4 guinea pigs - bonding or separate?

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Vicky2021

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Hi all.

I have 2 female guinea pigs currently, live indoors and truly spoilt.

My friend is a vet and knows my guinea pigs and asked if I’d consider taking on 2 more, which I have space for. They are living in a tiny cage with little room to run around which is sad!

My query is - will I be able to keep 2 sets of guinea pigs in the same room but in separate cages or should I try and bond them? I didn’t know if the sounds of one set would distress the other if they don’t know them. Any experience of this?
 
To confirm, are the two new piggies sows?

You can keep two separate sow pairs in separate cages in the same room. That is absolutely fine to do.

Whether you are able to bond them so all four can live together is another matter.
How old are they all?
If they are all adult, then bonding as a quarter is much less likely. Older sows don’t usually accept change well and as each pair will have its own dominant sow, merging the two pairs will mean the dominant sow in one of the pairs is going to have to step down and lose her status as dominant sow. This is not something they are usually willing to do which means bonding fails.
If one of the pairs is younger and they cannot challenge the hierarchy, then you might have a bit more luck, but it’s no guarantee.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

If the two new piggies are boars, then it’s not a good idea to have a bonded pair of boars in the same room as sows. Even smelling sow pheromones can cause them to fight with each other and break a boar bond.
 
Piggies&buns said:
To confirm, are the two new piggies sows?

You can keep two separate sow pairs in separate cages in the same room. That is absolutely fine to do.

Whether you are able to bond them so all four can live together is another matter.
How old are they all?
If they are all adult, then bonding as a quarter is much less likely. Older sows don’t usually accept change well and as each pair will have its own dominant sow, merging the two pairs will mean the dominant sow in one of the pairs is going to have to step down and lose her status as dominant sow. This is not something they are usually willing to do which means bonding fails.
If one of the pairs is younger and they cannot challenge the hierarchy, then you might have a bit more luck, but it’s no guarantee.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

If the two new piggies are boars, then it’s not a good idea to have a bonded pair of boars in the same room as sows. Even smelling sow pheromones can cause them to fight with each other and break a boar bond.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply! Yes both sows. The two I have are 10 months, the two I am taking on, one is a year and the other is 2 years old. That’s really helpful to know, thank you. I did wonder about the hierarchy as my current guinea pigs are still establishing whom is boss 😂, I think one of them is winning! They get on really well but at times one will make the other leave the bed, or raise their head and the other one will run around. I don’t want to upset them. I am assuming as the other two I am taking on are mother and daughter, that essentially they have probably established their hierarchy in terms of the mum. I did think keeping them separate would be best, will it distress them hearing another set of guinea pigs they can’t see? Mine squeak a lot for food and attention, now they’re going to hear a completely new set of voices. Will be a loud house!
 
It only takes around two weeks for them to establish hierarchy and a functioning relationship. So, if your piggies have been together for longer than two weeks, then they will most certainly already have a functioning and working hierarchy and will know which one of them is boss. What you are seeing is normal dominance behaviours which will be seen throughout life. With sows, you will likely see an escalation of dominance behaviours every time they are in season (around every 15 days).

It should not cause any problem for a new pair to be in the same room, even to be side by side would be fine.
 
Piggies&buns said:
It only takes around two weeks for them to establish hierarchy and a functioning relationship. So, if your piggies have been together for longer than two weeks, then they will most certainly already have a functioning and working hierarchy and will know which one of them is boss. What you are seeing is normal dominance behaviours which will be seen throughout life. With sows, you will likely see an escalation of dominance behaviours every time they are in season (around every 15 days).

It should not cause any problem for a new pair to be in the same room, even to be side by side would be fine.
Click to expand...
I was really interested to hear re escalation of dominance during season. I’ve had guinea pigs my whole life, now I have my own place I bought my own but when I was young I had 8, things were so different years ago in terms of their care and the guidance for looking after them/their behaviours that I had to relearn everything, and hierarchy was quite new to me. Your post has really helped. Thanks for sharing some knowledge, appreciated
 
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