up two of our boys should watch this video. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to explain that a bonding was going well and people project their human emotions onto it and insist that I break the pair up. This is why we book adoption appointments for an hour--it takes that long to determine if it's a match! :)

Love the fact that you have a dinasaour behind ~ haha

Question (sorry if it's long); I adopted / rescued some piggies from a home where they were put in the basement, in the dark, and alone. They were in a store bought rabbit cage (so not the biggest). The cage was disgusting to say the least (I had to use a scrapper to scrap off the pee and poo built up on the bottom), they had 1 cave between the 2 of them, and they had 0 interaction from the owners. So I ended up starting them off in a fresh new cage with new caves. The previous owner swore they were bonded, so I moved them into a new 17.5 sq ft C&C cage - almost the size of my twin bed. Lots of caves (duo exit), different bottles around the cage, timothy hay in different places, etc. But I noticed over time that Tom (the dominant pig) would often chase Phobos (the submissive pig), and they would run and run and run. Phobos would NOT let Tom hump him, but Phobos would never try to hump Tom. They never fought at the beginning, but as time went on, I noticed they progressively started to get worse. Then 2 months down the line, as Tom's behaviour got more aggressive, Tom actually tried to bite Phobos (he bit me instead, right through the towel and left a big welt). That is when I separated them, and they've been separated since. My question is - Why the regression in behaviour / bonding over time? Phobos would never hump, spray, teeth chatter - he would make those little squeaks (the submissive ones you mentioned) - but he would never let Tom hump him; he would just run away. Tom on the other hand would chatter his teeth, rumble strut, at some points bare his teeth (towards the last week or two), chase Phobos, and some other behaviours. I'm just not sure what went wrong. Can guinea pigs un-bond after time? Or maybe they were never really bonded to begin with?

I adopted two males caged together that the owners did not admit to a problem. After I got them home, both were scarred up and each had active abcesses! The aggressive pig continued to mate with the other boy, if you get my drift. They stopped all that when I gave them more room to themselves and they got comfortable with the rest of the mixed gender, heard. Just saying as you can't trust them to be nice until they have really stopped all that chattering. Every case is different so keep a close eye on them. Then the wind was really taken out of their sails when I got them fixed 😉

We have 2 males named Scotch and Smore they are brothers. We have had them since they were 4 weeks old and they just turned 4 years old. They use to do this humping and chattering of teeth alot but now only once in a while. They both are still really healthy and active.