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getting my piggy a friend

chonkychippy

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i have a male guinea pig who i adopted from previous owners that didn’t have a bond mate with him. i know guinea pigs need to be in pairs so i’m looking into getting him a friend. he’s seven months old and a bit skittish when we pick him up but is content on our laps. what kind of guinea pig should i get? should the guinea pig be younger than him or older? if i were to get him a female guinea pig one of them would have to be neutered .. please help me !
 
A successful bond comes down to character compatibility. The safest way to find a new friend is to take your piggy dating at a rescue centre. That way he can choose his own new friend. This is even more so important given he is a teenager. Bonding a teenage boar with another boar can be tricky due to the hormones. If you were to just get another piggy from a pet shop then hopefully they would like each other and bond, but there is no guarantee given you have no idea of the new piggies character. If they did not like each other, then they would have to live in separate but side by side cages so they could have interaction through the bars only. Age is not really a factor, character compatibility is the most important factor.

For two boars, you need a cage measuring 180cm x 60cm. Boars are territorial and need a lot of room.

if you want a sow, then you need to get your boy neutered first and then have his six week post neuter wait to become infertile before you can find him a friend. A successful bond still comes down to character compatibility so finding him a sow via a rescue centre is still safest. However, a boar/sow bond tends to be more stable.

If you were to take the risk of getting a pet shop boar for your piggy, then you must be double sure of the sexes of both piggies before putting them together (pet shop missexing happens), and then follow the correct bonding procedure. The guides below detail.

A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed)
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
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