Bonding a Neutered Male and Female

[buckingpigs]

Hi everybody,
I’ve been checking out this forum for advice for the past 2 years ever since I got my first guinea pig, Wilbur. Unfortunately, on the 22nd, and on my 20th birthday too, my sweet girl had to be put down after suffering from what I believe was a stroke, neither the vet and I were really sure what happened. I had her paired with her daughter (I don’t breed pigs but was told she was a male and the rest is history), but of course now she is alone. However, I also had a male who was separated from his group pretty recently because of aggression issues once I moved them into a new cage since I moved houses. The cage is double-tiered and I suspect he could probably smell the girls, though my boys haven’t had any issues with aggression since I took him out so I’m not sure. My group of 3 were together for an entire year and a half before he started fighting with them and it happened right when I moved. He’s in a midwest cage alone right now. I was thinking of getting him neutered to pair with my girl, but to be honest I haven’t heard much of just a single male and female rather than a herd. And if personality has anything to do with it, Piglet (my male) is usually laid back aside from when he was picking fights, and Momo is a timid pig, but always loved to be around her mom and would run to her if she ever got scared, so I’m not sure she has much of an issue with other pigs. I’d love to hear some advice or experience with these pairs before I call up any vets. Thank you!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome and I’m sorry for your loss.

To clarify, you had a pair of sows in one cage, and a trio of boars in another cage?

A neutered boar can live with any number of sows. There are plenty who have a neutered boar/sow pair, and yes, while many sows can be kept with one neutered boar, a pair is a very common way to keep piggies. Space prohibitions beyond keeping two is often a major factor in that.
If you have him neutered, he will need to be kept away from her for six weeks after the surgery to become infertile.

Any bonding is all about character, two piggies must have it be able to form a successful bond.

Its quite normal for a boar trio to fail at some point . Unfortunately it is a very unstable grouping anyway - this is why boars are only recommended to be kept in pairs - and a change in environment will cause them to reestablish the relationship which would most likely break bonds in what is usually unstable. Plus a boar trio requires a huge amount of space (three square metres/36 square feet on a single level surface).

If the boar pair are still in the same room with the sow, then do keep an eye on things but hopefully they are used to her smell and settled enough for it not to be an issue. It’s recommended that boar pairs aren’t kept in the same room as sows but that if they need to be they are in stacked cages with any sows at the bottom cage.
Also bearing in mind a boar pair need 180x60cm of cage space to themselves.

A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed)
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[buckingpigs]

Welcome and I’m sorry for your loss.

To clarify, you had a pair of sows in one cage, and a trio of boars in another cage?

A neutered boar can live with any number of sows. There are plenty who have a neutered boar/sow pair, and yes, while many sows can be kept with one neutered boar, a pair is a very common way to keep piggies. Space prohibitions beyond keeping two is often a major factor in that.
If you have him neutered, he will need to be kept away from her for six weeks after the surgery to become infertile.

Any bonding is all about character, two piggies must have it be able to form a successful bond.

Its quite normal for a boar trio to fail at some point . Unfortunately it is a very unstable grouping anyway - this is why boars are only recommended to be kept in pairs - and a change in environment will cause them to reestablish the relationship which would most likely break bonds in what is usually unstable. Plus a boar trio requires a huge amount of space (three square metres/36 square feet on a single level surface).

If the boar pair are still in the same room with the sow, then do keep an eye on things but hopefully they are used to her smell and settled enough for it not to be an issue. It’s recommended that boar pairs aren’t kept in the same room as sows but that if they need to be they are in stacked cages with any sows at the bottom cage.
Also bearing in mind a boar pair need 180x60cm of cage space to themselves.

A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed)
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

Hello, and thank you for your condolences.

But yes, my sows were in one cage and boars were in the other before I moved. I do think I made a mistake on my part because I did have my sows at the top portion of the cage which I think caused them to squabble. Their new cage, while longer than their old cage, is not as wide as I’d like it to be though I don’t remember the actual measurements as it was built for me as a gift.

It has been awhile since they were separated, a few weeks or maybe even a month, and I moved my sows to the bottom cage and the boys have not had an issue since then, and honestly I’m not sure if I want them as a trio anymore since the fighting moved past chasing and I moved my boar for his own safety.

Thank you for your help, it has been very useful so far! These are my first pigs and I’m glad to hear what could’ve potentially caused my boys to fight in the first place. The guides in the forum were very useful as well!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Having the sows at the top wouldn’t have helped but the reality is that most boar trios will fail at some point anyway - they just tend to be unstable as they find it hard to get compatibility.
You did the right thing in separating them and we would never recommend attempting a boar trio given the failure rate is so high.

The two boars who are together clearly so have compatibility which is why they are getting on.