Bond Or Keep Separate

[Floss]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum and new to guinea pig ownership.

My family and I have been the proud owners of two female guinea pigs since the beginning of this year and I am pleased to say we are all getting a lot of enjoyment from them. I had forgotten how cute they are. They are 5 months old and at present they live indoors.

I have been looking into the possibility of adopting two more female guinea pigs from the RSPCA. They are 3 years old. Do I have to try and bond them with the two we already have or can I just keep them in a separate cage/separate run, so keep them separate all the time but in the same room?

Any help and advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[zombieprincess]

It is entirely down to personal choice. There is no reason that you cannot keep them as a separate pair and keep them in the same area. Many of us have separate groups of piggies living in the same space. So as long as you are happy to duplicate everything, and care from its fine.

Likewise you could attempt to bond then with the girls you have. Generally they are straightforward and its sort of the beauty of having sows. You dont have to stick ridgidly to your pairs or sometimes trios (if your lucky) like boars. But if you get a stubborn little lady then it won't be! You could also run the small risk of making your currebt girls fall out. Although i have never had a pair that upset by additional pihs.Just remember if you do that then you may potentially have to expand their living space by quite a bit.

So I guess if it was my guineas I would be strongly considering seeing if I could make a group. It is lovely watching them in larger numbers and the way they interact. But I'd be happy to have them separate also if it didn't work out.

 

[madguinealady]

I have three girls in one group and a single boar separate til he gets snipped.I had a pair and a group of four in the past due to clash of personalities with two head girls and when one of the pair died the single one took it very badly. Ended up with group of four and group of six which worked great as if I lost one didn't have bri find another one quickly.Considering keeping at least three from now on to stop the same thing happening again.