Can we mix with other piggies for a week?

[KGill]

Hi
We have some friends who will be looking after our two piggies for a week in July when we go on holiday - they have one.
When they go away for two weeks in August we'll be looking after their one.
My question is - can we put them together or is that a bad idea?
To me it seems like a bad idea, but the husband doesn't see the issue.
Any thoughts please.
Thank you

 

[Piggies&buns]

No you couldn’t put them together - it wouldn’t be a good idea
You would have to go through the entire neutral territory bonding procedure, cleaning down your cage, piggy would then have to be accepted by your piggies, establish the hierarchy etc between the three of them only for it all to be disrupted when piggy returns home. And of course if the three of them aren’t compatible together then all sorts of trouble could occur.
Also, if your friends piggy is a Male and yours are Male, then three males together will cause fights.

 

[Pigwhisperer]

Or if they are different sexes you could end up with a random pregnancy and all sorts of health issues! Terrible idea!

 

[Lady Kelly]

I'm glad you found this forum to ask. It's not a good idea unfortunately. Piggies don't do play dates and bonding can be incredibly stressful for them to go through for a short time. Even if all worked out well your friends piggy might then suffer a lot when they return home as they are a lone piggy. Much better to have them in separate cages side by side so they can interact through the bars safely

 

[Siikibam]

I would encourage your friends to find their lone pig a friend - a rescue that does dating where he/she can pick their own friend.

 

[KGill]

Thank you all - that's exactly what I thought but wanted to back up my argument for discussions with the hubby.
We have a castrated male and a female - the lone piggy is also a female. She was bought as a pair but died after they were accidentally fed bird seed .
I'll keep them separate when she comes to stay.