Any help appreciated

[Nickypig88]

About 10 months ago I adopted 2 guinea pigs who were no longer wanted (can you believe!). I’ve had cavies before, but only sows.
The pair I rescued were apparently sows but roll on a few months and 2 pups were born. It turns out I had a sow and a boar, the pups were also a sow and a boar. To avoid any more surprises I placed the daughter with her mum and the son with his dad. I wish I had the space for more but I simply don’t. I have a pen that can be separated into 2 but my question is, if the girls saw the boys through the pen dividers would that be just cruel? I felt awful separating the breeding pair, but the way they are now works for us all. I was concerned if the siblings would see each other as potential mates, rather than siblings and it would start fights amongst the boars. Am I putting too much thought into this?

Nicky x

 

[Reenie]

It can sometimes be an issue to introduce sows near to boars, but since yours already know each other it will probably be OK to have them next door. You can never predict how well any two piggies will get on, especially once boars get to their teenage months (4-14mths).
Unfortunately guinea pigs don't have the same taboos about breeding with family members, so the dad and son would both see mum and daughter as potential mates so they definitely can't live together, and two males, even neutered, will almost certainly fight if they are in the same cage with a female.
So to clarify - they will likely be fine side by side, but, as with any piggies, there is no guarantee the bonds will work. There's a better than 50/50 chance though.
It would be worth having a read at some of the behaviour and pregnancy threads in the forum tab (covers when to separate pups and what your options are) good luck x oh, and welcome to the forum!