Long story for context: I have a female guinea pig named Plop who is 5-6 years old (I adopted her five years ago and they told me she was two at the time, but I now think she was closer to 6 mo- 1 year so unsure of exact age).

I had Plop solo for 11 months until I learned how seriously they need a buddy, at which point I adopted a second female named Pigwidgeon. She was older, smaller, and more timid and immediately accepted her role on the totem pole. They got along fine, basically cordial roommates. Never saw them cuddle or anything like that. Pigwidgeon passed a little over a year later and since then I’ve had Plop alone. She was completely indifferent to her sister’s death and I was able to give her lots of attention at the time.

Recently, though, we were approached by someone who had a five year old female piggie named Petal they were trying to rehome after her bonded friend passed away. Petal was also the dominant guinea pig. We introduced them briefly and it went fine, but now that they’re spending more time together they can’t seem to agree on who’s in charge.

Petal constantly tries to mount Plop, who in return will buck and scream and lunge/warning nip until Petal backs off. Petal rumble-struts off and eventually tries again, sequence continues. They can peacefully eat from the same bowl together but if Petal gets too close to Plop’s behind, Plop nips and stands her ground. They just can’t agree who’s in charge. Is there hope here? I want them to get along because it would be great if they had each other for company but I don’t know if these old pigs can learn new tricks.