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rodents.of.rivendell

New Born Pup
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Hello, fellow piggie worshippers, I'm super excited to be joining this forum! I am a proud guinea pig parent of 3 beautiful girls. I was curious if someone could help me out on deciding whether or not it's a good idea to add a boar to the group.

Their names are Flower (medium-sized Abyssinian around 4 years old, most dominant)
Lulu (my thicc gurl, big crested short hair guinea pig around 3 years old, also quite dominant but would honestly rather eat)
Ruby (small Abyssinian around 3 years old, very shy with the other girls and the most obedient)

For a while, they've been having quite a lot of tiffs with each other, and there seem to be some dominance issues (definitely some tyrannical ruling on Flowers's part). So I've been considering adding an older or larger male to the group to add some order and to make the place calmer for them. Along with this (regardless of whether or not I get another pig), I will be upgrading their cage to a 2x6 c&c cage to give them more room to run. So my question is, would you recommend adding a boar to the mix? Also, how would I go about finding the right piggie, should I bring them with me to rescues to try out introductions to see if they click? I'm happy to give more information if needed :)
Thank you so much!
 
Hello, fellow piggie worshippers, I'm super excited to be joining this forum! I am a proud guinea pig parent of 3 beautiful girls. I was curious if someone could help me out on deciding whether or not it's a good idea to add a boar to the group.

Their names are Flower (medium-sized Abyssinian around 4 years old, most dominant)
Lulu (my thicc gurl, big crested short hair guinea pig around 3 years old, also quite dominant but would honestly rather eat)
Ruby (small Abyssinian around 3 years old, very shy with the other girls and the most obedient)

For a while, they've been having quite a lot of tiffs with each other, and there seem to be some dominance issues (definitely some tyrannical ruling on Flowers's part). So I've been considering adding an older or larger male to the group to add some order and to make the place calmer for them. Along with this (regardless of whether or not I get another pig), I will be upgrading their cage to a 2x6 c&c cage to give them more room to run. So my question is, would you recommend adding a boar to the mix? Also, how would I go about finding the right piggie, should I bring them with me to rescues to try out introductions to see if they click? I'm happy to give more information if needed :)
Thank you so much!

Hi and welcome!

While I am a great fan of mixed gender groups and pairs (I have currently got 9 'husboars' varying in age from 1-7 years here; the latest in quite a long string), I have made the experience that adding a de-sexed boar to an established sow group can be dicey - especially once sows are past their ideal pup bearing age and you have no longer biological urges working for you. Any boar would have to be preferably on the submissive side but it very much depends on your sows; if you have a Top Lady ruling her group with an iron paw, then acceptance may not be easy unless you have an absolute softie of a boy - and even that may not work out if the lady or one of her handmaidens is not so minded.
Dating is definitely the way forward if you can get to a rescue that offers dating.

I have as many failed cross gender group or pair bondings as successful ones; the one lesson I have learned is that you can never predict anything apart from having a dominant group leader meeting a potential rival for her positions is never going to work. A young and submissive boy may be a better bet.

The one thing with cross gender bonding is that while it can often be a very quick fail right from the start, it can equally often fall down at the last hurdle several days in when neither side relinquishes their claim for leadership. It is not necessarily violent but negative reactions are creeping in and are firming up as time goes on. Once sows have made up their mind that another piggy is not going to suit, they are not going to change it this side of the Rainbow Bridge so you have to draw a line once things are heading in the wrong direction. You can't make piggies change their mind in this point, unfortunately.

Here is our bonding guide: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
What I am saying about mixed gender and sow pairs holds to a good degree also for group settings: A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed)

Relish it if you find the perfect 'husboar' but please don't be devastated if it doesn't come off. It is always quite a long shot unless you build up a group around a dominant patriarch or introduce a submissive one fairly early on.

I hope that this helps you?
 
Hi and welcome!

While I am a great fan of mixed gender groups and pairs (I have currently got 9 'husboars' varying in age from 1-7 years here; the latest in quite a long string), I have made the experience that adding a de-sexed boar to an established sow group can be dicey - especially once sows are past their ideal pup bearing age and you have no longer biological urges working for you. Any boar would have to be preferably on the submissive side but it very much depends on your sows; if you have a Top Lady ruling her group with an iron paw, then acceptance may not be easy unless you have an absolute softie of a boy - and even that may not work out if the lady or one of her handmaidens is not so minded.
Dating is definitely the way forward if you can get to a rescue that offers dating.

