Advice Needed On Introducing A New Piggy

[Laaaauren]

Hello everyone, recently I lost one of my beautiful piggies, Storm, that was part of a bonded pair of boars. And whilst my partner and I have been giving his brother, Pebbles, as much love and attention as we can, we obviously cannot fill the place that another piggy provides. I spoke with the centre that we adopted our boys from and she advised that we have Pebbles neutered and introduce a sow.
I’ve had female piggies in the past, that’s not a problem; however, I’ve never introduced two new piggies to one another. I have a general idea of how to do this (i.e. let them get used to each other’s scents, see each other through the bars, interact with boundaries etc) but there’s still a few things I’m unsure on. The centre we adopted our boys from wasn’t 100% sure how old they were as they were surrendered to them but if their estimate was right then Pebbles is roughly 4-4.5 years old currently. If he were to be neutered, I’m just worried how well he would react to it and to then having a new piggy introduced.

Our other piggy Storm had two operations before he passed and he reacted well to being put under anaesthetic, but of course every piggy is different. If anyone is able to offer any advice on neutering and introducing new piggies to one another I would definitely appreciate it. I’ve done as much research as I can but sometimes it just helps to hear other people’s experiences!

 

[Siikibam]

Firstly sorry for your loss.

Does the rescue give the offer boar dating so that Pebbles can choose his own friend? If that is an option that would be a good way to get a cage mate for him. Alternatively you could try him with a young boar.

I’m not sure about neutering older piggies, so won’t comment on that. Be aware that if you do decide to neuter him, it’s a six week wait before you can put him with a female. If you were to go down that route, you could have them in a cage next to each other so they can interact through the bars. Someone will be along to answer more comprehensively.

In the meantime, below are some good threads you can read about bonding (and neutering).
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone, recently I lost one of my beautiful piggies, Storm, that was part of a bonded pair of boars. And whilst my partner and I have been giving his brother, Pebbles, as much love and attention as we can, we obviously cannot fill the place that another piggy provides. I spoke with the centre that we adopted our boys from and she advised that we have Pebbles neutered and introduce a sow.
I’ve had female piggies in the past, that’s not a problem; however, I’ve never introduced two new piggies to one another. I have a general idea of how to do this (i.e. let them get used to each other’s scents, see each other through the bars, interact with boundaries etc) but there’s still a few things I’m unsure on. The centre we adopted our boys from wasn’t 100% sure how old they were as they were surrendered to them but if their estimate was right then Pebbles is roughly 4-4.5 years old currently. If he were to be neutered, I’m just worried how well he would react to it and to then having a new piggy introduced.

Our other piggy Storm had two operations before he passed and he reacted well to being put under anaesthetic, but of course every piggy is different. If anyone is able to offer any advice on neutering and introducing new piggies to one another I would definitely appreciate it. I’ve done as much research as I can but sometimes it just helps to hear other people’s experiences!

Hi! I am very sorry for your loss!

I think that Maria's Shelter offers boar dating at the rescue? Allowing the piggies to choose each other goes a very long way towards a happy bond.
Anyway, here is our detailed bonding guide with lots of illustrated behaviours for all the various stages a bonding goes through as well as gender/age specific particulars: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Here is our boar guide, which also deals with companionship. He is now at an age where the testosterone is starting to fizzle out and he is mellowing; that also means that he should be easier to bond as a general rule (to which there are always exceptions when dealing with guinea pigs) A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

Your boy is at an age where he can still be neutered if necessary; recovery will be a bit slower and you need access to an experienced neutering vet. Otherwise it is better to leave be.

 

[Laaaauren]

Hi! I am very sorry for your loss!

I think that Maria's Shelter offers boar dating at the rescue? Allowing the piggies to choose each other goes a very long way towards a happy bond.
Anyway, here is our detailed bonding guide with lots of illustrated behaviours for all the various stages a bonding goes through as well as gender/age specific particulars: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Here is our boar guide, which also deals with companionship. He is now at an age where the testosterone is starting to fizzle out and he is mellowing; that also means that he should be easier to bond as a general rule (to which there are always exceptions when dealing with guinea pigs) A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

Your boy is at an age where he can still be neutered if necessary; recovery will be a bit slower and you need access to an experienced neutering vet. Otherwise it is better to leave be.

Thank you, it’s always the hardest thing to lose a pet, they become such an important part of the family.

Maria’s Animal Shelter is actually where we adopted our two boys from! I did enquire about bringing Pebbles to the shelter and allowing him to meet the females to see which one he felt most comfortable with but Maria said that all of their females are currently bonded to another male, so I’ve sent her another message to see what she might think is the best option.

I’ll definitely give those a read, thanks! We want as much info as we can get to make sure we’re making the right decision for Pebbles. He seems to be doing okay, still eating and drinking as he normally would and he’s still quite inquisitive during playtime. We’re giving him as much love and attention as possible but there’s just something’s a piggy friend can provide that we can’t!

 

[Laaaauren]

Firstly sorry for your loss.

Does the rescue give the offer boar dating so that Pebbles can choose his own friend? If that is an option that would be a good way to get a cage mate for him. Alternatively you could try him with a young boar.

I’m not sure about neutering older piggies, so won’t comment on that. Be aware that if you do decide to neuter him, it’s a six week wait before you can put him with a female. If you were to go down that route, you could have them in a cage next to each other so they can interact through the bars. Someone will be along to answer more comprehensively.

In the meantime, below are some good threads you can read about bonding (and neutering).
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Thank you, it means a lot and I will definitely give those a read.

I’ve enquired to our shelter if it would be possible to bring Pebbles in to meet some of the piggies but they said that all of their females are currently bonded to a male. I did think of maybe a younger male to avoid having Pebbles neutered but I’d be worried about him becoming more dominant towards Pebbles as he grew older.

Mine and my partner’s idea was to have Pebbles neutered, adopt a female and keep them separated during his healing period. We’d keep the hutches close so they could see/hear each other, as well as swap beds and even hutches to allow them to smell one another. Then once his healing period is over, they’d be more accustomed to each other.

 

[KathT]

If you are planning to have your boar neutered, I would wait until the six week is up before finding him a sow to live with. I made the mistake of getting a couple of sows for my neutered boar when I knew his cage mate was ‘on his way out’. Once he had passed, I had my neutered boar caged side by side with the two sows and after a few weeks tried to bond them in a neutral environment. It failed spectacularly as one of the sows hated him right from the start, and attacked him almost immediately I put them together, though there had never been any sign of this hatred when they were housed next to each other. The other sow was quite happy with him. I had to remove him when the sows bond started to break as I didn’t want to end up with three pigs living separately. It was the weirdest thing to watch and took about 20 minutes to realise it wasn’t going to work out.
In a more recent case, one of my other boars died suddenly leaving the other alone. I ended up getting a very young (3.5 weeks) boar for him and they have settled really well. The youngster is now 4 months old and will soon be neutered so he can have a sow or two of his own when his older cage mate crosses the rainbow bridge!