I want to get more guinea pigs.

[Livia Rabideau]

Hello. I was wondering if anyone has any wisdom they could share. I currently have two boars. One is 6 months and the other is 8 months old. I would love to get another pair. They of course would be in a separate cage. Would I be able to keep them all in the same room? Would getting two sows drive them crazy? What about shared floor time space? Thank you so much in advance!

 

[Reenie]

Hi! How long have you had your pair? The reason I ask is that they are still in their teenage months, when the danger of fall out is greatest. You might want to consider waiting until you're positive you won't need to separate them. Your options currently is really just another bonded male pair. They can be in the same room, and even interact through the bars, but they can't share floor time. Putting girls in the room would be risky, however, if it caused your boys to fall out you could consider having them neutered, and having a wife each after their 6week post op wait. That also gives you the option to expand your herds in the future.
Good luck whatever you decide x

 

[sport_billy]

Good advice from @Reenie above there

 

[Livia Rabideau]

Thank you. With the shared floor space I meant that they would be using the same area, just not at the same time. I have one room I would keep them in. We have had them for 7 months.

 

[piggieminder]

I have 3 pairs of boars in 3 cages in the same room - no problem. They all have floor time in the same room at different times. My old boys (almost 4years) like to wander over to say hello to the ground floor pair (19 months and 11 months) whilst out of their cage, again no problem now, they all seem to enjoy it. There was some bar biting and excitment for the first few times this happened then they settled down and enjoy touching noses in greeting. As @Reenie says you may be better off waiting to see how your boys get on after their teenage hormone spikes before making a decision. My youngest pair are 8 months and 5 months, other than normal dominance behaviour there's been no problems with behaviour, they all know each other exist, there has been no negative behaviour (so far) because of the multiple living arrangements. I always feed and handle the old boys first as befits their status as the original residents in the house! In my experience no two piggies are the same and they don't react the same so you always need a plan B + the rest of the alphabet just in case.

 

[piggieminder]

Something weird going on with photos today, this one is Spike saying hello to Willow at floor time.

 

[Livia Rabideau]

Thank you! What a nice setup! I will just have to wait. I don't want to upset my boys.