I have as many failed cross gender group or pair bondings as successful ones; the one lesson I have learned is that you can never predict anything apart from having a dominant group leader meeting a potential rival for her positions is never going to work. A young and submissive boy may be a better bet.

The one thing with cross gender bonding is that while it can often be a very quick fail right from the start, it can equally often fall down at the last hurdle several days in when neither side relinquishes their claim for leadership. It is not necessarily violent but negative reactions are creeping in and are firming up as time goes on. Once sows have made up their mind that another piggy is not going to suit, they are not going to change it this side of the Rainbow Bridge so you have to draw a line once things are heading in the wrong direction. You can't make piggies change their mind in this point, unfortunately.

Here is our bonding guide: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
What I am saying about mixed gender and sow pairs holds to a good degree also for group settings: A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed)

Relish it if you find the perfect 'husboar' but please don't be devastated if it doesn't come off. It is always quite a long shot unless you build up a group around a dominant patriarch or introduce a submissive one fairly early on.

I hope that this helps you?
Thank you so much! This was very helpful :)
 
This is my lovely George. After a couple of months alone he was delighted when female company arrived but unfortunately he got bitch-slapped right round the run by new 'wife' Zara who plainly had other ideas. Zara's floofy friend Louise is submissive and fell for handsome George in a big way - and you can tell she's not forgiven Zara for this episode as they now have to live next door to him. They get on well but not as well as they used to. I would hate to see your girl's bond, such that it is, disrupted in a more dramatic way. However, George's new companion Flora is a female who was rather over-dominated by her previous cage mate and we think she was prevented from eating her fill, as she arrived here aged 2 years and about 950g and within a couple of months munched her way up to 1.2 kilos. If you watch your girls and see there is an 'odd-one-out' she may benefit from a change to a neutered male companion. But double cages is double cleaning out! Lots to consider :hmm:
BTW, Welcome!
 
This is my lovely George. After a couple of months alone he was delighted when female company arrived but unfortunately he got bitch-slapped right round the run by new 'wife' Zara who plainly had other ideas. Zara's floofy friend Louise is submissive and fell for handsome George in a big way - and you can tell she's not forgiven Zara for this episode as they now have to live next door to him. They get on well but not as well as they used to. I would hate to see your girl's bond, such that it is, disrupted in a more dramatic way. However, George's new companion Flora is a female who was rather over-dominated by her previous cage mate and we think she was prevented from eating her fill, as she arrived here aged 2 years and about 950g and within a couple of months munched her way up to 1.2 kilos. If you watch your girls and see there is an 'odd-one-out' she may benefit from a change to a neutered male companion. But double cages is double cleaning out! Lots to consider :hmm:
BTW, Welcome!

Thank you so much, poor Zara seems like a diva haha, same as Flower, she'd probably show the guys who's boss. When thinking about it Ruby tends to always be left or the odd one out during any group activities, she tends to get picked on quite often by others since she's so small. Not sure if that's just stereotypical behavior or not. I might have to think of 2 groups but yeah double cage cleaning sounds like a CHORE especially since I have a hamster and a dog to take care of as well.
 
Thank you so much, poor Zara seems like a diva haha, same as Flower, she'd probably show the guys who's boss. When thinking about it Ruby tends to always be left or the odd one out during any group activities, she tends to get picked on quite often by others since she's so small. Not sure if that's just stereotypical behavior or not. I might have to think of 2 groups but yeah double cage cleaning sounds like a CHORE especially since I have a hamster and a dog to take care of as well.

Just think of me - I currently have got 13 cages! One more since the start of the pandemic when a failed trial husbar could not be returned to the rescue during Lockdown, so I had to accommodate him with him with the only sow who was willing to have him (thankfully she is rather fond of him; he is a lovely boy).
Which means pretty much that once I have reached one end of the piggy room, I can start again at the other end. :yikes:

As long as you can arrange a plan B in the shape of a second cage to accommodate your new boar if he doesn't take, then this gives you a lot more leeway to play with; especially as Florida doesn't currently have much in the way of good rescues since Crazy Cavies closed down. You can keep all your piggies side by side by the way or have one cage on top of another.
You may find this guide here helpful: Rescues, shops, breeders or online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs (includes links to recommended rescues)

As well as more inspiration in terms of cage solutions in this guide here: Member Gallery: C&C cages/homemade cages
Here is an older picture of my piggy room when had more groups and less pairs (and piggies):
IMG_2111_edited-1.jpg

Take the time to think things through. It is great that you are doing your research first. We are here to answer any questions you may have.
 
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