Hi. I’m new to the whole guinea pig idea. A while ago bought a four year old who I gladly named mister. I’ve had Mister a month or so and am realizing he has bad depression. So I looked up remedies and went out to get him a friend and ended up brining home two litter mates. My new boys are almost two and I’m not sure how to introduce as I don’t want to put them right in together the other two have been in there own cage away from him for about two weeks and once in a while make small purring noises but are often quite. All three are very timid mister having been handled a lot and coming around but my other two not so much just yet. I just wanna know how to introduce them without upsetting them to much because mister is a bit older and a lot bigger. Thank you in advance
Hi and welcome
Good that you are asking before you are ending up with a mess. The fail rate in any guinea pig trios is over 50% at teh best of times because they tend to end all too often with two piggies getting on better and the third being left out.
If sub-adult boars are involved the failure rate can climb to nearly 90% as the same aged youngsters are hitting the big testosterone spikes throughout the teenage months between 4-14 months and keeping the delicate personality balance during this time in which the babies develop their adult personalities is very difficult.
What you can do is bond your boy with the two youngsters, but to be prepared to split off the outsider boy as soon as you run into trouble. This should net you at least one stable pair.
This is what I have done with my gentle adult Dylan, who was introduced to two baby boys that were born at my home during an emergency holiday sitting of a highly pregnant local sow. I didn't choose the boy I liked better for his big personality but the one that wanted to be friends with Dylan and play with him from the start.
The other baby boy went on to a local rescue which had agreed on taking him in and soon after found his own adult boarfriend through the rescue's dating service after his new companion didn't like any of four previous older boars. The third baby boy of that litter has stayed on at the owners where he is going to live with his mother and auntie once he is old to be neutered and has sat out his 6 weeks post-op safety wait.
The best way of finding a character compatible mate is a good standard rescue that offers boar dating under expert supervision at the rescue, but we appreciate that not everybody can get to one. Key to any success boar (or piggy bond) is mutual liking and character compatibility - boar couples that mesh well have a very good chance of making it past the teenage hormones.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Boars: A guide to successful companionship.
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Recommended UK rescues:
Recommended Guinea Pig Rescues
Recommended rescues in some other countries:
Guinea Lynx :: Rescue Organizations
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