Looking For Advise On Adding To Our Piggy Family

[YvonneBlue]

Hi All

We currently have two 7 month old skinny pigs, a very docile neutered boar (Ginger) and a slightly bossy sow (Dora).

We have a large C&C cage and would like to add to our family. We thought we would like to adopt another sow (haired rather than skinny) but we are not sure what sort of age we should be looking for. I have assumed a guinea pig either younger or around the same age would be best but am looking for advice as to if this is correct.

I have read all your advice on bonding and we are all prepared to do this but don't want to start with a match that is unlikely to work.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi All

We currently have two 7 month old skinny pigs, a very docile neutered boar (Ginger) and a slightly bossy sow (Dora).

We have a large C&C cage and would like to add to our family. We thought we would like to adopt another sow (haired rather than skinny) but we are not sure what sort of age we should be looking for. I have assumed a guinea pig either younger or around the same age would be best but am looking for advice as to if this is correct.

I have read all your advice on bonding and we are all prepared to do this but don't want to start with a match that is unlikely to work.

Hi! Adding a third piggy to a bonded pair can be very tricky; a happily bonded pair is very often not keen on having their coze interrupted by a new arrival. Trios are generally the constellation that is most prone to outsider problems (a 2+1 constellation) and that is hardest to get just right.

With a mixed gender couple, chances for success are usually much higher if you look for a well bonded sub-adult sow couple that have each other for company (i.e. you avoid the outsider trap) and that cannot upset the existing hierarchy. With 4-5 piggies, you experience a change in group dynamic towards small group behaviour, which is not the case with a trio. In a trio, everything depends on finding exactly the right mix of personalities that balance each other - something that in my experience fails more often than it succeeds. I have and have had some wonderful trios, but I have definitely had more trios that have failed at any stage, from bonding to outsider issues in the longer term.

If you can use one of our recommended rescues (which are the ones that we can guarantee for you are in safe hands) for dating, that would be great. You will come home with quarantined/healthy, guaranteed not pregnant piggies.
Please note that anybody can call themselves a rescue without there being any licensing or control, and the results can be accordingly. The same goes for breeders - their rules cover only showing, but not welfare, and when it comes to selling piggies, anybody can call themselves a breeder without a check on conditions.
Guinea Pig Rescue Centre Locator

The alternative is to get another bonded pair that is living separately.

 

[YvonneBlue]

Hiya

Many thanks for your advice, i hadn't realised that a trio would be so difficult to get right and our 5x2 C&C cage (with a 2x2 loft) isn't really suitable for 4 piggies (and i don't have room to expand it any further).

I will think on the matter for a while and may just stick with our happy pair.

 

[Wiebke]

Hiya

Many thanks for your advice, i hadn't realised that a trio would be so difficult to get right and our 5x2 C&C cage (with a 2x2 loft) isn't really suitable for 4 piggies (and i don't have room to expand it any further).

I will think on the matter for a while and may just stick with our happy pair.

The temptation is always great to add to your first pair when you fall firmly under the spell of piggy charm! You are by far not the only one.

Technically, your set-up complies with the minimal ground floor space for a quartet (a 5x2 C&C footprint is slightly larger than the minimum welfare 2x6 ft ground floor space required by a quartet) and you can always consider extending your hay loft for more additional space, but give yourself time to mull things over and don't rush into it. Having a happy pair and learning from them is not a bad place to start!

 

[YvonneBlue]

I didn't have any idea when we got Ginger and Dora how much we would be charmed by them. We hadn't share our lives with any pets for a couple of years after our 22 year old cat passed away and i think having them stops us becoming too self absorbed. To be honest they have sort of taken over our lives. My other half is growing trays of grass for them and when i work from home conference calls are now often interrupted by wheeking (much to the amusement of my colleagues).

This forum is really friendly and great for help and advice and i am looking forward to meeting some of the other members at the Manchester meet in May.

 

[Wiebke]

I didn't have any idea when we got Ginger and Dora how much we would be charmed by them. We hadn't share our lives with any pets for a couple of years after our 22 year old cat passed away and i think having them stops us becoming too self absorbed. To be honest they have sort of taken over our lives. My other half is growing trays of grass for them and when i work from home conference calls are now often interrupted by wheeking (much to the amusement of my colleagues).

This forum is really friendly and great for help and advice and i am looking forward to meeting some of the other members at the Manchester meet in May.

I am not quite sure whether I can make it to the Manchester meet as we will be coming back from a family visit in another country just a few days earlier, and cleaning out as many piggies as I have on top of the usual human washing is not a one-day job!

We are working hard to keep this forum as a friendly place in which you can ask any question, and we will answer it as honestly as we can.

 

[YvonneBlue]

Hi! Adding a third piggy to a bonded pair can be very tricky; a happily bonded pair is very often not keen on having their coze interrupted by a new arrival. Trios are generally the constellation that is most prone to outsider problems (a 2+1 constellation) and that is hardest to get just right.

With a mixed gender couple, chances for success are usually much higher if you look for a well bonded sub-adult sow couple that have each other for company (i.e. you avoid the outsider trap) and that cannot upset the existing hierarchy. With 4-5 piggies, you experience a change in group dynamic towards small group behaviour, which is not the case with a trio. In a trio, everything depends on finding exactly the right mix of personalities that balance each other - something that in my experience fails more often than it succeeds. I have and have had some wonderful trios, but I have definitely had more trios that have failed at any stage, from bonding to outsider issues in the longer term.

If you can use one of our recommended rescues (which are the ones that we can guarantee for you are in safe hands) for dating, that would be great. You will come home with quarantined/healthy, guaranteed not pregnant piggies.
Please note that anybody can call themselves a rescue without there being any licensing or control, and the results can be accordingly. The same goes for breeders - their rules cover only showing, but not welfare, and when it comes to selling piggies, anybody can call themselves a breeder without a check on conditions.
Guinea Pig Rescue Centre Locator

The alternative is to get another bonded pair that is living separately.

Thanks Wiebke for all you. advice, we now have another cage and a lovely pair of sows, Mavis and Peggy, from Little Pip's Guinea Pig Re-homing. We saw Mavis and Peggy here on the GPF in the re-homing section, fell in love with them and now they have a forever home with us.