Hi. Not really wanting to neuter my two male pigs but I want them to have some friends. I realize that I can’t have anymore male pigs but both my pigs are rescues who are very sensitive to intrusion by me or anyone at all. One of mine can get very stressed out with any small change so I’m afraid neutering him might rock his world and be traumatic for him.
Does anyone have both non-neutered male and female pigs that they let play together under close supervision?
- Thread starter kate4001
- Start date
Is it possible for two non-neutered of different genders to be together without immediately humping, and would it be okay if I let mine play with more males, just didn’t keep them together all day only during playtimes. Sort of like at a pignic or something...
Guinea pigs who are not bonded and do not permamently live together, cannot meet for play dates. This is not how guinea pigs work. To them any meeting is a bonding session which is then interrupted which causes stress. Being put with other piggies of either sex would ruin the relationship your boys have.
You can’t put more than two boars together without fights occurring.
It would take seconds for a mating between boars and sows to happen.
But also, just the presence of sows around boars can ruin a boar pairs relationship. Being physically put with them would cause them to fight and ultimately destroy their relationship.
They have each other, so they don’t need more friends.
You can’t put more than two boars together without fights occurring.
It would take seconds for a mating between boars and sows to happen.
But also, just the presence of sows around boars can ruin a boar pairs relationship. Being physically put with them would cause them to fight and ultimately destroy their relationship.
They have each other, so they don’t need more friends.
D
DMS260820
No, don't risk it, as soon as I let my freshly neutered male (after 6 week post op wait) out with my female, his first mission was to hump her. I did risk it before this and he tried then aswell, before I knew better.
Thank you for your knowledge that is very helpful and I understand now. Maybe I will wait until my pigs settle in before neutering them and getting them some sisters.
Thanks for saying your experience!
I wonder if I could just get neutered females for them, is it really so bad to have the females neutered instead of the males? I know of a rescue that automatically neuters all the guinea pigs they get so I wouldn’t have to make that decision for them anyway.
You can’t have female piggies anywhere near your boys if you wish your boys to remain together. You certainly can’t put sows in the same cage as two boys. Just having a sow in the same room and your boys smelling a sow
will cause your boys to fight with each other and will ruin your boys relationship.
If you really want sows, then you would have to neuter your boys, have a six week wait after the operation for them to become infertile, split them up and put them in separate cages with a suitable character compatible sow each.
Or, you get another pair of boars and keep them in a separate cage to your current boar pair. So you have two separate boar pairs
Spaying sows is a major operation for them. Generally it’s not done as routine, but instead as a medical need. If you know a rescue who routinely does it then that is fine, but you still can’t put sows, spayed or not, in with or even in the same room as, your boys if you wish your boys to be able to stay living together.
will cause your boys to fight with each other and will ruin your boys relationship.
If you really want sows, then you would have to neuter your boys, have a six week wait after the operation for them to become infertile, split them up and put them in separate cages with a suitable character compatible sow each.
Or, you get another pair of boars and keep them in a separate cage to your current boar pair. So you have two separate boar pairs
Spaying sows is a major operation for them. Generally it’s not done as routine, but instead as a medical need. If you know a rescue who routinely does it then that is fine, but you still can’t put sows, spayed or not, in with or even in the same room as, your boys if you wish your boys to be able to stay living together.
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Okay thanks so much for your answer. I am a bit confused because I saw that a plausible grouping for guinea pigs was two neutered males and up to four sows but a minimum of 2 sows, is it just much better with only one neutered male?
That is not correct information.
You can have only one neutered male in with any number of sows (you can have as many sows as space and character compatibility allows).
If you were to to try to keep two boys with any number of sows, then the boys would fight with each other.
Siikibam
Senior Guinea Pig
I would look at adopting another pair of boars (from a rescue) rather than breaking up your boys and bonding them each with a girl(s). May I ask why you want to split them if they get on well?
When you have a boar pair, you simply cannot add any more piggies to them at all. If they are happily bonded, then they need to remain just the two of them permanently.
If you want more piggies and your boys are happy with each other , then the best thing to do is to get another separate boar pair. Each pair needs to remain separate at all times - never physically allowed to meet, no floor times together etc - but the presence of a separate boar pair won’t harm the relationship of your current boar pair.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
If you want more piggies and your boys are happy with each other , then the best thing to do is to get another separate boar pair. Each pair needs to remain separate at all times - never physically allowed to meet, no floor times together etc - but the presence of a separate boar pair won’t harm the relationship of your current boar pair.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Betsy
Paw Holder
I had 2 boars with 3 sows for 18 months but it only worked because my Rainbow Piggy Velvet was 
DA BOSS (cue music from the shower scene of Psycho). When Christian staged a surprise coup and became top piggy he wouldn't let Dennis eat and would physically jump in front of Dennis when Dennis went to eat anything. Christian wouldn't pick a fight with Dennis cos he was still a bit afraid of Velvet. I had to split up the herd. So it doesn't work. You need 1 boar only if you introduce sows.
