Bereaved Boar and baby sows

[Pinnypiggies]

Hello !

I'm just after some advice and reassurance really. We lost our Boar during lock down leaving his cage mate Charlie...
Charlie was very withdrawn initially and so we have decided to get him neutered and pair him up.
As the rescue in our area are not operating fully at the moment we can't go for dating, so we have decided to pair him with a baby sow ourselves. When I made enquiries with the breeder she suggested 2 baby sows to avoid the need for re-bonding later on as he is older (3 1/2).
We are picking up the 2 sows next week but I am feeling quite nervous about bonding! Charlie is 3 1/2 and neutered, very gentle and laid back personality. He can be quite shy and is less keen to be handled. The sows are sisters and 8 weeks old. Plan B will be for them to live in 2 cages side by side.

Has anyone had success with this combination ? My main worry is how the initial meeting will go and hoping that I don't need to step in with the oven gloves.

Any tips/ comment very gratefully received!

Thanks in advance

 

[Wiebke]

Hello !

I'm just after some advice and reassurance really. We lost our Boar during lock down leaving his cage mate Charlie...
Charlie was very withdrawn initially and so we have decided to get him neutered and pair him up.
As the rescue in our area are not operating fully at the moment we can't go for dating, so we have decided to pair him with a baby sow ourselves. When I made enquiries with the breeder she suggested 2 baby sows to avoid the need for re-bonding later on as he is older (3 1/2).
We are picking up the 2 sows next week but I am feeling quite nervous about bonding! Charlie is 3 1/2 and neutered, very gentle and laid back personality. He can be quite shy and is less keen to be handled. The sows are sisters and 8 weeks old. Plan B will be for them to live in 2 cages side by side.

Has anyone had success with this combination ? My main worry is how the initial meeting will go and hoping that I don't need to step in with the oven gloves.

Any tips/ comment very gratefully received!

Thanks in advance

Hi!

The bonding should work very well. However, I would strongly recommend that you see a vet and make absolutely sure that no boar over 3 weeks has been with your girls; I'd rather not see you in our pregnancy section some months down the line Sadly anybody can call themselves a breeder without licensing, supervision and control. We have seen this repeatedly on here.

Please take the time to read these links here. You should find them very helpful. The baby bonding and group sections in our very detailed and step-by-step illustrated bonding guide both contain bonding videos.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...cial-behaviours-and-bonding-dynamics.167042/\
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

Whether they work out as a trio in the long term depends on how good your two baby sows are getting on with each other. My own experience has been about half-half in those that are best friends (although even there teenage can be full of squabbles) and those sister pairs that have fallen out and now live with different partners in different cages. When a husboar and two sows trio works out, it is a thing of beauty. I have currently two of them (sows not related) and had to split a working third after being stranded with a single neutered boar's companion adoption already organised slot missed by a matter of 3 days at the start of lockdown so I had to find an internal solution after my single problem sow said 'no'.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

 

[Pinnypiggies]

Thank you so much! This is really reassuring, great advice. I will definitely be using the guides and getting the sows checked over by our vet. I'll let you know how we go