Would a spayed female near make a bonded pair of boars fight?

[n_Mamapiggie]

Hi everyone,
I’m hoping to get some advice from this experienced community!

I recently adopted three senior guinea pigs. They’re all 5 years old. There was some bullying when they first arrived, and I had to separate them. The one being bullied was so terrified that he wouldn't even leave his hidey house with the simple sight of the bully, even when living in a cage side-by-side, so I completely separated them. After 2 months, I tried reintroducing the three of them, but it completely failed. I tried again the following week, but still had no luck—the bullied pig is now fighting back instead of running away.

I’m coming to terms with the fact that they might not be able to live together again, but my single boy doesn't seem happy living as a solo piggy in a cage side-by-side. I found a spayed female and was wondering if it could cause issues for the bonded pair of males if I keep her in a cage near them and try to bond her with the single boar. They would be living in a 6x2 stacked cage.

Has anyone had experience with a situation like this? Do you have any advice for this kind of situation?

Thank you so much

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

The advice is that you should avoid introducing a sow into a room where a boar pair live. If the boar pair smell her then yes they absolutely could fight. Adding a sow into a room where boars have never smelled a sow will cause a much greater reaction and potential fall out.
Some people can make it work but often it’s when boars have already grown up around sows that they are much less affected by sow pheromones.

The guaranteed way that a sow’s presence will not upset a boar pair is to keep them in separate rooms.
If that is not possible then keeping them in a stacked cage with the sow at the bottom may help minimise her pheromones drifting to the boars (if she was to be in the top cage then her smells would definitely fall downwards). You should always avoid touching the sow before touching the boars so as to not transfer scents with your hands or clothes. However neither of these measures completely guarantee that her presence will not upset the boar pair.

(Keeping three boys together almost never works out unfortunately. They find is very hard to form a functioning hierarchy. Boars tend to mellow out with age when testosterone fizzles out but it doesn’t make keeping a trio any more likely to work as compatibility always comes first.
When a piggy is being bullied they usually become depressed first but they can then get so fed up of it that they will fight back to protect themselves.
Piggies in a failed bond will never go back together again.
Space is also a major factor in a boar trio attempt (but to be clear having enough space will not make them get on, just that not having enough can exacerbate tensions) and to attempt a boar trio they require far beyond normal cage sizing, at least a 9x3 c&c cage is needed for them to have as least one square metre of territory each).)

I’ve added a guide below which explains more about boars and there is specifically a section on boars and sows in the same room

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[n_Mamapiggie]

Thanks so much! I was really hoping a spayed female wouldn't smell the same and throw off the balance between the bonded males nearby.

Putting her on the bottom level of a stacked cage is totally doable, but that would still risk messing up the bond between the boys upstairs, right?

 

[Piggies&buns]

A spayed sow still has sow pheromones so it isn’t any different unfortunately

Stacked cages is the best option if you can’t have a separate room, but it does still pose a risk to your boys bond.
They may well be ok but boys who have not been around sows before tend to have the strongest reaction to smelling sows.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone,
I’m hoping to get some advice from this experienced community!

I recently adopted three senior guinea pigs. They’re all 5 years old. There was some bullying when they first arrived, and I had to separate them. The one being bullied was so terrified that he wouldn't even leave his hidey house with the simple sight of the bully, even when living in a cage side-by-side, so I completely separated them. After 2 months, I tried reintroducing the three of them, but it completely failed. I tried again the following week, but still had no luck—the bullied pig is now fighting back instead of running away.

I’m coming to terms with the fact that they might not be able to live together again, but my single boy doesn't seem happy living as a solo piggy in a cage side-by-side. I found a spayed female and was wondering if it could cause issues for the bonded pair of males if I keep her in a cage near them and try to bond her with the single boar. They would be living in a 6x2 stacked cage.

Has anyone had experience with a situation like this? Do you have any advice for this kind of situation?

Thank you so much

Hi and welcome

Spayed sows no longer come into season but otherwise they still behave like normal sows. While they won't produce the big female pheromones, they still produce female pheromones that can trigger boars on edge, especially boars who have not grown up around sows and who lack the calming compound, especially at first.

You can keep them either above each other (the boar pair on top) or in adjoining cages with an opaque divider that is a bit larger and wider than the cages, so there is no sight and female pheromones cannot upset the boars. They do not rise and travel horizontally.

 

[n_Mamapiggie]

I don't know much about their past, but my guess is they've only ever lived with other males—except for their time at the shelter.
I'll focus on finding a baby boar to pair with my solo boar instead of going with the stacked cage route. The last thing we need is for any more bonds to fall out around here. It’s not every day you find a bonded pair of snuggling boars
Thank you so much!