Rescuing a new piggy and issues of bonding

[TerryThePiggy]

I recently rescued a 2 year old male piggy. Little information was given about him and he was not neutered. He was also separated from the other piggies because he was fighting with them (due to his male hormones?). Since rescuing him, I have had him neutered and after 6 weeks am thinking of getting him a sow to keep him company. The only reason I am hesitant to get another boar is from his previous violent behaviour around them...

Can any of you experts out there give me any advice on getting another cavy? e.g.. age gap limitations, preferable sex, how to know if they are a good pair, cautions and concerns...and anything else you can think of!

 

[Piggies&buns]

When it comes to getting a new companion, the absolute best way to ensure a good bond is to take him back to a rescue centre and get them to help you find him a new companion. They will be able to try him with other piggies to find the best match whether that be a sow or another boar (although do be aware that neutering does not change their behaviour so if he doesn’t like boars before he was neutered, he won’t necessarily like them now!).
It’s all about character compability and If you go out and buy a piggy from a pet store you will always run the risk that they will not get on. There is no way of knowing this when you choose the piggy.
Again, Age doesnt matter so much - character does matter.
If you go to a rescue centre, they will bond them and you will bring home two hopefully happy piggies.
If you do the bonding yourself, you will need to keep the two piggies in separate cages side by side for a couple of days. Then on bonding day you need to put them both in a neutral pen for a few hours, observing the behaviour to ensure they are doing normal introduction and dominance behaviours. While that is going on, you’ll need to clean out the cage so if is totally scent free and re arranged so that they cannot be territorial (if you are using one piggies original cage) . Once you’ve been able to ascertain that the bonding is successful, they need to them be moved into the new cage together. There are guides on all of this on the bonding and behaviour section of the site which details the behaviours to watch out for

 

[Bacon]

I recently rescued a 2 year old male piggy. Little information was given about him and he was not neutered. He was also separated from the other piggies because he was fighting with them (due to his male hormones?). Since rescuing him, I have had him neutered and after 6 weeks am thinking of getting him a sow to keep him company. The only reason I am hesitant to get another boar is from his previous violent behaviour around them...

Can any of you experts out there give me any advice on getting another cavy? e.g.. age gap limitations, preferable sex, how to know if they are a good pair, cautions and concerns...and anything else you can think of!

When I got my first boar a friend he had never been introduced to another guinea pig and is about three years old. I got another boar who was only a few months old so that there would be less of a fight for dominance and it worked! I have not had to deal with fights and they seem to like each other. Since yours is older and does have a history of fighting no matter what you get it might be better if they are younger than your boar so there won’t be any territory issues. Getting yours a sow might work just make sure to research boar and sow pairs to see if there will be any issues.

 

[Merab]

Have you read the forum bonding guides?
They are very helpful.
If he’s neutered the introducing a sow will hopefully be straightforward.
@Piggies&buns suggestion to go back to the rescue is well worth considering.

Let us know how you get on