DA BOSS (cue music from the shower scene of Psycho). When Christian staged a surprise coup and became top piggy he wouldn't let Dennis eat and would physically jump in front of Dennis when Dennis went to eat anything. Christian wouldn't pick a fight with Dennis cos he was still a bit afraid of Velvet. I had to split up the herd. So it doesn't work. You need 1 boar only if you introduce sows.Okay thank you I understand now. I would never want to split my boys up but I have this vision of putting my two midwest cages together so that if I split them up and put them with sows in each cage they would still see each other. It raises the possibility of splitting them up for me since they fight every 2 minutes as it is. I was told by the rescue when I got them that they worked together well but one of them was still a baby and now that he is older I figure he puts up a harder fight with dominance-have you heard of this? Is this something that will stop once my youngest reaches 1 and 4 months or something to where he is full grown? Also, is it the worst thing ever to split boys up that have been together, especially since my baby grew up with one? As I type this they are literally fighting right now. They steal each other’s food and can be very hostile but sometimes they cuddle.
Thank you, I seem to have been missing this information when I adopted them, I was under the impression I could just add to their cage.
Siikibam
Senior Guinea Pig
What do you mean when you say fighting? As for food stealing, that’s entirely normal.
Rumble strutting, humping, mounting, chasing and teeth chattering are all normal dominance behaviours. If one is younger than the other then there is a chance that the younger could try to take over once they reach their teenage phase.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Rumble strutting, humping, mounting, chasing and teeth chattering are all normal dominance behaviours. If one is younger than the other then there is a chance that the younger could try to take over once they reach their teenage phase.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Thanks for these details on how it would really be, really convinces me not to do it!I had 2 boars with 3 sows for 18 months but it only worked because my Rainbow Piggy Velvet was
You need to be sure of what behaviours you are seeing.
What do you mean they are fighting every two minutes? Are they having physical fights which draw blood? If so, then they need to be immediately separated and must never be together again.
If you have however misinterpreted their behaviour and they aren’t fighting but are instead exhibiting normal dominance behaviours then there isn’t a problem between them. Stealing food, chasing each other, mounting is all normal behaviour. It’s not fighting. It’s normal for a teenage guinea pig to become hormonal and exhibit more dominance. They do this right up until 14 months of age, but normal dominance will continue throughout their entire lives.
How old are your piggies and how long have they been together?
They go around in circles making those growling noises and squealing, one will shift the house another is in to wake them up and have them come out. I’m not sure if they are even bonded but I was told they were, maybe she meant something else. This rescue was also shady because they would let you get one guinea pig only and keep them in a too small cage.
Okay awesome info about the hormonal dominance. My eldest pig will turn 2 on the 22nd and my youngest turned 1 on July 26th (my bday!). They have been together as far as I know since early November. They were housed together at the rescue and I heard a story from the rescue about my eldest who had to be returned from a home that rescued him a week earlier since the people found out they were allergic to hay. I’m not sure if the youngest was with him or not, I never asked and wasn’t even sure if I was getting the youngest until 10 mins before they closed when an adoption hold fell through on him.
Okay thanks great to know because I always regret not asked the rescue if they had been paired specifically.
Siikibam
Senior Guinea Pig
If they were willing to adopt out single piggies then I’m not sure they know much about bonding and companionship. As long as your boys have plenty of space and they get on (which they seem to do) then they should be okay.
Ok, well it sounds as if they are well bonded now.
Your youngest is still a teenager and will be for another month or so. He is coming to the end of his most hormonal time though and is nearly an adult.
You will always see dominance behaviours from them throughout their entire lives but it should calm down once your youngest is an adult.
As we have said though, there is absolutely no need to split your two boys up. If you want more piggies, you ought to get a second bonded pair of boys and keep them separate from your current pair. Don’t put any more piggies in with your current two and definitely don’t have sows anywhere near your boys.
Okay thanks and I thought about that later on, it kept me up at night thinking they didn’t know about pairing and mine weren’t paired but I figure by now they have to be right?
Okay thanks for this and I’m just curious about if it would be so bad for my boys to be split up if they wouldn’t be lonely with other sows and could still see eachother? Would I be able to get two boars and let all four of them visually see eachother but never socialize? Would this cause agression?
There is no point in splitting up your boys and it would be a shame to ruin their relationship. They aren’t lonely because they currently have each other. They are happy so it is best to leave them as they are.
If you get another two boars, then they can live in a separate cage but never socialise with your current piggies. That shouldn’t cause aggression in them.
Okay perfect and thanks again for all your help you have given me a lot to think about that I am grateful for! I will make a decision and maybe even tell the forum if you ever want to know what I choose to do!
And thanks everyone for helping me!
Betsy
Paw Holder
Of course we want to know what you decide!