trio?

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rabbitdan

rabbitdan

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Is it better to get a pair or a trio of guinea pigs. would 2 of the trio gang up on the other one?

i know i would need atleast a 5ft hutch for a trio
 
Pair - Trios can be difficult. I've had two successful trio pairing and mainly failures.

Though, depending if you ment 3 boars or 3 sows? 3 boars I'd say a no no but 3 sows generally would tell you whether they hated each other within 30 mins and then they wouldn't argue again.

Neutered male and 2 sow pairings are common
 
they would all be babies and living together at time of purchase
 
trios can work but like us its kind of a pair and one could be left out.

so i would go for a pair.

you say at the time of purchase so i'm assuming your buying them, have you thought about rescueing a pair or trio?
 
lauralucy said:
trios can work but like us its kind of a pair and one could be left out.

so i would go for a pair.

you say at the time of purchase so i'm assuming your buying them, have you thought about rescueing a pair or trio?
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yes. but i would like to get them from babies. and i saw some guineas being born at a local farm and they are going on sale at the weekend.
 
Ah well that makes them so much more deserving than the thousands of guinea pigs in the rescue centres then.

*edit* a trio or even a pair if boars may not work if they are all the same age, as they could fall out when they reach their "teenage" stage.
 
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i have to agree with bailey, we are a pro rescue forum. how do you know that boys will be seperated at 3 weeks old, and that mum and dad were healthy. you could run into all sorts of problems.

and also as bailey said pairs and trios of boars can fall out once they hits hormones it doesnt matter if they are related or not.
 
Ok I think sometimes the strong feelings of people about rescue pigs can come across as harsh. What Bailey is trying to highlight now is how overrun rescues can be and just how breeders may be treating or even neglecting piggies.

Obviously I don't know if it is someone who is a breeder that you are intending to buy from but sometimes you will find breeders do not treat medical problems in their pigs and they may inbreed pigs and use the females for repeated births putting the pigs under extreme danger of illness and death.

A lot of people on here are very involved in rescues and trying to prevent the mistreatment of animals for financial gain which is what breeders and pet shops do.

I must admit before I joined here I didn't know much about rescues and naively discussed with my partner the oldest age we were willing to adopt a pig at. Turns out that while we did take a 2 year old we also got a 4 month old. There were even 2 week old pigs there that had been born in the rescue because the mother was brought in pregnant and they weren't ready to be separated from mum.
 
i put my piggies in the shed especially when we had all the snow. its more to prtect from rain wind and draughts etc. plus it was nicer to clean them out in the shed than in the cold and wet.
 
rabbitdan said:
its is true. although some of the info is silly like putting guinea pigs in sheds in winter. My shed gets really cold and the cold stays in there unlike outside. mine will be ok with lots of bedding and a cover over the top of the hutch.

I'm still getting baby's from the farm.
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It actually says...

If you can provide a shed that has heating
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and have you thought that to some people it might not be silly? I know of a family which kept theirs outside all over the winter even during that bad snow towards the end of last year. Fortunately he survived and he now has a nice cage indoors... in my spare bedroom.
 
Bailey said:
It actually says...



and have you thought that to some people it might not be silly? I know of a family which kept theirs outside all over the winter even during that bad snow towards the end of last year. Fortunately he survived and he now has a nice cage indoors... in my spare bedroom.
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its much more stressful for the animal to move it around. my rabbits were outside in the snow
 
Welcome to TGPF Rabbitdan. As you can probably tell many members on the forum take piggy rescue very seriously, hence your decision to purchase pigs has ruffled some feathers. With so many piggies in rescue/foster care it is understandable why members are so anti shop/farm bought animals. Not all pigs in rescues are old, in fact many are youngsters who have been born in care so you would not necessarily have to take on an older piggy.

In answer to your question 2 or 3, either can work if they are all girls, if you want boys then I would stick with 2. We currently have a group of 4 living together quite happily (neutered boar and his 3 wivesx)), the key is to provide as much space as you can. I have never personally experienced problems with 3 pigs and have always worked on the basis that if I have 3 and lose 1 at least the piggies left behind will still have a friend. The minimum recommended size for a pair of piggies is 4'x2' so for 3 I would opt for 5' or 6' accommodation. Have a look on line for hutches, you generally get a better choice of size, the Happy Hutch Company do a good selection, here's a link http://www.happyhutch.co.uk/single-storey-rabbit-hutches.php. If they are to be housed indoors you can buy a ready made cage from a shop/on line, again go for the largest possible either a Ferplast 120 or one of the 150 cages now available, although these tend to be harder to find. Have a look on Zooplus, they currently have some cages on special offer http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/rabbit_cage. Another option is to have a C&C cage (DIY job) the advantage is you can make the cage to fit the space you have available - have a look through some of the housing threads on the forum.

