Bonding 3 boars

[Willow1825]

Hey guys,
So yesterday we got a third guinea pig! He's only 5 weeks old and was born in a rescue. We already had two boars, Emil (5 months) and Milo (1 year) and we thought we'd try and bond a third boy. We did our research, we know it's not the best idea, and that it often goes wrong. I know that. But we went for it anyway as our boys have such a peaceful bond, I have never seen them having any dominance fights at all. So we went to the rescue we got them from and adopted a baby boy.
We made the mistake of letting the little guy go straight into the enclosure.

We let him go in the bottom half, while the boys were in the top half. Emil and Milo looked so stunned and, after a bit of hesitation, ran down. They started following the little one from a little distance. The little boy couldn't've cared less about the other two! He went on a little trip to explore the enclosure and completely ignored my other boys!
My boys followed him over his trip. Then the started fighting, so we took the baby out and into a carrier cage. We then put the carrier in the enclosure so they can interact.
Milo is the dominant piggy. After what happened, Emil started a few dominance fights and they chased each other around. The interesting thing was that Milo didn't fight back until Emil got really annoying and then Milo would just put him back into his place and then leave him alone.
They both interacted with the baby a lot. They chewed on the cage's bars and tried to get him out. Milo and Emil had a couple little squabbles and then went back to normal. It took them about two or three hours. Then they ate from the same bowl and slept about 20-30cm from each other, which is what they usually do.
I took this as a good sign, but I'm not sure how to move on with the bonding. Are they doing well or not? I'd really appreciate some advice on what to do next.

 

[Swissgreys]

To be honest at this point I wouldn't risk the bond that your current boars already have.
You are right that is it extremely rare for 3 boars to get along, and this requires an absolutely huge cage (amongst other things) and the one in the photo is nice but nowhere near big enough for 3 boars.
Plus even if they get along in the short term, as soon as the new baby becomes a teenager in a few months the whole thing will start all over again.
It really isn't worth taking a chance.

A better plan would be the crate a second cage and ask the rescue for another boar to pair up with the baby.
It is disappointing that they didin't explain the unlikelihood of 3 boys working out to you before they sent you home with a third boar.
But hopefully they will be willing to help fix the situation so all of the boys can be happy and safe.

You may find this guide helpful:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[Piggies&buns]

I do agree with everything Swissgreys has said.
Not only is this risking the baby ending up alone going forward, it is also risking the bond between Emil and Milo. Emil and Milo get on well because they are character compatible with each other. Adding a third can break that so it is possible that proceeding with keeping all of them together can mean you end up with all three having to live in separate cages.
Not only is three boars almost impossible to get to work, add the fact that your older boars are also still teenagers themselves particularly with Emil who has really only just started his teens and therefore isnt yet at peak hormones, things could change quite rapidly over the coming weeks.
Also as Swissgreys has said, the cage is beautiful but it isnt big enough for three boars.

 

[Siikibam]

Biting at the bars of the carrier isn’t necessarily a positive sign either. I hope you can get the youngster a friend soon. He’s too young to be living alone at the moment. Good luck.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Unfortunately as much as baby boars are accepted at first, it wont be long until they are all challenging for hierarchy which is very very rarely established in a herd of three. Definitely don't risk the bond of your two existing boys.

 

[Willow1825]

As I've said before, I know bonding three boys rarely works. I understand that there is a high risk of this not working at all in the long run. And I don't want the bond between my boys to break. But I refuse to give up without even trying. You can judge me for that, that's okay. Maybe I have too much faith in my piggies. But I did not post here for everyone to tell me not to do it. I'm here for advice on how to do it.
So if there's anyone who knows some tips on bonding three boys or knows what they require, then I'd really appreciate that kind of advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[Willow1825]

Here's a little info:
Cage:
- 2.3m2 cage
- 1.7m2 bottom floor
- planning on making a third floor soon
Diet:
- science selective grain free pellets
- salad mixes, bell pepper, cucumber, sometimes broccoli or kale
- Oxbow Western Timothy hay

