Advice Needed

[Tiamolly123]

My little boy is going to the vet Tuesday for the chop.
I'm not sure if this problem is my own making. We have got a large cage & the 3 girls are in nearly 3/4 of the cage & my boy in just over 1/4 of the cage, there is a double C&C grid in the middle so thery can't get to each other. He is eating & drinking, although that is a little down. I don't think that's a problem. But he tends to be in his carrot house or anything else he could hide in. I would say he's depressed, if you can get depressed piggies.
Would it be better to put him in a separate cage away from the girls. It worries me that it going to be another 6 weeks before he can mix.
The other problem is he's about 4 months old & the girls are are about 14months old will he bond, or is there to much age gap.

 

[Jesse's pigs]

It's better for a younger pig to be added to older ones and usually sows and boars mix well. If you are worried that being near them but not with them is stressing him out then do put him in separate cage. And if you're unsure of the 'chop' You could always try a male friend with him? Has he always been by himself? Maybe he just wants company.

 

[Tiamolly123]

My little boy is going to the vet Tuesday for the chop.
I'm not sure if this problem is my own making. We have got a large cage & the 3 girls are in nearly 3/4 of the cage & my boy in just over 1/4 of the cage, there is a double C&C grid in the middle so thery can't get to each other. He is eating & drinking, although that is a little down. I don't think that's a problem. But he tends to be in his carrot house or anything else he could hide in. I would say he's depressed, if you can get depressed piggies.
Would it be better to put him in a separate cage away from the girls. It worries me that it going to be another 6 weeks before he can mix.
The other problem is he's about 4 months old & the girls are are about 14months old will he bond, or is there to much age gap.

@Adelle @sport_billy @BossHogg

 

[Tiamolly123]

@Adelle @sport_billy @BossHogg

Can anyone help me on this problem.

 

[3Tyger]

All my neutered boys have come to me already neutered from rescue centre so far, so i've not really had any experience yet of how to manage them before they can safely go in with my girls. So I can't really comment helpfully on that side of it.

But I can say that i've done quite a few introductions of neutered boys to a group of 2-3 girls and that in my experience their ages are not that important - i have very successfully bonded neutered boys of varying ages to a group of mixed age girls quite a few times.

ANY introduction has the potential to go wrong, which is why I usually book 1-2wks off from work to watch them closely in the first fortnight. In my experience, any serious problems will happen in the first 7days.

I would say all guinea pig introductions are a very nerve-wracking time with tense moments while they all work out their hierarchy. The hardest bit for me is resisting the urge to intervene at times when I felt a little uncertain. Read up on all the introduction info on this forum so that you know when you don't need to intervene and when you do.

One of my easiest introductions ever was introducing a rescued neutered boy who was about a year old to my older 2 girls, they really just all loved each other from the very first day. Most of my guinea pigs didn't have a good start before I got them, and i'm eternally grateful to the rescue centre i've adopted from for the amazing work they put in to saving them.

Guinea pig introductions really are mostly about whether the personalities can all get on with each other of not - i personally haven't found ages to be that much of a factor, it is all about their individual personalities accepting one another or not. So in your case I really wouldn't hesitate to put your boy in with your girls once he has been neutered and waited 6wks to guarantee the girls can't get pregnant.

I hope this has helped a little bit, best of luck with all your piggies