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paulsin

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Myself and my girlfriend bought two piggies last October. We have always mulled over the idea of getting another baby one, but thought better of, until we went into pets at home yesterday to buy a toy and say a lonely male (not a baby, but not sure how old), in the adoption centre. He looked really depressed and unhappy so we are considering getting him. The thing I'm worried about it that I read it can be difficult and dangerous to introduce a new boar. I just wanted peoples opinions and evidence of any experiences of a similar situation. If we did get him, we would be getting a bigger cage to eventually house them all in, but will keep him separate for the first few days so they can get to know each other. I'm not sure what to do though, as I don;t want to upset my current guineas or the already unhappy lonely pig.
 
Hiya and welcome to the forum. :)

If you have two boars already introducing another boar is not advised. You may upset the balance with your other two and end up with three seperate boars. It can be done very slowly but you have to be prepared for the worst outcome.

If you google barmy4boars there is info there on introducing three.

Good luck with it. :)
 
I understand how you feel, we had the same thoughts when we saw a lonely little piggie in P@H who had been alone for several days - however, with boars it can be very tricky to introduce a third, and it can take a lot of time and patience for it to possibly not work out and it may even affect your existing pair so ultimately you have to consider the possibility of three separated piggies. Personally especially if you are new to pigs, I wouldn't chance it - however, if you have room for more cages, you could take on the new boy and find him a pal once he's settled in perhaps.
 
i have tried it and they did nothing but fight it can also cause your current two guinea pigs to fall out. but I'm sure other people will be on shortly with alot more experience.
Good luck if you decide to though.
keep us all posted. O0
 
Hi and welcome to the forum from us in OZ :)
Oh dear what a dilema, i'd personally try to get another friend for this other lonely P@H piggie.... you already have a lovely couple of boys who get on fine, it might and i say might just unbalance this :-\ Boys can be a little unpredicatable at times >:D ;D ;D ;D
What a lovely thought tho to rescue this little boy..... sounds like you'd be a lovely forever home for him i wish you luck O0
Hope to see more of you on here and get to see pigtures of your piggies real soon :smitten:
You'll get some fab advice on here i see Louise (S&T) has already said about Barmy4Boars a fab site for advice on boys O0
 
I had a lonely boar as his hutch mate had died and i ended up getting 2 baby brothers to keep him company. Everything has been going fine for a few month, but recently there has been some arguing as one of the younger piggies keeps starting fights (usually targetting the older boar). I think this is because he is growing up and is trying to be dominant. Fingers crossed that they sort themselves out! If things dont work out, I will have to seperate them which will be a pain.

I think that (to date) I have been lucky - Knowing what I do now, I probably wouldnt put 2 brothers with a lone boar in the future!

I hope things work out for you whatever you decide to do! :)
 
Sometimes our hearts can rule our heads in thse situations.
I would advise that if you get him, you have him live next door to your other two and see how that goes. www.cavyspirit.com has some good advice on adding a third boar but its down to personality I think. You could always take him to your local rescue and and let him choose his own friend?
 
From personal experience, I'd recommend keeping them as two separate pairs. The bonding of three boars can be difficult if you get the wrong balance of personality and ending up with two dominant males. If you get a third boar, it'd be easier to try and bond him with a friend of his own - once you know his personality, you could take him to a rescue to meet suitable friends and see which he gets along with. At least with a pair, the balance is usually pretty stable, but within a group, the dynamics can change and become unsettled even if all goes well for quite some time. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. :)
 
We've decided to play it safe and not get him. George would accept him, but Sharky in the tempramental one. Plus I don't want to upset them. Thanks for you responses though
 
Paulsin, if you really want this little boar, you could get him and then pal him up with his own friend..
 
BubbleSqueak said:
Paulsin, if you really want this little boar, you could get him and then pal him up with his own friend..
Click to expand...
haha thats how it starts isnt it... the piggy bug ! I would do that too get him and then get a rescue and make 2 boys happy!
 
I cosidered that, but we don't have enough space for 2 permanent cages so that isn;t really possible. I may be moving shortly so will be able to expand my guinea empire then ;D
 
have you considered putting one cage on top of the other to save space? if you did get this little boy i would keep him seperate from the others for at least 4 weeks not a few days as pet shop piggies aren't always healthy and can affect your other piggies. you can also get a big cage like you were going to do if you got him and half the cage for him to see and smell the others O0 when you put your mind to it you can get around it ;D ;D ;D still trying to convince my OH ::) ::) ::) good luck with what you decide, welcome from us in oz and good luck with the move O0 hugs and good wishes :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
Hi Paulsin
Welcome to the forum!
In my experience, and has already been said above, if you have a pair of boars that are living happily together when introducing another boar may upset them ... two's company, perhaps three could be a crowd.
Well done though for feeling disturbed about this little piggy in the pet store.
If you do get him, I would house him separately from the other two though.
 
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