Bonding my Guinea Pigs?

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

I have 2 female Guinea Pigs and I want to bond them with my male piggie. He is not neutered, so I would have to be watching very closely as I don't want my girls to get pregnant. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas how to make it go smoothly, I've tried to introduce them before, but my male piggie lives by himself and has done since I got him (I adopted him as his friend died but his old owner wanted him to go to someone who has other pigs). They have interacted through the bars of the cages and out in their runs next to each other, but when i've tried to introduce them he doesn't get on well with them (There has been some biting etc). I just wanted to know if there was any way to make them get along any better? Through the bars of the cages, they love each other, and always wheek together and talk, but when he is put with them they are not very happy.
I was also wondering why my girls have started to fight as they are sisters (from a breeder) and only used to have the odd squabble over food, but whenever they are near my male pig out in their run they get a bit funny and have little fights now and then.
Thanks

 

[Piggies&buns]

You absolutely cannot bond your girls with him or have them in the same cage while your boy is not neutered.

Don’t even let them go near him when you are watching - it takes seconds for a mating to happen and then you’ve got the risk of pregnant piggies. Only once he is neutered and six weeks past the neutering operation so is therefore infertile can you attempt to bond them.

There is the correct way to do a bonding, and if must be followed but ultimately any bonding comes down to character compatibility - piggies have to like each other to be able to bond successfully. There is nothing you can do to make that happen. As I have said though until he is neutered, he cannot have physical access to the girls in any event.

As to why the girls are fighting, we would require more information about them - their age, cage size etc. Being siblings does not guarantee a long term successful relationship.

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

My girls (Pippin and Pumpkin) currently live in a homemade outdoor hutch that has 18 square feet of space. They are going to be 2 years old in October, and I have had them since 5 weeks old (from a breeder as they were my first Guinea Pigs). When they were babies up until being around 6 months old, they lived inside in an indoor run (again homemade) which had about 10 square feet of space. We moved them outside in around April 2019, with a heater, and they have been living in that hutch ever since (but with no heater in the summer). They go out in a run on sunny days, in either a wooden run with a lid, but mostly I put my boy in that and the girls go in a large run next to him which I made from metal cage grids. The picture is of the run they are in outside. Their hutch is pushed up against my boar's hutch. We got my male piggy in January and it was only a while after that they started to fight a little when being near to him.
Thankyou!

 

[Piggies&buns]

What you describe as fighting is likely to just be dominance, and is likely to be exacerbated by the presence of the boar.
The guide below describes the effect the presence of a boy can have on girls.

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

Do you have a long term plan for the boar? Being alone isn’t good for him. At any time when they are locked in their hutches, he won’t have interaction through the bars as he can’t see them. Given they are so close to each other, you cannot bond your boar with another boar - a boar pair relationship will likely fail when in the presence of girls. Your only real chance for a long term bond for the boar is neutering him and then either attempting a bonding with your current two sows following the correct procedure , or if that fails, then bonding him with a new sow (again, this has to be done the right way given character compatibility is key as to whether a bond is a success or failure). None of that can happen though until he has been neutered and then waited six weeks after his operation to become infertile

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

Thanks, this has really helped me!
My boar and girls' cages both have runs on the bottom which they can interact through as they can still see each other. However, I know that this isn't enough for him (Jorge). The thing is, he has been alone for a year now (he was completely by himself at his old house when his friend died, so he was completely alone for about 8 months before he came to us, and as far as I know, his old owner didn't give him much attention when Jorge was by himself.) He is also nearly 5, which I know is not that old for a pig, but i'm afraid that he won't bond with another pig because he was alone for so long. I don't really have a long term plan for him because we got him on short notice; we were told we were having him at the start of the week and then got him at the weekend. We took him in because his old owner told us that he, if he couldn't live with us, was just going to stay at theirs by himself. (So I thought through the bars interaction was better than none at all!) I'm thinking about getting him a friend but at the moment the time isn't right, and his cage is also not big enough. His hutch is store bought, pretty basic. (I will attach an image). Is there anything I can do so he can get more interaction with the girls?

 

[Piggies&buns]

It’s never too late to get him a friend - character compatibility is the key, not age. You absolutely must get the right piggy for him - what you cannot do is to a pet shop and just buy another pig and expect it to work out between them.

As I have said, if you intend their cages to always be next to each other, then he cannot be bonded with another boar as they will fight over any girls in the vicinity. If he was to have a boar friend, he would have to be moved totally away from sight and smell of the girls.

Equally, he cannot be bonded with any girls while he is unneutered. Whether your vet would be willing to neuter an older piggy would be for you to have that conversation with your vet

Yes interaction through bars is better than being totally alone, but there is nothing you can do about having more interaction with the girls. It can only ever be through bars and he cannot physically be with the girls at all.

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

Ok, thankyou! I have been checking my local rescue centres to see if they have any male piggies available. This has been so helpful, thanks!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ok, thankyou! I have been checking my local rescue centres to see if they have any male piggies available. This has been so helpful, thanks!

It’ll be good for him to have a friend. Do ensure you have plans to move him to somewhere else in the house or garden though if he does get a male friend. Two boys relationship will be highly unlikely to survive being in the presence of girls.

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

Ok, thanks!

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

Just wondering as an afterthought whether it would be better to get a younger male piggy rather than one Jorge's age to bond with Jorge?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Just wondering as an afterthought whether it would be better to get a younger male piggy rather than one Jorge's age to bond with Jorge?

Age is largely irrelevant - whether two piggies will get on comes entirely down to their characters and whether they are compatible. This is why boar dating at a rescue centre is the best way to get a new friend - you will only bring home a new piggy once acceptance between the two has happened at the Centre and this helps to ensure their bond will be successful for the long term.

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

Oh, ok. Thanks!
Also do male piggies need more space than female piggies?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes, two boars require a larger cage. You should look to get a hutch for two boys which measures 6ft x 2ft. Of course any run space is in addition to this hutch size

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

Thanks!