New friend?

[exia]

So, we adopted a very young boar-trio a couple of months back. Now, as we almost suspected, we start to see some signs of falling out. They are in the lovely age of 4,5-5 months old. Life is a party and rumblestrutt is the dance...

We have decided not to wait for it to have a big fallout. We don't want any piggies to get hurted. They can still have floor time together, the problems starts in the cage.
If we had a rescue that offered a chance to dating I would let the lonely piggie find his own friend, but I can't find that kind of rescue in Sweden. We are looking to adopt from a organization that gives piggies another chance, not from a breeder.

The question might be the hardest question ever - we have a very loving and submissive boy. It's his litter brother, the "middle pig", who started to chase him. It's nothing severe yet, no biting or scratches and the middle pig is often to busy with his best friend - the alfa. Little one and alfa has a "ok bond", but we can see that the Little one is not feeling as safe in the cage that he used to do. He prefers to be in one corner and gets stressed if I put him in the others territory after floor time. He is not wheeking and talking in the cage as mutch he used to do.

Right now they are neighbour's with shared floor time. When in the cage little one is doing exactly nothing. He eats and sleeps. He is so happy when he gets human attention. Little one might be submissive, but when it comes to adventures he's still the leader. Before the chasing started little one always was close to a friend and had something going on.

So, my feeling is that little one does not approve to this living situation. He is that kind of guinea pig who needs a friend, not a neighbor. And when I see the other two, who just have such an amazing bond, I feel so sad for little one.

The thing is his tricky age. He haven't shown us any signs of dominance, the only time I saw him rumblestrutt was at me... But teenage hormones is a challenge.
Should we look for a baby, or should we look for a older pig that has left the teenage? Like 2-3 years old? I know it all depends on the personalitys and liking in the end, but what kind of agespan is the safest card to look for?

A sow is not the solution for us.

 

[Piggies&buns]

First thing to note is that if they are not living in the same cage, then they should not be having floor time together. Guinea pigs do not do these kind of play dates, each time they meet it is a bonding session to them which is then interrupted when they go back to their own cages. They then meet again at floor time and start all over. The constant separation and reintroduction is stressful to them. So, now you have made the decision to separate them, keep them separate. The single piggy will need to have his own floor time on his own.

As you know, it comes entirely down to character and there is simply no way of knowing what piggy is going to work best until you try. In theory going for an older piggy will mean that you are no longer dealing with teen hormones so less chance of hormone related problems. If you were to go for a baby, then you would have both of them in their teens at the same time which could result in problems. But this is just a very very rough guide - it is really down to character and while an older one may sound better on paper due to the fact you won’t have two hormonal boys, If your boy doesn’t get on with the piggy, then the won’t bond, regardless of age.

You are right in that having a sow could create more problems though - your bonded pair of boys could not be around a sow in any event without disrupting/breaking their bond.

 

[Siikibam]

First off I’m sorry you find yourself in this situation. Trio boars, especially those in their teenage months, are highly unlikely to survive as a trio. It’s very hard to find a balance for the three personalities.

The second thing I want to mention is floor time. If you have decided to split them then you can’t do floor time all together. Either they’re together all the time or they’re not at all.

Lastly, the issue with getting a piggy on spec is that we can’t know how they will get on. Personality match is the important thing when it comes to them getting on. This is more important than age. I think just have a backup plan for when you bring a friend home for the single boar - make sure you can house them separately if worst comes to the worst. Otherwise I would say maybe get an older piggy if possible. Be aware that just because he doesn’t show any dominance now doesn’t mean he won’t with another piggy. The other piggies are obviously more dominant than him so he’s lower down in the hierarchy.

Just be sure when you do the bonding that it’s on neutral ground and you thoroughly clean out the cage before putting them back in. Have a read of the links below.
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

By the way I see you say you adopted them. Are you able to go back to them and get the lone boar a friend? Or did you get them from someone?

 

[exia]

Thanks for your answers, and floor time will from now on be separated!

We got them from a private person, who after a week or two after she decided to get them realized that piggys might be small - but it's some work. Grown up people
We was looking for a boar couple from the beginning, just because we wanted to minimize the risk of this kind of problems. I have had boars before, luckily with no fall outs, but it was just that - couples!

We always had a hope for this trio, ofc! But we was well aware of the rates of falling out and ready to split them up. Now we just want to do the best for the little guys.