3s a crowd?

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Alicia

Alicia

Adult Guinea Pig
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I have 2 girls, and I've seen a girl guinea-pig for rehoming and I sooo want her! I have the space and money, but I don't know if it would be fair on Edie and Marmalade to add another guinea-pig. They are both 2 years old and have been together since February 2010 and they don't really seem to like each other. They don't fight or anything like that but they don't really communicate with each other,they seem to ignore each other. Marmalade is definetly the boss though. Would 3 mean one of them was left out? I don't know if I would even be allowed to get another guinea-pig, although my Mum has always said I can have more guinea-pigs as long as they are girls (we can never get the boars to live together and Mum doesn't want anymore hutches) I don't want to do anything that wouldn't be good for the guinea-pigs I already have, but would adding another girl be bad?
 
Alicia said:
I have 2 girls, and I've seen a girl guinea-pig for rehoming and I sooo want her! I have the space and money, but I don't know if it would be fair on Edie and Marmalade to add another guinea-pig. They are both 2 years old and have been together since February 2010 and they don't really seem to like each other. They don't fight or anything like that but they don't really communicate with each other,they seem to ignore each other. Marmalade is definetly the boss though. Would 3 mean one of them was left out? I don't know if I would even be allowed to get another guinea-pig, although my Mum has always said I can have more guinea-pigs as long as they are girls (we can never get the boars to live together and Mum doesn't want anymore hutches) I don't want to do anything that wouldn't be good for the guinea-pigs I already have, but would adding another girl be bad?
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If you have the space for another (this depends on your hutch size!) then adding another sow to your existing pair shouldn't be much of a problem, depending on the temperament of all three! I've just added two pairs of pigs to my existing two, and they're now getting along like they've always been a group! Sows are a lot easier to bond and add to the group than boars are, and tend to like the extra company of more pigs!

The minimum and recommended cage sizes are here: http://www.guineapigcages.com/

:D
 
Getting a 3rd guinea pig worked really well for my original pair, but then one of the first females started kind of getting left out, I wasn't planning on getting a 4th but I rescued one and now the 'left out' piggie seems to have taken to the new girl. I probably just have dafty piggies, I think the more piggies the better if you can afford it and have the room, as they are herd animals after all :) x
 
Adding a third to an existing pair often leads to a classic 2+1 situation.

If you can afford it, go from 2 to 4 - then they are already a little group and you are much less likely to have an outsider problem.
 
I could afford 4 but the hutch I have isn't really big enough for 4, and I can't buy a new hutch right now. So, is 3 a bad idea? I thought I read somewhere it was but as my 2 don't really seem to be best friends as it is I didn't know if it would matter. I have a few smaller hutches that I am planning to eventually connect all together using tunnels to make one long hutch so hopefully when I can do that I could add 2 more.
 
Wiebke said:
Adding a third to an existing pair often leads to a classic 2+1 situation.

If you can afford it, go from 2 to 4 - then they are already a little group and you are much less likely to have an outsider problem.
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I followed Wiebke's advice on this and added my two young sows, Honey and Tulip (mum and daughter) to my older sows (Whiskey and Noodles)

For the first week we had a few scuffles and suchlike, but after they had worked out who was boss (Noodles) and who was underpig (Tulip, quite understandably) and the other two sort of fitted in between, we were sorted.

The girls tend to stay in pairs but not always their original pairs. At first Tulip and Honey stuck together as Noodles and Whiskey couldn't get their heads round the ramp, so it was more a logistical issue! But now we often see Noodles (who is not too well at the moment and has slowed down a lot) snuggled up with Tulip, while Whiskey and Honey wander around looking for more food (Honey never quite got out of the 'eating for two habit...tsk!)

We also have a group of a neutered boar and two girls, and can see a 2 + 1 situation emerging a bit, so are considering adding another girl but she is going to have to fit in with the group very well as there are two strong personalities already! So we will see how they pan out.
 
I have two groups of three girls and they are fine together. Poppy is the oldest and the boss of the older three. Annabelle and Daisy are both submissive and happy to just get on with each other and let Poppy be boss. I picked Annabelle because she is submissive and Poppy would accept her.
Charlotte is the boss of the younger ones but Lexi sometimes pushes her luck a bit and has a go at her sometimes but she is quite shy and backs down if challenged. Kizzy is happy to be at the bottom as long as she gets her share of the veggies.
You would have to pick the right pig, especially if the relationship between your current ones is strained. Perhaps an neutered boy would be a good idea as often that will strengthen the relationship between stroppy sows.
 
Thank you :) I might wait until later when I can buy the tunnels and attatch the 2 hutches together and then get a few more piggies. I had a group of 12 once and it was great watching them all together, I'd really love to have a group again, though I'd probably only have 4 girls because I don't have a big enough hutch for anymore.
 
Alicia said:
Thank you :) I might wait until later when I can buy the tunnels and attatch the 2 hutches together and then get a few more piggies. I had a group of 12 once and it was great watching them all together, I'd really love to have a group again, though I'd probably only have 4 girls because I don't have a big enough hutch for anymore.
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I think this would be the best idea, then you can take your girls to pick two new girls or a girl and a neutered boy :))

I agree I love watching my two little groups!
 
I don't generally home trios as a rule of thumb, mainly as I've found that mostly you'll get one thats always left out. I usually home pairs or groups of 4.
 
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