Bonding 1 male with a few females

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Popcorn1

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Hello, we are in situation that we have left 1 male guinea pig. We are planning to neuter him because we would like to get a few females to live with him. The question is what if we get 1 female at a time and bond with him/later them is it going to work? Do the females have to be bonded pair or we can get a female piggy at a time and all live happily together? :)
Thanks in advance
 
It all depends on character compatibility.
I bonded my boar Micah with my 3 sows who were already an established group when I rescued him.
He went wild with excitement and was very happy with this wives.
The 2 older girls treated him like a pesky little brother and the youngest girl quickly became his deepest love.

Check with any local rescues about a possible pair of sows who could be bonded with him. That way you have a possible Plan B if things don’t work.

A boar with sows is a great joy and much better than a soap opera.
I hope you find a good solution for your boy.
It’s great that you’re thinking and planning for meeting his needs.
 
It could be easier to bond him with an already bonded pair of sows rather than to try to bond him with one sow and then try to add more sows later. The fact is though that as any bonding comes down to compatibility; there is never a sure fire way is knowing what will and won’t work until you try. We recommend dating him with sows at a rescue is the best way to go about finding him friends.
Make sure he is neutered and six weeks post op safe before attempting any bonding.

If you carry out any on spec bonding, ensure that you have a plan for any future sows to live separately if the original male/female pair did not accept any new piggies in their pairing.

Wiebke

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

1 Singles and Pairs
Singles: Challenges and solutions for different singles situations (link)
Pairs: A closer look all possible pairings (link)
2 Trios and More by Gender
Boars
- Trios and quartets - Why better avoided
- Large Groups...
  • Like
 
Popcorn1 said:
Hello, we are in situation that we have left 1 male guinea pig. We are planning to neuter him because we would like to get a few females to live with him. The question is what if we get 1 female at a time and bond with him/later them is it going to work? Do the females have to be bonded pair or we can get a female piggy at a time and all live happily together? :)
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Hi

Going from a mixed pair to a trio can be tricky. It is easier to start with a bonded or group of sows if possible. However, key is always initial acceptance, which is not necessarily a given unless with younger sows. The older sows get (especially past their natural normal pup bearing age until ca. 3 years), the less accepting they often get.

We have some helpful tips in this link here:
Wiebke

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

1 Singles and Pairs
Singles: Challenges and solutions for different singles situations (link)
Pairs: A closer look all possible pairings (link)
2 Trios and More by Gender
Boars
- Trios and quartets - Why better avoided
- Large Groups...
  • Like

I have had up to 9 'husboars' living in parallel in different cages with one to up to 13 sows at any time. Boredom is not an option. But building up working groups and maintaining them for a longer time can be a challenge since they are a dynamic process as piggies age or die, or ovarian cysts cause disruption. I m currently down 5 of them.

However, they also are places for great love and enduring bonds and you get the best of both genders.
 
Hi, thank you for the support, advices and for the kind words! We will read the helpful tips and will decide and talk with our vet what to do and what is best for our boy.
 
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