Bonding after separation

[KirstenC]

Hi,
Our story. originally we had 3 guinea pigs on the belief they were all boys, you guessed it, they were not suffice to say we ended up with 2 pregnant sows and subsequently 6 pups). We have just had our original boar neutered but have decided to keep one of the male pups (little pig has so much personality we cant bear to part with him) the problem is that he's not able to be neutered until 6 months old. our intention is to keep the 2 boys separated from the 2 females until little pig can be neutered but are worried about how all 4 will re-bond after such a lengthy separation. Any advice?

 

[Helen82]

I don't think you can keep two boars with two soars, even if they are neutered. If you have the space the best bet would be to keep them as separate pairs.

 

[Swissgreys]

@Helen82 is right.
It is highly unlikely that you would be able to keep 2 boars (even neutered ones) together with sows, as they will most likely fight.
There is one member on here who does, but this is very unusual, and many others have tried and failed.

But doing what you are planning is great, becasue it will give you the most options long term for your piggies.
You can keep them as 2 single sex pairs (boys together and girls together) or pair one boy and one girl and keep them as 2 mixed sex pairs.
This means that if the boys fall out when the baby gets older you could potentially put each of them with a female.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
Our story. originally we had 3 guinea pigs on the belief they were all boys, you guessed it, they were not suffice to say we ended up with 2 pregnant sows and subsequently 6 pups). We have just had our original boar neutered but have decided to keep one of the male pups (little pig has so much personality we cant bear to part with him) the problem is that he's not able to be neutered until 6 months old. our intention is to keep the 2 boys separated from the 2 females until little pig can be neutered but are worried about how all 4 will re-bond after such a lengthy separation. Any advice?

Hi!

I am very sorry, but the firm rule is only one neutered boar per sow group - as great as temptation is! Nuetering unfortunately for you doesn't change social behaviour or personality. All it does is take away the ability to make babies.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths And Facts

If the boars get on well when the baby is hitting the teenage months I would recommend to keep them on as a pair. If they run into trouble and you need to separate, you can then pair each (neutered and 6 weeks post neutering op) boar with a sow each. At least you have got a fall-back option there! I would recommend to have the little one neutered when he is old enough but simply for the reason that this gives you more options for internal solutions. thankfully the majority of boar pairs make it through the teenage months together but it very much depends on the individual personity combination.
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[KirstenC]

Thanks. Unfortunately we don't have the room to keep them separate indefinitely. Our two sows were separated for 4 weeks whilst pregnant (on the advice of the rescue centre due to the potential for one to eat placenta of other). They have been back together for about 5 weeks now but they separate themselves from each other in their cage (they are not fighting). Is this normal as when all 3 were together they used to snuggle together.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thanks. Unfortunately we don't have the room to keep them separate indefinitely. Our two sows were separated for 4 weeks whilst pregnant (on the advice of the rescue centre due to the potential for one to eat placenta of other). They have been back together for about 5 weeks now but they separate themselves from each other in their cage (they are not fighting). Is this normal as when all 3 were together they used to snuggle together.

Sounds normal. Not all piggies are cuddly with each other and their relationship will possibly have changed due to being separated.
As everybody else has said, you will not be able to keep two boars with two sows though - there will be fights between the boys if you attempt it. They will need to be kept in two separate pairs.

As an aside though, keeping three boys together as you had originally intended can be incredibly problematic - there is a high fall out rate if you try to keep more than two boys together. So had they not ended up being two girls, then there would most likely have come a point when the would have had to be separated anyway.