Intro now?

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animalpsycho

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Hello, me again!

As you know I recently rescued a male piggy who had been castrated. It's now four weeks since Herbert's op, I know four weeks is the minimum time before intros with girlies can be started, but he's just so lonely.

I guess it's a case of weighing up the risk v the loneliness, but Herbert's hardly eating and just seems so sad, they 'talk' through the bars etc. I'm just so worried.

How much of a risk would I be taking if I started intros today?

Of course if there were babies I'd take responsibility for my mistake, but I really do not want to add to the number of guinea pigs looking for homes.
 
I think people tend to wait for 6 weeks before intro just to be on the safe side. I introduced Elvis to the girls after 5 weeks and it went really well. The rescue I got him from advised 3 weeks so if you want to introduce now I imagine it will be ok. I'm sure someone more experienced will advise better :)
 
I think you are pretty safe. There IS a chance; as long as you aware of that and are prepared for it, you should be OK.

Best start with lots of space! If you see a girl staying close to him despite his chasing and notice her squeaking for Britain, then she's coming into season, and you might want to take her out for a day. If she's lying down for him to mate, then she's at the height of her season, and it's probably too late. She'll have him for about 2 hours every 16 days or so.

Be prepared for some BIG testosterone overload that can last for days. Complete loss of brain and one track mentality don't even begin to describe it! And be prepared for the smell of undiluted testosterone pee everywhere - especially on the girls (they might pee back at him to tell him to p*** off - literally!) It will look rougher to us than it is to the guinea pigs - keep that in mind!

Once you've put them together you have to toughen it out, as any separation will lead only to a restart and big frustrations. EVENTUALLY, he'll calm down, and it will never be as bad as that again. You might get a flare-up when the first girl comes into season, but that last for only one day.

Have fun and games!
 
Well, they're all in the pen together. There's a lot of sniffing and squeeking, but all seems calm.

I guess the fact they're all eatting's a good sign!
 
That is a VERY good sign!

It helps having the boy next door, so they can make friends beforehand. Looks like the girls are not in season, and your boy is not all that sexually frustrated. It might get a bit livelier when one of the girls comes into season.

Seems like you're going to have one happy little tribe!
 
I have a couple of questions; Herbert keeps doing this whole body wiggle, it starts with his head moving from side to side then continues down the length of his body. Any ideas what this means?

Also Storm keeps squirting pee everywhere?

The girls are fighting each other, Herbert's eating hay/watching, is this normal?

There's a bit of teeth chattering too.
 
All normal, as long as the teeth chattering doesnt escalate to a fight then its just them establishing the order. The wiggling is normal boar behaviour, he just fancies them :)) If the boar pees on the girls its because he fancies them and if the girls pee on him they are telling him to pee off (Vicky told me that ;))
 
They've been together for about 4 hrs now, but they are all sitting alone as far away as possible from each other. Is this normal?
 
If they are having a nap or a rest, that is OK.

As long as there is no fighting/protracted heavy teeth chattering going on, you can toughen it out. Short bursts are OK.

Each bonding is different, so you can never really tell; guinea pigs are such individual characters.
 
They're all doing well thanks!

I think the pecking order's not quite sorted yet, but yesterday evening they all snuggled up together for a short while.

Herbert's much happier, he's eating loads!
 
I'm not surprised - It's not always easy for us to stand back and let them sort it out without intervention! Enjoy your happy tribe!
 
Unsure?

Hi all,

It's been about a week and a half since Herbert went in with my two girlies. Initially I thought things had gone really well, but now I'm not so sure; they tolerate each other, but only because there's enough sleeping areas for each pig. The two girls are still happily bonded but poor Herbert seems on the outside. Also he's not tried to mate at all, could this be because he's so submissive? One of the girls is behaving quite aggressively towards Herbert, lots of teeth chattering and running at him.

I guess what I want to know is if this is normal, is Herbert happy? Would he be better off with a young male or a girlie of his own?

Help please...

Pippa
 
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