Introducing a third?

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claire5970

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Hello,

Hope I have posted in correct place?

We adopted two piggies from P.A.H around three months ago, Sadly there was a tramatic start with pop (around 2 months old) still birthing three ickle babies within a week of adopting :... VERY sad and upsetting for all. But three months on we have two very happy spoilt piggies (we had them both checked over at vets after loseing trust with P.A.H )

Our question is we kind of feel we have enough room to offer another piggy a better life, The cage (home sounds better) is made with c&c and is 3x3 at the bottom and first layer has 3x1 which seems plenty for the girls they love it. The home is in the front room and we could actually add to if we wanted?

The two girls have very different characters , Pop being quiet never too excited eats and sleeps well etc, Pip on the other hand is very excited , runs around , jumps and generally gets on pops nerves :))

So is it a something to consider? can we offer another unwanted piggy a better life?

Our concerns, would it cause problems to the current piggies (bully, stress etc), Introducing health issues? is the home large enough? can we trust not to introduce a boy? would a baby just be bullied?

Would love to hear some thoughts?

Thanks

Claire & Dave
 
The only sure and foolproof way is to try sow dating at a rescue or similar.
You could risk upsetting the duo if a third piggy was introduced and bonding didn't work.
I recently bonded four young girls with our two older established sows so now have a herd of six :(|) but it was nerve racking :...
Hope someone with experience can give you better advice :)
 
Hi Claire,

Welcome to the forum your experiences with Pet at Home are all to familiar to many members on here.

It is great you want to expand your brood and your cage sounds fabulous. The girls you could introduce a baby, adult female or neutered male but there is always the risk of someone become the third wheel. I did have a Trio and although they lived happily together I found my girl Pebbles was always on her own and my Fred didn't seem a huge fan of Pebbles either so I took the decision to get her, her own friend. She lives happily in a pair now. That being said trio's can work.

I would recommend going to a rescue for your new friend - where are you based? You can take your girls dating.

Good Luck! xx
 
I am so sorry to hear what happened. How sad for you all. It is good to hear that your two are healthy now though. How big are your grids? If they are 13 inches each like mine then the cage is far too small. Why not buy another package and extend the area?

I started of with two sisters and then introduced another girl who was two years younger. At first they had a fight to see who would be the boss. I bathed them all together to bond them and so they would all smell the same and they got along fine.

Guinea pigs can live very happily in a group of three. It depends on their personalities. Sadly one will usually be at the bottom of the group but you cannot change that.

You have girls so the only way you could introduce a boy is if he was neutered. I hope I have been of some help. Feel free to ask any more.

By the way my three and now five!:)
 
piggyfan said:
I am so sorry to hear what happened. How sad for you all. It is good to hear that your two are healthy now though. How big are your grids? If they are 13 inches each like mine then the cage is far too small. Why not buy another package and extend the area?

I started of with two sisters and then introduced another girl who was two years younger. At first they had a fight to see who would be the boss. I bathed them all together to bond them and so they would all smell the same and they got along fine.

Guinea pigs can live very happily in a group of three. It depends on their personalities. Sadly one will usually be at the bottom of the group but you cannot change that.

You have girls so the only way you could introduce a boy is if he was neutered. I hope I have been of some help. Feel free to ask any more.

By the way my three and now five!:)
Click to expand...

hmmm I'm confused looking around on the forums etc I thought our cage seems plenty big enough compared to most we see? they are 13" wide ones. most we have seen has been 2x4 ? I'm guessing once they are fully grown it wont seem as big?
 
Do you mean three squares on each side? If so that is tiny! I have 6 by 3 myself.
 
I am sorry for your bad experience! It has been a very steep learning curve indeed!

Creating a trio is always a bit hit and miss, as it is the bonding most likely to run into an outsider situation if the character constellation is not right. Not all well bonded pairs will accept a newbie. However, if it works, it is brilliant! I have currently a very happy trio myself after I let my two sows choose their own "husboar" by piggy dating at a rescue!

I would recommend you to consider either rehoming two young girls (who will have each other to fall back on) or rehoming a neutered boar; he has to get on with both girls. It is an excellent way to give a boar a dream home that would otherwise have to stay single. Boars will soak up a lot of the grumpiness that sows in season can create.

It would be great if you considered rehoming from a reputable rescue; they have taken care of all the potential health and handling problems but they find that they are often passed over for impulse "adoption" piggies from pet shops or freeads.
 
claire5970 said:
hmmm I'm confused looking around on the forums etc I thought our cage seems plenty big enough compared to most we see? they are 13" wide ones. most we have seen has been 2x4 ? I'm guessing once they are fully grown it wont seem as big?
Click to expand...

2x4 is for 2 Guinea Pig's. As you have a 3x3 CC with a 1x3 hayloft - this would be big enough for 3.
 
PS: I have done some quick maths, and your 3 13 in grids just about come to 1 metre in length, so you have about 1 square metre ground space. That is about what the required 2x5 ft minimum ground space amounts to.
As you also have a hayloft, you should be fine!
 
oohh how exciting at the prospect of piggy number 3, whereabout are you? and maybe we can direct you to some rescues for some dating xx
 
Wiebke said:
PS: I have done some quick maths, and your 3 13 in grids just about come to 1 metre in length, so you have about 1 square metre ground space. That is about what the required 2x5 ft minimum ground space amounts to.
As you also have a hayloft, you should be fine!
Click to expand...

Thank you

Dont forget also this is for two pigges I did say we have option to expand if we took another on ;o)
 
JoBo said:
oohh how exciting at the prospect of piggy number 3, whereabout are you? and maybe we can direct you to some rescues for some dating xx
Click to expand...

We are from the Cotswolds , we love this dating idea? Do they need to dress up? :(|)
 
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