Trio of male pigs advice

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KungPooPanda

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Hello all

New piggy owner here, a few days ago we bought a couple of Guinea Pigs from a pet store ( I know this is frowned upon by some ), took them home first night everything great, literally 36 hours later we went back to the pet store and we took one more ( space isn’t an issue - although, I’m pretty sure the cage they told us would be fine for 3 male piggy’s is too small ) they are all about 8 weeks old and they’ve so far lived together all their life.

Initially we we worried there would be a problem introducing the third one straight away but we put them in the bath tub for about 2 hours and I think they recognised their old friend and accepted him with no problems, at the moment as I’m typing this, all three of them are eating and having a jolly good time in their cage.

Now.. I’m not sure why I did, but I started googling stuff about three male guineas living together and, well, now I’ve made an account to ask if it’s really as bad as what I’m seeing online? Have we made a mistake in having 3 boars? Will the fact they have know each other for all their lives make a difference?

Me and my partner are already kind of struggling over the idea of not being able to keep them together forever because they’re all so lovely together, but if we have genuinely signed up to an impossible task then it may be worth just ripping the bandage off sooner than later :(
 
It's not an impossible task but it is highly unlikely that a trio of boars will make it together. To give you the best chance you need space and lots of space, here's the link to the cage size guide Cage Size Guide. You need to go as big as physically possible for boars, the more space you can give them the more space they have to get away from each other. Also plenty of hideys, all with at least two exits so pigs can't get cornered. Unfortunately you need to get all three through the hormonal teenage years before you know they will be safe together
 
KungPooPanda said:
Hello all

New piggy owner here, a few days ago we bought a couple of Guinea Pigs from a pet store ( I know this is frowned upon by some ), took them home first night everything great, literally 36 hours later we went back to the pet store and we took one more ( space isn’t an issue - although, I’m pretty sure the cage they told us would be fine for 3 male piggy’s is too small ) they are all about 8 weeks old and they’ve so far lived together all their life.

Initially we we worried there would be a problem introducing the third one straight away but we put them in the bath tub for about 2 hours and I think they recognised their old friend and accepted him with no problems, at the moment as I’m typing this, all three of them are eating and having a jolly good time in their cage.

Now.. I’m not sure why I did, but I started googling stuff about three male guineas living together and, well, now I’ve made an account to ask if it’s really as bad as what I’m seeing online? Have we made a mistake in having 3 boars? Will the fact they have know each other for all their lives make a difference?

Me and my partner are already kind of struggling over the idea of not being able to keep them together forever because they’re all so lovely together, but if we have genuinely signed up to an impossible task then it may be worth just ripping the bandage off sooner than later :(
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Hi and welcome!

It all depends on how your boys get on when they hit the big teenage hormones roughly between 4-14 months of age. The problem is that the more boys you have hitting the same massive testosterone spikes at the same time, the higher the risk of problems. With baby boy trios and even more with quartets, this is pretty impossible unless all three boys are laid back and submissive with one not too dominant leader - and that fairly rare. A large cage can help, but only so far if the personality is not right.

I would strongly recommend to plan for a cage divider, so you can section one boy off whenever this becomes necessary.
The typical scenarios are generally either one very dominant boar making war on the two others, the two more dominant boys getting into trouble with each other with the third boar getting along with either of the more dominant boys or two boys ganging up and bullying the third. By being prepared you can hopefully end up with one working pair and then look for a suitable companion for the third.
The worst case scenario is three dominant boys not getting on with any of the others. This is thankfully much rarer (about as rare as all three boys getting on), but it happens. Mostly your boys will be somewhere in the 80% zone between the two extremes.

Generally boar pairs have a better than half chance of making it through the teenage months together. The more you can include character compatibility and age difference, the higher the chances with any combination. Boars are never as difficult as in the time around 6 months when the testosterone is literally buzzing through their bodies. The older they get, the more the testosterone fizzles out. Old age pensioner quartets and trios are for instances similar to sow groups due to the lack of testosterone and there for much more stable and achieveable.

