Bonding A Male Trio

[lexi468]

Hello!
So, as some of you may know, I lost my pig Midnight about a month ago. Unfortunately, that left his cagemate, Mocha, by himself.
I've had a really hard time finding a rescue or anything around me, as I live in the US and small animal rescues are few and far in between. Thankfully, my sister, who lives many many miles away from me, sent me a message about one of her friends that was rehoming her guinea pigs. She has two males, not bonded, but living in a connected cage. She told me she tried to bond them but chickened out really early, before anything concerning happened in the bonding process. I really want to take both of her pigs and bond then with Mocha. They are all around the same age, Mocha being the youngest, as well as the underpig with Midnight, also very docile.
I'm just wondering if this is possible. My cage is 7x2 c&c, with room to expand. Also, as the other two are not bonded either, do I bond them all at the same time, or separately?

 

[Reenie]

It's very unlikely that all three would bond. If I were you, I would try each of the new boys individually with Mocha, and see if you can at least get one pair, then try to get another pal for the other through a rescue. See the bonding thread under the forum tab at the top of the page.
@Wiebke might have a better idea for the best course of action.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello!
So, as some of you may know, I lost my pig Midnight about a month ago. Unfortunately, that left his cagemate, Mocha, by himself.
I've had a really hard time finding a rescue or anything around me, as I live in the US and small animal rescues are few and far in between. Thankfully, my sister, who lives many many miles away from me, sent me a message about one of her friends that was rehoming her guinea pigs. She has two males, not bonded, but living in a connected cage. She told me she tried to bond them but chickened out really early, before anything concerning happened in the bonding process. I really want to take both of her pigs and bond then with Mocha. They are all around the same age, Mocha being the youngest, as well as the underpig with Midnight, also very docile.
I'm just wondering if this is possible. My cage is 7x2 c&c, with room to expand. Also, as the other two are not bonded either, do I bond them all at the same time, or separately?

Hi! I fully agree with @Reenie.

It is great that you are looking for second-hand boys. Not everybody has access to a rescue and then you have to be practical about your local options.

Your set-up is large enough to accommodate a 4x2 pen for a pair and 2x3 pen for a single as a live alongside companion with interaction and stimulation through the bars.

If that friend's boars is not getting along as a pair now, it is not going to get along as a trio. As a rule trios fail more often than not, anyway, as they have a tendency to develop an outsider problem unless all three boars choose themselves to live together. But that happens mostly only with older boars whose testosterone has fizzled out and who have never had fights with each other.

If I were you, I'd try to see which of the boys Mocha is resonating with better and go for bonding them.

We all dream of our guinea pigs all living happily together, but it usually doesn't happen! At the worst, you can end up with three single boys.