Introducing 2 new female guinea pigs to my neutered male...help!

[HoneyandJasmine]

Hi everyone,

I’ve had some sad news recently that both of my elderly guinea pigs Honey and Jasmine both passed away on the same day. I was on holiday at the time and my heart was crushed. They were bonded well with my almost 2 year old boar Arthur, I adopted him from pets at home as he was alone. I had him neutered and they were a bonded trio for about a year. I’m now looking to get Arthur two new girlfriends. I know it is better to introduce a bonded pair of females as the hierarchy there has been established. I wanted some advice more than anything, how should I go about it? I’m going to look at two baby female guinea pigs (trust me I’ve been looking and looking for older ones to adopt but it’s impossible to find any sows near me that are no more than 40 mins away!) but I wanted to ask for any tips on how to go about it. I have done bonding before but it was two older piggies with one younger one. Is this a good decision, I don’t want him to be alone for the rest of his life, but equally I worry it may cause more problems as he already bonded with another pair (although he hasn’t seemed to grieve them much).

Any advice will be appreciated - thank you in advance x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone,

I’ve had some sad news recently that both of my elderly guinea pigs Honey and Jasmine both passed away on the same day. I was on holiday at the time and my heart was crushed. They were bonded well with my almost 2 year old boar Arthur, I adopted him from pets at home as he was alone. I had him neutered and they were a bonded trio for about a year. I’m now looking to get Arthur two new girlfriends. I know it is better to introduce a bonded pair of females as the hierarchy there has been established. I wanted some advice more than anything, how should I go about it? I’m going to look at two baby female guinea pigs (trust me I’ve been looking and looking for older ones to adopt but it’s impossible to find any sows near me that are no more than 40 mins away!) but I wanted to ask for any tips on how to go about it. I have done bonding before but it was two older piggies with one younger one. Is this a good decision, I don’t want him to be alone for the rest of his life, but equally I worry it may cause more problems as he already bonded with another pair (although he hasn’t seemed to grieve them much).

Any advice will be appreciated - thank you in advance x

Hi!

I am very sorry for your losses!

Young sub-adult sows are your best bet for success of you cannot rescue date (i.e. have your boy meeting sows under expert supervision at a good standard rescue that offers this service so you come home with new wives only if acceptance has happened).

In the case of younger sows you have all the biological urges on your side. A difference in age is also a great help with the hierarchy; your boy is no longer the youngster who has submitted to his older wives, either.
Older sows generally want to come out on top and are a lot harder to bond/re-bond in my own experience (I have a nice collection of 'we don't want a boy around here' sow pairs).

You may find our bonding guide helpful; it also contains some videos of mixed gender bondings: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Recommended UK rescues: Recommended Guinea Pig Rescues
Recommended and vetted rescues in some other countries: Guinea Lynx :: Rescue Organizations
Please note that we can only vouch for the listed places.

All the best!