Mixing Pairs....

[Lou1975]

Hello! Currently I have two pairs of female guinea pigs. In time, I may adopt more females.
Can I keep them in cages of two, but let them all out to play together in the run, or do they have to live together all the time to be able to get on...?

 

[sport_billy]

The danger of letting them mingle is that you will be upsetting already established bonds and may end up with fallouts between pairings.

 

[VickiA]

I'd have to agree with @sport_billy on this one. Unless they all live together all the time I'd keep them separate.

 

[Wiebke]

Run time is not play time for guinea pigs; they are forced to start the bonding/dominance protocol. You will either have them living together or apart full time.

 

[Hank288]

When I mixed my two pairs in the run, there was an awful lot of teeth chattering and chasing, So I separated them, they were then fine with mesh in between them. So personally I wouldn't advise it. I now have 2 runs, one for each pair.

 

[Lou1975]

That's brilliant. Thank you all for your advice.