I recently got two male guinea pigs for my senior guinea pig, whose cage mate died in March. Right away during the bonding time, my senior guinea pig (Coco) started humping and nibbling the other guinea pigs. Since nothing out of ordinary was going on, I continued with the bonding process and put them all in one cage. Then, things started to get worse. Coco would go into the other guinea pigs' hideys and hump them and bite their ears. He would climb on top of them and put his paws on their faces. The other guinea pigs' reaction to this was to either run away or chatter teeth& lunge at coco. Through the next couple hours, I had to go back and forth from separating coco to reintroducing coco to the other guinea pigs. I noticed that coco was repeating specific things: he would go inside the other guinea pigs' hidey, hump, mount, and bite them, run out after the other guinea pigs' chattered at him, then go to his own hidey. After a few seconds, he would slowly make his way back to go inside the other piggies' hidey again. This whole process would repeat and repeat until I separated Coco from the poor stressed out piggies again. Since these new piggies are still not used to their new surroundings, and are very stressed out, I don't want Coco to add onto their stress. I am worried about the future, as I planned for the three of them to live together. Coco only seems to act up when he senses the other guinea pigs. I am overwhelmed with what to do, but for now, I just want the new guinea pigs to de-stress. Can someone give me advice on what to do from now on? I'll try to post updates on Coco's behavior with the new guinea pigs.
3 Male guinea pigs bonding problem
- Thread starter Cocomelon
- Start date
Siikibam
Forum Donator 2022/23
I’m afraid boar trips rarely work out and it sounds like you could be on a hiding to nothing. Coco’s hebaviout - humping, mounting and chasing - is mild dominance behaviour. They will mount and hump any which way, not necessarily the backThe dominant piggy will have first pick of the food bowl and hide, so chasing another pig out or away is normal.
The issue comes where the other piggy isn’t submissive. One pig needs to be submissive for the relationship to work. Balancing the relationship in boar trips can be hard. Finding ones that will slot into a (non-dramatic) hierarchy is difficult, and you need lots of space for them.
I would permanently separate the three and either have them living alongside each other or take your senior to a rescue for dating (once they’re up and running again). Be aware that if you try to bond them again it needs to be on neutral ground and not just putting Coco back in the cage. But be careful because you could end up with three single boars - Coco could mess up the bond of the other two piggies. Have a read of the guides I’ve linked below and then decide how to proceed. But my advise would be having them live as neighbours.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
The issue comes where the other piggy isn’t submissive. One pig needs to be submissive for the relationship to work. Balancing the relationship in boar trips can be hard. Finding ones that will slot into a (non-dramatic) hierarchy is difficult, and you need lots of space for them.
I would permanently separate the three and either have them living alongside each other or take your senior to a rescue for dating (once they’re up and running again). Be aware that if you try to bond them again it needs to be on neutral ground and not just putting Coco back in the cage. But be careful because you could end up with three single boars - Coco could mess up the bond of the other two piggies. Have a read of the guides I’ve linked below and then decide how to proceed. But my advise would be having them live as neighbours.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
While dominance behaviours are normal, as explained, you are highly likely to have problems here. Three boars together most often usually ends in fights and failures.
Two boars need a cage of 180cm x 60cm (lack of space between a boar pair can cause problems) but to even attempt three you need a cage considerably bigger than that and even then with a huge cage, three would still be unlikely to work out.
You cannot keep separating and reintroducing boars in any event. For them it is all or nothing - if bonding fails on introduction, then it’s a failure and there is no point in putting them back together.
You will need to keep your two new ones together if they are fine together and keep coco on his own, but in a cage alongside the other two for interaction through the bars. The pair need a cage of 180cm x 60cm but coco’s cage can be smaller but still needs to meet minimum welfare requirements of 120cm x 60cm.
You do need to be aware that if you bought these two new piggies on spec as youngsters from a pet shop, then you will need to keep an eye on their relationship as they grow into teens to ensure they are compatible. Sadly pet shop piggies are often sold as they are and not necessarily paired for long term compatibility so you always need to have a plan b in mind.
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Sadly a boar trio is most unlikely to work long term.Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for your responses. I read every one of them and they were quite helpful. It's been a week now since we adopted the brothers and things have very much improved. Coco now lives in the same cage as them and doesn't fight as much anymore. I noticed that one of the two new guinea pigs seemed to accept Coco's dominance, while the other seemed unsure. Coco still fights with the guinea pigs often, but I am happy to say that Coco's relationship with the new guinea pigs is now better than ever. (They even sleep beside each other now! ) Once again, I am truly grateful for these replies and have learned a lot from them.
Siikibam
Forum Donator 2022/23
I’m glad they seem to be getting on. Just be sure to keep an eye on them. What I’m wondering is what you mean that Coco ‘fights’ often. And how old are the pair?