But personality is something that pet shops unfortunately don't and can't provide because it is very time consuming - which is the reason for the bed press boars have. It is not them that is so much the problem, it is that they are being sold without concern of whether they suit and complement each other. You can find the very occasional stable boar trio looking for a home together in a rescue.
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
 
Hi, congratulations on your piggies! I have a trio of boars who are still together and are well over a year old. Whether it works or not will depend very much on the personalities of your three. If you have two dominant boars, it's highly unlikely to work long term, as there is a 90% failure rate, but that means there's a 10% success rate, so all is not lost.
Having bought them from a pet shop, my first concern would be making sure they are properly sexed. If they are all boars, then space, space and more space, and lots of places where they can get away from each other, as @Lady Kelly has said. Mine have a 5x3grid C&C with a loft. Three water bottles, three places to eat as well, means that no one will be bullied off the food. Then it's just sit back and hope that you're one of the lucky ones. I've managed to go down to two hay trays and water bottles now.
There will probably be more dominance than you'd see with a pair, but don't give up too quickly. My three have had their moments, and I have had to put a divider in the cage on a couple of occasions for an hour or so (when my other boys first met them when they were out for floor time, and came over to their cage to introduce themselves). You'll also probably see some re-establishing hierarchy when you clean the cage out, or if you put them in a run (every new environment is a new place to sort out leadership). As long as they don't get into a serious fight, but the teenage months 4-14 roughly are when you'll see most bickering if it does work out, and also the most likely time for their bond to fail if it's going to.

Good luck, and I'd love to see pics of your boys!
 
Welcome to the forum, great advice above from all
 
Hi All

I did try to upload the videos to here but i guess we cant? So ive uploaded to my brothers youtube, can you please look at the videos and tell me what you think? ITs kinda driving us crazy because we cannot figure out at all whats going on! Bear (black) and Tibby (white) seem to be okay, they have random moments of freezing but for the most part they go about their business, they even popcorn in there!

Cinnamon however, literally just sits there making that noise without stopping (after the initial 10 minutes of wondering around with his buddies and explorying whatever it is in there to be explored), he runs around, eats abit, then stops, and goes wild with this noise. And I'm finding it very hard to believe this can be a happy noise? It sounds like pure wall to wall unhappiness or fear, we do our best not to stand over them or to move to suddenly as they are still very much getting used to us, but its almost like cinnamon is taking it too far! Literally cant even hear the other 2 making any noises because all we can hear is cinnamon making this constant noise, my little girl jas started to call him cinnamoan lol

Cinnamon is the 3rd one that we brought home, when theyre in their cage they are okay, separate one of them for more than 10 second and they all kick off, i have done absolute hours of research into them, and to be honest, if I'm to believe MOST of what i read when I'm searching for fear/unhappy etc sounds, then he isnt unhappy, and he's just chatting away! But it definitely does not feel or sound like he's a happy or even semi comfortable piggy and its making everyone so sad to see him and hear him like this.

 
It sounds like the noise my Groucho makes when Chicco looks like he's going to move him on from his hay tray, or when I pick them up against their will.,but he could just be chatting. I'm not brilliant with noises, as there are so many reasons. They don't seem too unhappy, and there's no obvious chasing or humping. I'd leave well alone until they've been together a few weeks, then reassess if he seems unhappy. My instinct is annoyed rather than sad, but someone else might be able to give a better opinion. @Wiebke is the expert on these things.
 
