Picking 2 piggies?

France

France

New Born Pup
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I finally managed to talk my mom into letting me get a massive cage for 2 pigs. Issue is Ive only ever had 2 pigs in separate cages, and I'm not sure what behaviors to look out for before getting a couple. I would much prefer 2 boys but if females are better then I'll make do. Tips?

I'm already requesting a seperate enclousure to "test"them before I get them, but I need to know whats good and whats bad (besides the obvious).
I know about rumbling and mounting, along w ear biting, all no no signs. But what are yay signs?
 
Where are you getting the guinea pigs from? If they are already together, they should be ok unless they are both young boys and haven’t had hormone spikes yet. If you are putting two pigs together that have never met, you should expect some rumble strutting and/or mounting for them to sort out who is boss. If they get into a real fight, rolling around, biting at each other, or any blood is drawn then they are not going to be a good pair. Getting a male or female pair depends on how old they are and how long they have been together.
 
Okay so going through the motions with a little bit of fuss is normal at first then?

I'm getting them from petsmart (there are no piggie adoption places within a reasonable distance and I was given a $100 gift card with the cage). I am being careful to not get any pigs that are too young, and sticking to the slightly older ones. I found two that were both very docile for the first 15 or so minutes but soon enough the short haired started rumbling and mounting the aby. Actually, every pig I tried to pair with the aby all tried to mount him. But you said that's normal?

But do you it may be best I try and get a pair that have already been in the same enclosure together? I noticed all the two pigs I fall in love with all of course have to be held in two separate enclosures... orz
 
Does your petsmart have males and females? Usually they only put them in separate cages if they are different sexes at pet stores, and in my case not even then. I got two females who were housed with males at Petland and one was pregnant, (we kept the babies).
 
I would try to get two that have been housed together then. Are they all boys at your store? If so, do they have them in pairs in their cages?
 
Absolutely try to get two that have been housed together. It’s no guarantee that they will continue to be friends but it makes it easier as you won’t have to do the bonding yourself.
Even if they have always lived together though, you will still see rumbling and mounting - it’s just what boys do! Just moving pigs into a new environment can cause them to go through the dominance process again so you absolutely will see the normal dominance signs of rumbling and mounting. As you’ve been advised above that if they end up in a full on rolling around blood drawing fîght then their relationship has broken down and they will no longer be able to live Together.
Definitely check the sex of the piggies though as mistakes happen all too often.
Regarding the sex of the piggy you choose -you say you’d prefer males but if females are better...- well, both sexes have their moments so no one sex is better then the other. Boys need much more room than girls (a 150cm x 60cm cage is the smallest I would always advise for two boys). Boys under 14 months of age can be tricky due to their hormones. Falling out during this time is always a possibility even in seemingly well bonded pairs. But boys tend to mellow with age. Girls can be difficult when they are in season which is every couple of weeks.
I have two boys and they are just fantastic little characters. They are teenagers at 9 and 10 months of age.
 
It's good you are researching before getting piggies. If you go to the forums tab at the top of the page you will find loads of information for new owners, behaviour, feeding, sexing etc. It is well worth taking time out to read as much as you can. The articles are written by people with years of experience with piggies.
As far as rumbling and mounting is concerned, even boys who are very happy together will do this. It's dominance behaviour, not a prelude to a fight. I've one who rumbles almost constantly.
Take your time - oh, and I prefer boy piggies too.
Good luck x
 
HeatherRose said:
I would try to get two that have been housed together then. Are they all boys at your store? If so, do they have them in pairs in their cages?
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Yes, they're all boys at the store near me. Most are in pairs, but some of the more aggressive ones are by themselves, and one cage has 3 of them
 
France said:
Yes, they're all boys at the store near me. Most are in pairs, but some of the more aggressive ones are by themselves, and one cage has 3 of them
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I would try to get two that are together then. The ones that are alone might do better being neutered and put with one or more females.
 
The ‘aggressive ones’ probably just haven’t found the right/character compatible friend to be paired with and it’s sad that they get labelled aggressive and they end up stuck on their own.
Three boys together has a high fall out rate.
 
Piggies&buns said:
The ‘aggressive ones’ probably just haven’t found the right/character compatible friend to be paired with and it’s sad that they get labelled aggressive and they end up stuck on their own.
Three boys together has a high fall out rate.
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Actually I was the one who pointed out one of them being aggressive, two boys were in a cage and i was going around holding all of them and found a baby with a bad bite behind his ear
 
That’s a shame, but with the right character compatible friend aggression doesn’t happen. Some pigs don’t get on but it doesn’t automatically mean they will be aggressive with every other pig. Hopefully he will find his forever friend.
 
If you have the option to pick two that are already together, it will make life easier for you as you won't have to introduce from scratch. There is a sticky at the top of the page that gives info on what to look with regard to normal dominance behaviors. Mounting/chasing/rumbling is all normal mild dominance behavior. Pigs have to do this to sort out the social hierarchy, it's just how they relate socially to one another, so don't be deterred by normal dominance. Best of luck finding your pigs!
 
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