Conflicting Advice

[Scooby& Shaggy]

Hello All,

I have been told on this forum not to have more than two boars living together. However I have come across this website (Myth #1: Male Guinea Pigs Can't Live Together)
and there is a section on here:
Fact: Two or more male guinea pigs can live together quite happily, and seem to be less prone to the kind of surprise falling-outs that we've seen within pairs and trios of females. A perfect example of a happy trio of males is Cheech, Chong and Diego, three sanctuary pigs profiled on our Web site.

is this extremely bad advice from this website, or can infact more than 2 boars live together (not a herd of 10, but as a quartet). I have been advised on this forum not too. But as I have said previously there is alot of conflicting advice out there.

 

[Swissgreys]

You will always find conflicting information on the web, and it really comes down to finding what you consider to be the most up to date and reliable source.
The article you link to is over 10 years old, and has not been updated.
In terms of small animal knowledge things have come a long way since then, so I personally would consider more up to date information from people with recent experience more valid than one short paragraph which was written 10 years ago.

 

[eileen]

There is exception to the rule,but it is statistically more likely to have fall out 90% 0f juvenile boars in trios do not make it to adulthood without a falling out.it is about compatability.For inexperienced members it is suggested only to have boars in pairs as this is much more likely to succeed.ive had one succesful boar trio,but the boss was 4 years old,and the other two boars were very laidback submissive boars.ive have ten boars,many of which have been very dominant and had lock on fights ,then you have to seperate and make a decision with regards to there living arrangements.ive had mine neutered to go with females,alot of members would maybe struggle to take on more piggies,due to room,vet costs and time.i believe this is why 2 boars are recommended,ive 2 sets of boar pairs that work very well.

 

[Scooby& Shaggy]

You will always find conflicting information on the web, and it really comes down to finding what you consider to be the most up to date and reliable source.
The article you link to is over 10 years old, and has not been updated.
In terms of small animal knowledge things have come a long way since then, so I personally would consider more up to date information from people with recent experience more valid than one short paragraph which was written 10 years ago.

Hey I didn't even see the date. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Scooby& Shaggy]

There is exception to the rule,but it is statistically more likely to have fall out 90% 0f juvenile boars in trios do not make it to adulthood without a falling out.it is about compatability.For inexperienced members it is suggested only to have boars in pairs as this is much more likely to succeed.ive had one succesful boar trio,but the boss was 4 years old,and the other two boars were very laidback submissive boars.ive have ten boars,many of which have been very dominant and had lock on fights ,then you have to seperate and make a decision with regards to there living arrangements.ive had mine neutered to go with females,alot of members would maybe struggle to take on more piggies,due to room,vet costs and time.i believe this is why 2 boars are recommended,ive 2 sets of boar pairs that work very well.

I'm not going to put them together btw, just wondered about the advice on the site I found. Thanks for your reply

 

[eileen]

you can try ,but you need to be aware of the risks,you could end up with mayhem,injuries and need to seperate all 3 boars,you need lots of living space and possibly 3 very laid back boars ,and nerves of steel.x

 

[Scooby& Shaggy]

you can try ,but you need to be aware of the risks,you could end up with mayhem,injuries and need to seperate all 3 boars,you need lots of living space and possibly 3 very laid back boars ,and nerves of steel.x

I have four boars, 2 (scooby and shaggy) roughly 6 month's and 2 more (drogon and Elvis) 3/4 month old. Through the bars (their cages are next to each other) shaggy and Drogon will touch noses and rub next to their eyes. Its very cute. Elvis isn't interested in what's happening with his neighbours and scooby likes to shake his little tushy rumble strutting about lol. Shaggy has started to rumble strutter abit at the bars every now and again but scooby comes across and reminds him who is boss lol

 

[eileen]

it sounds like you have happy boys,good that they live next to each other,my boars are seperated with a grid divider in an 8 x 2 c and c ,and there is much rumblestrutting,kissing at the grids !x

 

[Scooby& Shaggy]

it sounds like you have happy boys,good that they live next to each other,my boars are seperated with a grid divider in an 8 x 2 c and c ,and there is much rumblestrutting,kissing at the grids !x

Haha yeah the two bigger ones are deffo happy. Weve only had drogon and elvis for a few days so they are still settling in. But they are already taking food at laptime from our hands which is good. They popcorn and zoom about.