We let the baby go with supervision in the cage and after a little squabbling, the three seem to get along just fine. My boys are really interested in the baby and they chase him a little trying to smell him. But other then that, they eat from the same bowl and played together a little. They've been together under supervision for about 2 hours now.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Nobody is judging you. If you wish to try then that is your decision, but we don’t advise adding a third to a bonded boar pair due to the fight and injury risks and the fact it has the ability to destroy the original bonded pair. It doesn’t matter how well the original two get on prior to adding a third. We are contacted a lot by people trying to deal with the fall out of a failed boar trio without knowing they don’t work, but if you are prepared and know you could end up needing three separate cages and potentially another three piggies.
All bonding guides are available and I’ve linked some in below explaining how to carry out a bonding. However, while following the correct procedure is important, the bond success is entirely down to the piggies and of course you cannot control that. Character compatibility between piggies added on spec and particularly between a teen boar trio is very difficult to get right, so even if you do a perfect bonding, its still got a 90% failure rate.

Cage wise - It’s only the ground floor of the cage which can be counted towards the cage size as they are ground roaming creatures and they need a large single level space, not multiple levels. For a boar trio, each piggy needs at least a square metre of territory, therefore the cage needs to be at least 3 square metres on a single level.
The area of upper levels is not added to the total cage size so the level you already have is fine for a bonus space but adding a third level isn’t really going to be of benefit.

Any bonding should to be done outside of the cage in neutral space. Allowing him into the cage directly can be seen as a territory invasion. They need to be in a bonding pen for several hours (maybe overnight) to get through the initial stages of dominance and during that time you will need to completely neutralise the cage they are to live in, so the original piggies don’t see it as their space still.

Ensure you always handle the dominant piggy first
Ensure ensure all hideys are multiple exit
Ensure there are at least three water bottles and three hay piles and that they are at least a body length apart.
I would recommend scatter feeding veg and pellets widely around the cage and not using bowls, so the bottom ranking piggy still gets a fair share. A trio, whether it’s boars or sows, always risks an outsider situation occurring, so bullying can always be an issue.
Keep a close eye on their weights, as bullying can result in being withdrawn and not being allowed to eat enough.
Keep an eye out for one piggy isolating themselves from the others, as another sign that they arent happy to be with the others and therefore the bonding is failing.

Keep the separation plan in mind and spare cage or two in place as we have said they are unlikely to still be together by the time they all hit adulthood.

Good luck with them.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[VickiA]

No one is judging you. But in the interests of the welfare of the piggies we are giving you all the benefit of our many years of experience and the reality is that this is unlikely to work in the long term. I’m just going to say one thing more. I am really disappointed that a rescue would allow you to adopt a baby boar to bond with a pair of young boars. No reputable rescue in the U.K. would do so.

 

[Swissgreys]

As I've said before, I know bonding three boys rarely works. I understand that there is a high risk of this not working at all in the long run. And I don't want the bond between my boys to break. But I refuse to give up without even trying. You can judge me for that, that's okay. Maybe I have too much faith in my piggies. But I did not post here for everyone to tell me not to do it. I'm here for advice on how to do it.
So if there's anyone who knows some tips on bonding three boys or knows what they require, then I'd really appreciate that kind of advice. Thanks in advance.

No one here is judging you.
You asked for advice and help and we offered it.
The fact that you didin't hear what you wanted to, doesn't mean you are being judged.
It just means we are being honest as we have the welfare of your piggies in mind backed up with years of experience.

Given the ages of your piggies this bonding is highly unlikely to be successful in the long term, and it would irresponsible of us to say otherwise.
Hopefully there will be signs and you will be able to intervene before one of more of them suffers from a serious injury, and at the very least you will be left with a bonded pair.

It isn't about having faith in your piggies - it is about acknowledging and respecting their natural behaviour and instincts, and offering them appropriate care, companionship and environment.

You did ask for advice on what they need and the only thing I can really say is they need a much bigger cage.
To have any chance at all of success they need a cage that is double the size of their current one.
Please focus on creating one large level with multiple hides with multiple exits. In the case of fragile groups additional levels can actually add to the problems as they offer 'trap zones' where one piggy can be cornered or trapped and feel the need to fight when the option of flight is removed.