Cage Size

Dana95

Dana95

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello
I have four male guinea pigs that live in pairs now and i wanted to bond them all and buy them a new big cage. The cage is 160x65x50cm ( length, width, heigth). Is this big enough for them? I cannot get c&c grids where I live and buying them online would cost me a fortune because of the shipping. Also I have three cats so the cage must be fully closed. Thank you :)
 
Dana95 said:
Hello
I have four male guinea pigs that live in pairs now and i wanted to bond them all and buy them a new big cage. The cage is 160x65x50cm ( length, width, heigth). Is this big enough for them? I cannot get c&c grids where I live and buying them online would cost me a fortune because of the shipping. Also I have three cats so the cage must be fully closed. Thank you :)
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Hi! I know that the temptation is for new owners of two cute boar pairs is ever so great, but please DO NOT merge boar pairs!

Boar quartets have a 99% fall-out rate unless you have a disabled/enabler companion group with very different dynamics or an old age pensioners group where the testosterone has fizzled out.
If you still want to you try, you are in my experience with going to end up most likely with one working pair and two single boys, but we have also had outcomes with four single boys where non of them would go back with any of the others. It is just not worth the risk. Boars either work as pair or then as large bachelor herds with plenty of space (at least 1 square meter per boar), but small groups (especially trios and quartets, and even more so when sub-adult boars are involved) are a straight recipe for disaster.

Please rather concentrate on giving your two stable boar pairs plenty of space and do not break what is not broken, as far as boars are concerned!

Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
 
Wiebke said:
Hi! I know that the temptation is for new owners of two cute boar pairs is ever so great, but please DO NOT merge boar pairs!

Boar quartets have a 99% fall-out rate unless you have a disabled/enabler companion group with very different dynamics or an old age pensioners group where the testosterone has fizzled out.
If you still want to you try, you are in my experience with going to end up most likely with one working pair and two single boys, but we have also had outcomes with four single boys where non of them would go back with any of the others. It is just not worth the risk. Boars either work as pair or then as large bachelor herds with plenty of space (at least 1 square meter per boar), but small groups (especially trios and quartets, and even more so when sub-adult boars are involved) are a straight recipe for disaster.

Please rather concentrate on giving your two stable boar pairs plenty of space and do not break what is not broken, as far as boars are concerned!

Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
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I get what you are saying and I am aware that there is high risk of unsuccsessful bonding, but I already have three other boars bonded in a outside hutch and they are doing wonderfull :). NONE of my piggies is agressive or overly dominant so this is really not the issue.... despite all of that I really appreciate your advice ❤
 
Dana95 said:
I get what you are saying and I am aware that there is high risk of unsuccsessful bonding, but I already have three other boars bonded in a outside hutch and they are doing wonderfull :). NONE of my piggies is agressive or overly dominant so this is really not the issue.... despite all of that I really appreciate your advice ❤
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Hey, I thought it would be super cute too. But I took the advice from the forum and decided against it. There are websites out there advising on bonding four boars and that almost swayed me. But it was 10 years old and in this forum people are giving advice not just on what they have read but on experience too.
I have two pairs of boars. And even having the cages next to each other has caused a change in personality on the underboar of my first pair. So much so he is challenging the dominant boar more now.
From what I have read the outcome of bonding four boars is likely to cause bullying, depression in at least one boat or all four falling out and none wanting to live with any.
Even in floor time when you can watch them 100% it is a bad idea as they will have to do the dominance dance each time.
However, ultimately you will do what is best, however are you doing what is best for you or your piggies?
 
Scooby& Shaggy said:
Hey, I thought it would be super cute too. But I took the advice from the forum and decided against it. There are websites out there advising on bonding four boars and that almost swayed me. But it was 10 years old and in this forum people are giving advice not just on what they have read but on experience too.
I have two pairs of boars. And even having the cages next to each other has caused a change in personality on the underboar of my first pair. So much so he is challenging the dominant boar more now.
From what I have read the outcome of bonding four boars is likely to cause bullying, depression in at least one boat or all four falling out and none wanting to live with any.
Even in floor time when you can watch them 100% it is a bad idea as they will have to do the dominance dance each time.
However, ultimately you will do what is best, however are you doing what is best for you or your piggies?
Click to expand...

My intention was to make a functional herd, but now i see that it wouldnt go very well.... i dont need to put them all together or anything like that. I will just buy two of these big cages and wont bond them. They will have lots and lots of space for running and popcorning :) with extra floor time of course....
 
That sounds like a great plan. I have a boar quad with a massive amount of space. They tolerate each other well enough, but they're definitely not best friends. I wouldn't attempt it again.
 
AlbiePercy said:
That sounds like a great plan. I have a boar quad with a massive amount of space. They tolerate each other well enough, but they're definitely not best friends. I wouldn't attempt it again.
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Same here! Used to have four boars but one passed due to a disease that our vet failed to diagnose soon enough. When there was four, they tolerated each other but were definitely not particularly friends. It's crazy what difference an extra boar can make. We ended up taking on my cousin's two boars as their circumstances changed. We tried to bond them and I would say it kind of worked but my two original piggies changed a lot. I can't speak for the ones we took on but I know my two did. When one piggie passed away, the dynamic changed hugely and now they are a lot more friendly with each other. Boars in groups bigger than pairs are never going to be best friends. I don't know why losing a piggie made the others' behaviour towards each other more friendly as the one we lost was a very laid back piggie who was definitely bottom of the dominance list. Although it's your decision @Dana95 I would decide against bonding four boars. It's not impossible but they won't be best friends and it can change their behaviour a lot.
 
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