Guinea pig left out?

[Hbecooper]

Hi is it normal for a trio of 2 sows and 1 N-boar for one to be 'left out'? Thw 2 girls came together and bonded them all after one boar passed away. Things werw totally fine but recently noticed thw smaller sow has been left out a lot. She asserts dominance with the other sow a fair bit but seems to always be the outsider. The other 2 always sleep together and tend to move about togethwr while the other is left out, tends to only meet with our boar when the othwr sow ia asleep or resting and leaves her alone. Its as if they 'fight' over him. Noticed she also has a few nibbles out of her ear so wondering if dynamics have changed? I was wondering if it would help with a 3rd sow (possibly baby) to help balance it out and have someone else to play with as such. They dont seem annoyed with each other just vocal.. not sure if my c&c is big enough for an extra though either? (I've been wanting to get another anyway) pics are attached for cage and to see what i mean (floor time)

 

[Wiebke]

Hi is it normal for a trio of 2 sows and 1 N-boar for one to be 'left out'? Thw 2 girls came together and bonded them all after one boar passed away. Things werw totally fine but recently noticed thw smaller sow has been left out a lot. She asserts dominance with the other sow a fair bit but seems to always be the outsider. The other 2 always sleep together and tend to move about togethwr while the other is left out, tends to only meet with our boar when the othwr sow ia asleep or resting and leaves her alone. Its as if they 'fight' over him. Noticed she also has a few nibbles out of her ear so wondering if dynamics have changed? I was wondering if it would help with a 3rd sow (possibly baby) to help balance it out and have someone else to play with as such. They dont seem annoyed with each other just vocal.. not sure if my c&c is big enough for an extra though either? (I've been wanting to get another anyway) pics are attached for cage and to see what i mean (floor time)

Trios are unfortunately the combination most prone to outsider problems. Unless the sows are best of friends, introducing a neutered boar can mean that one of them is left out.
I've been there often enough myself even though I have also had wonderful trios, too!

Here is our cage size guide. For a quartet you are looking at a 2x6 ft or 2x5 C&C cage as a minimum.
Cage Size Guide

If you can, I would recommend to date your trio at a rescue to find a girl that fits in. If you can't a young sow that cannot upset the existing hierarchy is best.
I currently have 2 quartets.
One of my trios used to be quartet, but sadly Myfina, the oldest of the Triplets, died over Christmas. The sisters were very squabbly when younger but have settled down a lot over the years. With four piggies you move to small group dynamics so things tend to get a bit easier. Please be aware that with group bonding you always see the strongest dominance from the piggy just ranked above in the hierarchy. This is to make sure that she is not overtaken!

You can find group bonding tips and examples in our bonding guide: Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics