More piggies?

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Ste-EVo

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Hi, hope everyone and their piggies are well 😀

I'm looking at possibly adding 1 or 2 more male piggies in with the two boys we already have, what should I be aware of?

*Cage/hutch size isn't an issue
*Two boys we have now are about 6/7 months old brothers and bonded and live together in harmony
*Looking at rescues from the local Pets at Home

Thanks.
 
Check the bonding section here: Behaviour, Bonding & Bereavement Guides
Especially boars.

A couple of highlights from memory: boars have hormone spikes, especially soon after 6-7 months which may destroy a bond, even if the bond looked wonderful before. So I'd certainly wait for that before even considering more boys. Boar groups are rare, difficult, and you need a lot of experience, knowledge etc. Which is why this forum basically says: don't do it.

Best read the section in detail though, all the info is in there.
 
Do not do it!
Please do not add any other piggies in the same cage with your current piggies. Boars cannot function when you attempt to keep more than two together and they will all fight. You will potentially ruin the bond between your existing piggies as well so you risk ending up with four single piggies none is whom can stand each other.
Boar trios or quartets containing young piggies have petty much a 100% failure rate. A trio may work if they are all elderly (5 years old plus) and act as carers for each other but in your situation it would be a disaster.
The bonding section of the forum is littered with stories of failed trios and quartets.

If you want another pair of boars then they need to be kept in a totally separate cage and cannot have any physical interaction with your current pair.
There is no problem with keeping two separate boar pairs in the same room.

If you want to attempt a boar herd, then you need to have around 10 boars to spread our the tension. they need to free roam a whole room (they cannot be caged at all) as you would be looking at them needing 10 square metres of space as a minimum:
Even then they would probably sub-herd anyway and achieving it would still mean you have to have a plan to split them up anyway.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
 
Piggies&buns said:
A trio may work if they are all elderly (5 years old plus) and act as carers for each other
Click to expand...
Aha, that's why the boar trio (sometimes quartet) I know of (and looked after for about 2 months while Pig Parent in rehab) worked! They were elderly, except one who was quite possibly neutered at 3 weeks old. Since early neutering doesn't exist in the UK, boar trios/quartets of non-seniors are not going to work, ever. Big no-no in the UK. I finally get it.
Ste-EVo said:
Well I'm pleased I asked! Thank you so much.
Click to expand...
I agree with @Merab Good on you for asking! And then taking the information on board and ditching the plan. Not everybody does that, I mean in general not just guinea pig owners.
 
Mrs Tiggy Winkle said:
Aha, that's why the boar trio (sometimes quartet) I know of (and looked after for about 2 months while Pig Parent in rehab) worked! They were elderly, except one who was quite possibly neutered at 3 weeks old. Since early neutering doesn't exist in the UK, boar trios/quartets of non-seniors are not going to work, ever. Big no-no in the UK. I finally get it.

I agree with @Merab Good on you for asking! And then taking the information on board and ditching the plan. Not everybody does that, I mean in general not just guinea pig owners.
Click to expand...

If a person acquired three very laid back boars (at the same time) - and a key part is - who have chosen to be with each other then sometimes it can work.
What we see repeatedly fail is adding boars to already bonded boar pairs, even more so where they are young but even in adults when testosterone is still in play. Doing this is pretty much guaranteed to fail and often takes the original pair down with it as well.

Yes The early neutering of German speaking countries may well be a very key factor to making a boar group more likely to be successful (of course it still requires compatibility!)
 
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