Opinion needed - 3 GPs

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Hotdogjohnson

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Hi all,

My 2 male guinea pigs are now around 6 months old, and i'm tempted to get a 3rd. But also reluctant, as i'm not sure if their current cage is officially big enough.

Is a 10.5 square foot cage enough for 3 boys?

The 2 boys share a hutch, so floor space is quite good. There is 1 other hidey tunnel and usually 1 toy (wooden chew ball, etc). Hay is on an outside rack and water bottle.

(Bearing in mind 1 of my current GPs hardly ventures outside his hutch / doesnt use the space. The other one does though!)

Any thoughts? Would it be too confined or would it just about be okay? (Ignore the bonding POV)

I appreciate bigger is always better ideally, but I want to know from a realistic point of view. Currently, there seems like plenty of unused floor space.
 
Please do not add a third boar. Doing so will be a disaster, it will end in fights and will destroy bonds And you would run the risk of having three piggies who cannot stand each other and would each need to live entirely separately in their own cage. Boars can only be kept in pairs. If you want more piggies, then you will need to have an entirely separate pair.

10.5 square feet is minimum for two boars. 12 square feet is the recommended size.
(Not that we will recommend you do it, but for reference, if you were to be brave enough to try three boars, then 10 square feet won’t come close to enough space - you would need a cage bigger than 36 square feet. This would not make them get on, but to stand any chance they need a huge territory so they can get away from each other.)

I would highly recommend you focus on your current pair
- it would be good to expand their cage if possible. teenage boars need a lot of space and at six months old, they are at the point of highest hormone output.
- you should have two of every item in the cage - so two hideys, two bottles, two hay racks etc.
- its also not recommended to have hides which only have one exit as this can cause problems, particularly for teen boars. All hides should ideally have two exits so fights cannot occur due to one piggy being trapped

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
 
Ah, good to know.

Regard the 2 of everything - I used to do that (and still have the items), but took them out as they would ignore the 2nd hay rack and water bottle and keep going to the same ones. Then they will start whining for hay even if the 2nd rack was full! (But will add the 2nd of each item if they ever start arguing over them - so far they are sharing fine)
 
It doesn’t matter if they ignore it, they would have the option. it’s also good to have two bottles in case one fails when you aren’t there.
The choice is of course yours, and many people do use hayracks but I personally prefer a large pile of loose hay on the floor - it provides enrichment And i find mine eat so much more hay when they have free access to it.
Large piles of hay can be so much fun for them - they snuggle up in them, eat from them and you can hide veg and pellets in it which encourages natural foraging behaviour.
I would certainly look to add more enrichment in their cage

Ifs best not to wait until they argue as any ‘argument’ has the potential to be the catalyst to break a bond
 
They do get piles of hay in cage to have fun/burrow, but its more of a once a week thing, usually the day or 2 before the full clean out.
 
You say one doesn’t venture outside that house but the other does.
We obviously have just the written word to go on, but if it is the dominant that is always in the hide then I would be concerned about it being hogging behaviour. If it is the submissive always in the hide, then my thoughts would be maybe he doesn’t feel secure enough to come out because there isn’t any other hide for him to go into. They Like tl have multiple places to go - there are a couple of reasons for this - as prey animals, they feel safer this way, but also because with boars you have to be careful with their bond so as to not accidentally cause an issue

Hotdogjohnson said:
They do get piles of hay in cage to have fun/burrow, but its more of a once a week thing, usually the day or 2 before the full clean out.
Click to expand...

It would be lovely if if it something they could get more frequently!
 
My boys generally use the same things but as mentioned a water bottle can fail at any time. Best to have a 2nd or possibly 3rd just in case!

I tried hay basins and my boys tip them over every time spilling the hay everywhere. Choice is yours. Cardboard boxes work great! Cut two big mack truck holes and voila you have a cheap inexpensive hidey.

I have 2-3 chew toys and two tunnels. Originally I started out with the store bought hideys but as I noticed fights and bickering CAN OCCUR and will.
 
Yes I will look to add another tunnel / hay tunnel.

Tbh, I tend to change the setup every couple of weeks - nothing is really fixed, lol.
 
It's really good you've asked this question here about a third boar 👍 as you've avoided a lot of suffering for whoever would be the bullied under pig, or injuries from 2 pigs trying to be boss, which a pet shop would likely give you wrong advice about.
 
Black piggies said:
It's really good you've asked this question here about a third boar 👍 as you've avoided a lot of suffering for whoever would be the bullied under pig, or injuries from 2 pigs trying to be boss, which a pet shop would likely give you wrong advice about.
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Yes, will put it on hold for now.

Maybe in a few years time when I move to a bigger place, will look into a larger enclosure.
 
Hotdogjohnson said:
Yes, will put it on hold for now.

Maybe in a few years time when I move to a bigger place, will look into a larger enclosure.
Click to expand...

It’s best to never add a third boar to a bonded pair, not even if you give them a bigger cage. Boars struggle to make a functioning hierarchy as a trio and this is why almost all fail. Sadly the bonding section is full of failed boar trio posts.
The two guides I linked in above explain further
 
Piggies&buns said:
It’s best to never add a third boar to a bonded pair, not even if you give them a bigger cage. Boars struggle to make a functioning hierarchy as a trio and this is why almost all fail. Sadly the bonding section is full of failed boar trio posts.
The ‘adding more piggies’ guide I linked in explains the high failure rate
Click to expand...
I meant for a mini herd / larger group. Xd
 
Hotdogjohnson said:
I meant for a mini herd / larger group. Xd
Click to expand...

For an entirely separate herd to your currently boar pair then? If so, then that’s fine and a lovely idea! Just bear in mind that to be aware that you shouldn’t add sows in the same room as boars, as for a boar pair, smelling sows can also cause them to fight and ruin their bond. Also, only one neutered boar to a herd of sows
If you were to have a separate group and still had your boar pair, then they would ideally need to kept in separate rooms
 
Piggies&buns said:
For an entirely separate herd to your currently boar pair then? If so, then that’s fine and a lovely idea! Just bear in mind that to be aware that you shouldn’t add sows in the same room as boars, as for a boar pair, smelling sows can also cause them to fight and ruin their bond. Also, only one neutered boar to a herd of sows
If you were to have a separate group and still had your boar pair, then they would ideally need to kept in separate rooms
Click to expand...
Makes sense, will bear in mind.

If I did it, it would be a separate group to the current pair. The current pair are in my home office, and I want them next/closer to me (I'm attached to them, they're with me for 10 hours a day, lol).

A larger group would need more space so would have to be outside my home office / separate from these guys.
 
Hotdogjohnson said:
Makes sense, will bear in mind.

If I did it, it would be a separate group to the current pair. The current pair are in my home office, and I want them next/closer to me (I'm attached to them, they're with me for 10 hours a day, lol).

A larger group would need more space so would have to be outside my home office / separate from these guys.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good solution.
Boars just need careful handling to protect their bond! You just cannot do anything to risk the boars getting a whiff of sows ie dont handle sows and then handle the boars as you risk transferring smells
 
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