Skitty guinea pig

[Shadow01]

I have 3 male guinea pigs that are litter mates

I got them 3 days ago and I know it hasn’t been a long time at all but 2 out of the 3 are starting to get quite confident and come out of their hide frequently when I’m in the room now which is good, they also quite enjoy being held and will come up to me and sit on my lap when they’re roaming around the house

But one of them is still is still as skitty as when I got him, he won’t come out if I am there at all, and I worry he won’t be eating as much as the others, the other two are quite big whereas the skitty one is still small
I suppose I’m just worried I am doing something wrong or if there is something I should be doing instead to help him or if I just need to wait a bit more for him to come out of his shell

 

[Piggies&buns]

It’s normal for new piggies to be nervous. I’ll add in some guides below about how to settle them. It’s recommended to let them settle in for about a week doing nothing more than feeding and cleaning.

However, I must warn you that it’s very hard to keep three males together for the long term. They most often fight and require separating when the teens hit and certainly before adulthood, most boar trios fail. It’s very hard to get the balance of characters right and to even attempt it a boar trio needs a huge amount of space. Being litter mates makes no difference to their ability to stay together. Boars do much better in pairs, two boars together need a cage of 6ft x 2ft.

It’s important to weigh them weekly as part of routine care. Weighing them is the only way to know they are eating enough hay. Hay is their main source of food but you can’t judge they are eating enough by eye, hence the importance of weekly weigh infs.

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Bonds In Trouble

New Owners' Most Helpful How-To Guides and Information

 

[Shadow01]

I am definitely going to separate them

Would this make one of the piggies lonely? I don’t want to be doing him more harm than good if you know what I mean

 

[Piggies&buns]

I am definitely going to separate them

Would this make one of the piggies lonely? I don’t want to be doing him more harm than good if you know what I mean

Boar trios most often don’t work, but even sow trios (which are more likely to work than boar trios) can have their problems due to an outsider situations occurring. So separating them is the best thing for the long run given the chance of it working is so low and the fights and potential injuries would not be worth risking. Work out which two get on best and then separate out one of them.

The separated piggy will need to live alongside in an adjoining cage to enable through the bar interaction to prevent loneliness. They can still have sight, smell etc through the bars and this allows for full communication. Living alongside is the normal solution for piggies who can’t live together any more. They must not be together again ie you must do separate floor times for the pair and the single.

The best long term situation is to then get the single piggy his own new friend. It would have to be another boar. You couldn’t neuter him and get him a sow friend because the presence of a sow could ruin the relationship between your functioning boar pair. To get him a character compatible friend, the best way to do it is to enlist the help of a rescue centre. If you were to buy a new piggy on spec, you do run the risk of there being further compatibility issues and potentially then having two single piggies.
If you are able to get the single piggy his own new friend, then if you have a c&c cage, they can be stacked on top of each other. This obviously saves floor space. However, stacking cannot be done while he is single. He will always need to be alongside the pair of boys.

Ensure any boar pairs have a decent sized space (6ft x 2ft or a 5x2 c&c cage) as lack of space can cause even more tensions. No enclosed hidey houses (so tunnels, or boxes with two or more exits) and have multiple hideys. ensure two of every item such as bowls, bottle and hay piles. Always handle the dominant piggy first so that you respect their hierarchy