Reenie said:
It sounds like the noise my Groucho makes when Chicco looks like he's going to move him on from his hay tray, or when I pick them up against their will.,but he could just be chatting. I'm not brilliant with noises, as there are so many reasons. They don't seem too unhappy, and there's no obvious chasing or humping. I'd leave well alone until they've been together a few weeks, then reassess if he seems unhappy. My instinct is annoyed rather than sad, but someone else might be able to give a better opinion. @Wiebke is the expert on these things.
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You mean like he could be getting bullied behind closed doors? Because to be honest, i couldn't leave them less alone if i tried! The intention is to move away from giving them food while they are in there, so it becomes more of a playtime than 'food' time, but for now i put food a bit of food in there as i want them to feel comfortable and jolly, but i stay well clear. I cant think of what could be annoying him, he makes the noise when we're in the room, makes the noise when we're out of the room - if he was moving around more and making the noise it would be fine, but its the fact he just stays in a corner of then play pen (because i guess when there is nowhere to hide, staying in the 'corner' is the closest thing you have to to comfort. The other two are running around having a whale of a time and he's just there whimpering away?!

I couldnt be further from a guinea pig expert, but i if i had to guess, bear is already showing signs of being the one that wants to be the dominant one, he's always climbing over the other two, the first night we brought them back he instantly mounted Tibby - but being the guinea newbies that we were, we just assumed that was part of the whole 'hide away' thing. Now i'm seeing it as a boar who has been sort of establishing dominance from the start, he's the most curious (to an extent), the one that worries the lead about running around when were doing the cage cleaning. Tibby doesnt seem to mind it, lets Bear climb all over him, Cinnamon doesn't seem to let it fly as much

I just watched them from a gap in the door for 5 minutes, bear and tibby are literally just running around loving life, cinnamon is in a corner wimpering, its like they even go over to him to try and get him involved, and he just sits there frozen making that noise - what could be bothering him?
 
KungPooPanda said:
You mean like he could be getting bullied behind closed doors? Because to be honest, i couldn't leave them less alone if i tried! The intention is to move away from giving them food while they are in there, so it becomes more of a playtime than 'food' time, but for now i put food a bit of food in there as i want them to feel comfortable and jolly, but i stay well clear. I cant think of what could be annoying him, he makes the noise when we're in the room, makes the noise when we're out of the room - if he was moving around more and making the noise it would be fine, but its the fact he just stays in a corner of then play pen (because i guess when there is nowhere to hide, staying in the 'corner' is the closest thing you have to to comfort. The other two are running around having a whale of a time and he's just there whimpering away?!

I couldnt be further from a guinea pig expert, but i if i had to guess, bear is already showing signs of being the one that wants to be the dominant one, he's always climbing over the other two, the first night we brought them back he instantly mounted Tibby - but being the guinea newbies that we were, we just assumed that was part of the whole 'hide away' thing. Now i'm seeing it as a boar who has been sort of establishing dominance from the start, he's the most curious (to an extent), the one that worries the lead about running around when were doing the cage cleaning. Tibby doesnt seem to mind it, lets Bear climb all over him, Cinnamon doesn't seem to let it fly as much

I just watched them from a gap in the door for 5 minutes, bear and tibby are literally just running around loving life, cinnamon is in a corner wimpering, its like they even go over to him to try and get him involved, and he just sits there frozen making that noise - what could be bothering him?
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No sorry - I don't mean he's being bullied - in fact in your video, the other two don't seem to be bothering him in the least. I didn't realise this was floor time. If he's fine in the cage, he might just be feeling insecure being away from where he's used to. It looks like he's the third wheel at the moment. The thing guinea pigs need next to food and water is the company of other piggies - but in a trio, there will almost always be one less chummy with the others. My Groucho is very much the outsider, but he hates being taken out of the cage, away from the others, even though he spends most of his time on his own in the cage. He doesn't get on with Chicco, but he and Little Dude are fine, even though Chicco and Little Dude spend most of the time together. It's really hard not to think in terms of human feelings and behaviour, but with piggies it's all about instincts and hierarchy. As I said before, I would give it time. It takes at least a couple of weeks for them to fully decide the pecking order, and while they're in their teenage months, there will always be jostling for place. I would stick with it and don't worry too much unless there are obvious signs of bullying or if they fight. I'm not an expert, but I do have my experience with a boar trio. I remember posting a while back, when I was thinking about separating Groucho and getting him a new pal, but I'm glad I didn't, as they're so much fun to watch because of their posturing and squabbling.
Here's a couple of my previous threads which might put your mind at ease a bit.

