Guinea Pig Bullying, Help!

[Pumpkinpypboris]

Around 4 weeks ago I bought three male guinea pigs from Pets at home, they were all a similar size so we assumed them to be a similar age. We've had three sets of guinea pigs before, the first we got with a rabbit which had to be seperated after a few hours after they had a fight, the next we got three brothers which got on perfectly fine and were very happy, then we inherited a female guinea pig from our friends when they moved to Australia. Anyway I bought a double decker hutch for them and plenty of snuggle boxes, for the first couple of weeks they seemed to be fine, then we noticed a scab on Pyp's chin, we thought nothing of it as it could have been caused by anything and he didn't appear to have any others. About two weeks ago I noticed that Pyp wasn't sleeping in the bedroom and he was sitting in the food bowl, I watched this for a couple of nights running before noticing that he had a few scabs on his back, it seems that Pumpkin (who is fastly becoming the largest) was chasing him about the hutch. I booked them into the vets for a check up and to talk about possible neutering, it turns out it's going to be very expensive (The vet said a maximum of £150 per pig, the receptionist said on average its £110 per pig) and that he couldn't guarantee that this would stop the bullying. So I thought we'd leave it as a last resort because it's going to be around £330+ to neuter the lot and there's some measures we could take before it got to that.

We've done some research and weighed the pigs weekly, it seems that Pyp is the youngest, maybe about 7-8 weeks, and Boris and Pumpkin are around 10-12 weeks. We were just wondering if it's a phase that Pumpkin is going through trying to establish dominance over the other two, they seem to be fine when eating (There's dry food available all the time and we feed them fresh 2-3 times a day on both levels so if Pyps being bullied and runs upstairs/downstairs, there's still fresh food there) it's just when they seem to be settling down that the bullying seems to happen. When we've had them out of the hutch and taken Pumpkin away to leave Boris and Pyp to bond, we noticed Pyp trying to nip at Boris, so we're wondering if it's Pyp going through a phase.

We're unsure what to do at the minute, we don't mind separating them if needs be, but then I wouldn't like Pyp to be on his own.
So do we;
1. Wait it out, if it is a phase Pumpkins going through, might he settle down?
2. Get either Pyp or Pumpkin neutered,
3. Introduce a new pig, (They have some for adoption at Pets at Home) I've seen some posts about separating into pairs, Do we introduce a new young pig, if so, male or female (We'd get her spayed) or an older pig, a neutered male?

They have plenty of food sources available and shelters (We have a large grass nest and three log tunnels and a temporary carboard snuggle box which Pyp loves).

Any advice?

(From left - right, Pumpkin, Boris, Pyp)

 

[span]

Welcome! What stunning boars, absolutely gorgeous! I love the one on the right, what a lovely little face.

It's all about what is right for you and your boys, the easiest option and what I would recommend is to leave them all in tact and take the odd-boy-out to a guinea pig rescue and let him choose his own friend, so you have two pairs.

You can try and wait, but as others will say, it is a very special trio of boars that makes it to adulthood together, as boar trios don't often work. They're just like humans, sometimes they like each other, sometimes they don't. And I'm sure you can relate to being forced to spend time with someone you really don't like haha.

In my experience, neutering doesn't change a guinea's temperament, but others say it does, so it is up to you if you'd want to go down that route. I would say there is no point neutering all three of them if you have no plans to introduce them to girls. Not only is it expensive, but looking looking after three newly neutered boars is no mean feat!

I had two boys that fell out (one was 3 at the time and the other around the same age as yours) and neither of them would accept another boy, despite numerous dating attempts! It was a strange situation, because they hated being alone and would sit next to each other at the barrier in their split cage, but if you put them together they would almost immediately have a fight. In the end, I got the younger one neutered and got a spayed sow for the older one. They both are now very happy with their wives!

When I got my guinea neutered I think it was £70 including a follow up appointment and pain relief medication, so to me £150 sounds a bit much! I'm not sure where you're based, but we made a special trip to see Simon at Cat and Rabbit in Northampton who does lots and lots of guinea pig neuters and comes highly recommended by many on this forum.

Best of luck, hope it all works out for you and your lovely boys.

 

[MerryPip]

I would agree with Span... It all depends on what works for you and your boys.

Piggy bonds are all about personality and unfortunately places like P@H persist in selling people 3 boars (or more) when three is definitely a crowd when it comes to boys! It is usually unlikely that a trio of boys will stay stable especially as they hit their hormonal teenage phase at 4-18 months and this is when most fall outs happen.

What I would do is watch carefully and see which two get on best and then separate the odd one. This doesn't mean that the weakest/most submissive one is necessarily the best one to take out.. Then the choice is yours as to whether you choose to neuter and find a wifey pig for your single boy or go boar dating and find him a new male buddy.Spayed sows are really unusual to find in rescue and personality is important here too to find a good match. Spaying is a bigger and more serious/complex operation than neutering a male so it is done less often. Neutering is not too expensive but should be done by an experienced vet with a good record and your boy should not be introduced to a girl for at least 6 weeks post-op to eliminate any accidental pregnancy (they need some time to heal anyway but pregnancy has been known even 4-5 weeks post op)

Boar dating is great and contrary to popular opinion out there you can bond two un-related boys but an age gap works best so an older, more settled chap might be better... It's all about personality so don't be concerned if he doesn't take to the first, second or even third pig you try him with, just be patient and try again. Most of us don't marry the first person we date so we shouldn't expect our pigs to!

If you let us know where about you are in the world then we can make some recommendations of a reputable rescue that can help you work out what's best for your boys and help you bonding when the time is right. That way you have some advice and expertise on hand as well as hopefully some candidates for dating.

God luck and I hope you find an option that works for you but I think things are unlikely to improve if you leave all 3 together and in fact might land you a bigger vet bill in terms of the aftermath of fighting... I've been there and done that one unfortunately!

 

[MerryPip]

Also, neutering doesn't affect behaviour in guinea pigs like it would in dogs or cats so there would be little to no value in neutering all of them. It really only affects their ability to reproduce. It would not reduce bullying or improve the chances of them staying together

I, personally, would only neuter if all attempts at boar bonding had failed and then pair with a sow. But that is a personal choice. Other people would neuter more often.

 

[Freela]

Awwww... they are gorgeous! I don't have any great advice for you, as I only have sows. I have heard that boar trios are difficult sometimes, and that neutering has little effect on a boar's behavior, so I would not consider neutering as a viable means of keeping this particular trio together. It would be costly and if they don't get along before neutering, they likely would not get along afterwards either.

I would say that if you decide to separate Pyp and later bond him with a female, I would have him neutered rather than having the female spayed, simply because neutering is a less invasive operation and is also less expensive (spaying a sow costs more and is major abdominal surgery.)

I hope you find something that works out for your boys, and that some of the boar owners can give you more useful advice!