In need of advice!

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PiggyNewbie123

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Hi everyone, we are fairly new to guinea pig ownership and got our guinea pig a few months ago. Later, I was doing research and found out that guinea pigs need to be bonded or live with another guinea pig. Our current guinea pig is about 8-12 months and an american short hair male (non castrated) . We introduced another guinea pig that was about 4-6 months and a short hair Abyssinian mix (he was short haired but had a "Mohawk")and they seemed okay but began fighting that night. At first we did not bond them correctly. On our first attempt we placed both out side in a pen in the yard hoping that between the Parsley and all sorts of new stuff it would be a good "neutral ground" unfortunately I had no idea that they were supposed to stay together for about 5 (:oops:) hours and the guinea pigs stayed together for about 10 minutes before we moved them to the freshly cleaned cage. They started to continuously fight that night. On the second night we tried to put up a divider to separate the two when we could not monitor the situation as they had both gotten blood drawn. We finally had to return the other one as it would not come out of its hidey to eat and drink. Our original piggy was I think the dominant one as it was doing the rumble strutting. I read that sometimes when you don't bond guineas correctly they can be permanently fighting (Not sure if this is true) We read some more and buddy bathed them but it still didn't work. As this was about a month or two ago I was wondering if we should try again and do it properly or if we can have a solo guinea pig? :( Thank you in advance for any advice you have. Another question I had was if I should look for a fixed female or just do it correctly with a boar!:luv::ple:
 
I don't know much about introducing piggies but I would highly discourage getting an altered sow. They male should always be neutered as when it's the other way around, the boar will constantly try to breed with the female since they still have their hormones. This will end up stressing the sow out.
 
Sorry things have gone wrong for your boys. Your chances of finding a neutered female are close to zero. If you want to get them each a mate, then having the boys neutered and waiting for 6 weeks post op before introducing females is your best bet. You've a better chance of bonding females with neutered males. If there is a rescue you can get to, some do 'boar dating' where they will bond your boys with a suitable partner, and you have a better chance of success. Have you read the bonding threads and the boar fallout threads? If you tap on the forum tab you'll get loads of advice. Sorry I can't link on this device. I hope you get sorted.
 
Gia said:
I don't know much about introducing piggies but I would highly discourage getting an altered sow. They male should always be neutered as when it's the other way around, the boar will constantly try to breed with the female since they still have their hormones. This will end up stressing the sow out.
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This is a bit of a myth in Piggies, although is true for rabbits. Castrating boars doesn't alter their behaviour so whether the male or female is neutered , the male will still hump the female especially if she is in season (which wouldn't happen in a spayed sow). The main reason we suggest the boar is neutered rather than the sow is because it is a simpler operation and less risky than spaying.
The humping usually settles down within a day or so and only usually recurs if the sow is in season.
A good rescue should be able to advise you on bonding and /or finding another friend
 
Okay, thank you for the advice. We are possibly considering trying again as the male guinea pig went back to the Petsmart. I read about it and it mentions that one good choice is to have a baby of the same gender that way the boar doesn't feel threatened
 
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