Trio of boars
Not Sure What To Do For Best
 
I'm no expert either, but I'd agree with what's been said above. Babies in particular are very noisy and can be pretty dramatic with it as it's their way of keeping in touch with their group, so it may be that he's feeling a little insecure (due to being the newest, in different surroundings, and the third wheel) which is leading him to be especially chatty and loud. :)
 
Yes it's a nervous noise. Our Silk made that all the time when we had her out of the hutch at first, but she never does it now she's settled in. So he's saying "I don't feel safe." Did you say he has nowhere to hide?! He needs a hiding place! Even a shoebox with a hole in the side where he can feel safe or a tea towel draped over part of the pen.
 
Pigwhisperer said:
Yes it's a nervous noise. Our Silk made that all the time when we had her out of the hutch at first, but she never does it now she's settled in. So he's saying "I don't feel safe." Did you say he has nowhere to hide?! He needs a hiding place! Even a shoebox with a hole in the side where he can feel safe or a tea towel draped over part of the pen.
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Hi, this may again be down to getting some not so great advice before finding this forum ( it’s remarkable how there’s a forum for like, everything lol ). I was under the impression that when/if you take them out of their cage for short ish periods, you should allow for a completely open environment, and that if you give them somewhere to hide, all they will do is hide and that effectively spoils the purpose of putting them out, and the fact that Bear and Tibby were so jolly, I thought this was exactly what we were mean to be doing, but if this is not the case then please correct me, I don’t want to create an environment that’s not comfortable for him ( or any of them I guess )

Must admit I’m quite frustrated with the store staff for not giving us more information, I will hold my hands up and say we could and should have done more research before bringing them home, it wouldn’t have changed our decision to bring piggy’s home for the most part, but would’ve been more prepared, and I could maybe even go as far as saying we wouldn’t have introduced a third wheel! Although, they seemed so much more talkative once the third one was in there we had honestly assumed we had made a brilliant choice in bringing him back

Do you reckon we should not take them out at all for a while? Day? Week(s)? Etc?
 
I think that advice was written so that children get to see their fluffy toys without much thought for what is best for the animals. Because they are prey animals, guinea pigs only really feel safe when they have something to hide under, so that they can't get lifted by an eagle. This is especially true in a new environment - once they're used to the fact that a place is safe, they tend to be more comfortable out in the open - but even then, if you make an unexpected noise (sneezing for example) they will run for cover. They are drama queens lol. I would let them settle in their cage for a week or so to let them get comfortable. Maybe even set up their run beside the cage and open it, so that they can decide for themselves if they want to come out. I would put hideys in the run as well though.
 
When our piggies have floor time we put a couple of hideys out with a few veggies in the open inbetween the hideys. For the first five mins they stay put, then they run between the hideys and the veggies then while I clean out their cage they explore the whole room! When they want to go back in their cage they head back for the hideys! Could something like this help Cinnamon maybe? Good luck. I hope it works out for them.
 
It took about 6 months for Pickle, who was 8 weeks when she came home, to really trust me - even though her mum, Jasmine, is very bold and relaxed! It's definitely a gradual process and it'll take longer for some to settle than others, but if you allow them to feel safe, they'll start to trust you more and more each day. :)
 
The best place to start is probably this thread:
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
Sounds like you're keen to get some better advice and there is loads on this forum under "new and wannabe guinea pig owners" that would help. The great thing is that piggies do respond once you're "speaking their language" - I found the "piggy whispering tips" so effective on my nervous piggy that I stole the idea for my username :-)
 
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