I do hope you will stick around, there is a wealth of information on the forum and some very knowledgeable members too. One thing I would stress if you do decide to go with the farm piggies is please double check the sex of the babies (again threads on here to show you how to do that) the last thing you want is to end up with lots more piggies than you bargained for! Boys should be removed from their mums/sisters at 3 weeks of age, so something else to bear in mind. This is another big plus of getting pigs through a reputable rescue, they will be properly sexed, health checked and you will have a life time of support.

Good luck with your decision.
 
Back to the original issue - get two and not three piggies! It depends very much on the character combination whether you will end up with a harmonious trio or an outsider, and you can't judge that with babies. Three piggies is the most difficult number of piggies to bond successfully.

Under no circumstances would I recommend getting three baby boars; they are much more likely than not bound to fall out when they hit the stroppy hormonal months between 4-12 months old. In the worst case you can end up with three single boars who will not live with each other. A 5ft hutch is what we recommend for two growing boars in any event, anyway.
 
is happy hutch a good company to get a 5ft x 2ft hutch from?
 
rabbitdan said:
its much more stressful for the animal to move it around. my rabbits were outside in the snow
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That is NOT true in the case of guinea pigs - they really don't do well left outside, an unheated shed is better than no shed at all. Unlike rabbits they don't have thick enough fur to cope with cold/damp conditions and should only be put outside in a run on dry, fine days. Damp and draughts and piggies do not go.
 
Happy Hutch are a local company to me, although I don't have any pets in hutches now if I was to ever need a hutch they would be the first place I would look to buying on from.


I would just like to apologise if I came across as rude (although I wasn't trying & if I was actually intentionally being rude then you would know about it :p )
Just something I feel quite passionately about right now. So I'm sorry.
 
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Eh okays. Let's say uh, just something I want to say. If I have the chance to adopt, I'd go for it, sadly in Singapore we hardly have any for adoption (Or rather, gladly!), so I have to buy mine.

I'd say, not all shops are selling healthy pigs, neither does all breeders'. I've seen terrible conditions that I don't even see myself supporting - It only means they'll breed more.

In my opinion, why not go to a shelter/rescue, and see if you can fall in love with some? They're neutered/spayed, and best of all, have been fully rehabilitated to full health, fed proper diets, not to mention - They're treated with lots of loves from their rescuers :)

Of course, it doesn't matter if you decide to go for the little ones in the end :)

&. Like the others, I'd go for a pair instead, I'd say it's pretty much easier, but even a pair of siblings might fight along the way, so it depends a lot on their own individual characteristic.

Have fun being a new Cavy slave! ;)
 
Going back to what you originally asked - I had a trio of sows who had been together since birth. They got on really well and didn't really have a pecking order, but sadly I lost one. Now there are two they seem to get on even better than before - they have bonded closely together. Maybe have a pair? Or a neutured boar and 2 sows - although have no experience in that area myself have seen others have this set up successfully. Best of luck x
 
I had a trio of females (Edie, Marmalade and Amber) and Edie and Marmalade seemed to get along well and Amber was left out, they never had a fight or anything but Amber was always sitting away from the others and she did seem quite lonely, I was planning to make the hutch bigger than add another guinea-pig to be a friend for her but she unfortunately died in January. I now have a pair and would love to get another guinea-pig but I don't want one to be left out again, so I have got 2 girls. It is best to stick with even numbers so they don't get left out :)
 
like people have said it depends on the sex of the piggies if you go to a rescue they will have pairs that have an established bond. girls can live in trios but if you do get babies then you risk them falling out as they grow up so a trio that works as babies may not work later on.
also you are thinking of getting the same sexes arent you?
a shed in winter is better as it shelters them from cold winds/draughts
 
If you are going to get a trio, it is better to get females. I have only heard of a few people that have managed to have a trio of males, I've heard it's quite difficult to get them to get along.
 
Caviesgalore said:
That is NOT true in the case of guinea pigs - they really don't do well left outside, an unheated shed is better than no shed at all. Unlike rabbits they don't have thick enough fur to cope with cold/damp conditions and should only be put outside in a run on dry, fine days. Damp and draughts and piggies do not go.
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I already told him that on the other forum too {:| Good to know my correct advice was already ignored
 
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