 

[rome_italy]

I think another thing: the article was written by a rescue, which does its best for rehoming piggies when they find a good lover. But who runs the rescue is not always updated. I had some trouble some months ago with the (nice) lady who runs the rescue where I adopted my sows. She is running a rescue at home and herself and her volunteers keep at home these abandoned piggies. As she knows how well I am keeping my two sows, proposed to me two boars more (intere!) saying that my cage is large enough. It is NOT, it is 130x80; she insisted and I had to use honest and clear words for explaining her my reasons (my first reason is that I don't want to pay 4 vets bills and I don't want to use all the family money for MY pets). Anyway she went on saying that she has at home a lot of rabbits and piggies... I replied "Yes, and my neighbours have ten children kept into a flat 100mq... but I want a different and more peaceful life".
When you look for info on the web, you should only read info written by experts (vets and expert owners) and moreover you should consider the personal experience of someone you know (also in a forum like this one). Because if the happy trio mentioned in the article is true, there might be some reason... (a huge room for them, a great patience, a lot of time from their owner). Anyway, the link is no longer available...

 

[Wiebke]

It very much depends. Boar trios, when they work, are great - the problem is that it is a minority. Most of the successful ones are adult boars chosing to live with each other. We have seen bonded adult boars falling out over the introduction of a baby boar even though that is recommended on certain sites.

Working quartets are extremely rare. I can still count the long term successful ones I know of on one hand and have fingers left over, and that is in over 8 years on this forum and hearing from rescues. I know of only one long term successful boar quartet that has been together since babies. I know of several people, always with a background of having lots of boars to juggle round, that have tried to form stable quartets but have always ultimately failed, even with four very laid-back boarsonalities.

The other successful quartets I know of are all either a combination of handicapped boars (blind, deaf, dental problems) with their enabler companions where group dynamics differ considerably or old age pensioner boar groups at rescues where testosterone no longer comes into play.

With guinea pigs, there is always an exception to each rule. Which is fine, as long as you do not blithely expect to be that exception and as long as you are aware that the potential damage can be much worse than the potential gain. Your four boys will be worse affected by fights and fall-outs than you; that is something that every good and conscientious owner should be aware of. In the case of boar trios and quartets, you are very much working against the instincts, and not with them.

 

[Scooby& Shaggy]

It very much depends. Boar trios, when they work are great - the problem is that it is a minority. Most of the successful ones are adult boars chosing to live with each other. We have seen adults boars falling out over the introduction of a baby boar even though that is recommended on certain sites.

Working quartets are extremely rare. I can still count the long term successful ones I know of on one hand and have fingers left over, and that is in over 8 years on this forum and hearing from rescues. I know of only one long term successful boar quartet that has been together since babies. I know of several people, always with a background of having lots of boars to juggle round, that have tried to form stable quartets but have always ultimately failed, even with four very laid-back boarsonalities.

The other successful quartets if know of are all either a combination of handicapped boars (blind, deaf, dental problems with their enabler companion where group dynamics differ considerably) or old age pensioner boar groups at rescues where testosterone no longer comes into play.

With guinea pigs, there is always an exception to each rule. Which is fine, as long as you do not blithely expect to be that exception and as long as you are aware that the potential damage can be much worse than the potential gain. Your four boys will be worse affected by fights and fall-outs than you; that is something that every good and conscientious owner should be aware of. In the case of boar trios and quartets, you are very much working against the instincts, and not with them.

thanks for the detailed response, Boarsonalities is a great word
Yes, i intend to keep them seperated. and just next to each other, as they do seem to enjoy rubbing noses through the cage.
I am new to keeping guinea pigs as pets/freinds. So would never do anything that would potentially cause disruption knowingly and luckily already got informed from this forum not to mix them. It is just frustrating that there is so much conflicting advice out there, but the explanations people have provided in here make puuuuuuuuuurfect sense.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I believe it is more about personality than gender. I have had quite al lot of bigger boar groups, but they have generally been older boars. I used to have a 'bereaved boars' group and I had five boars living happily together. I wouldn't like to try the same with younger boars though.