Bonding three boars?

[Aaaaa7]

So, I had two Guinea pigs bonded from birth for about four and a half years. One just passed away (estimated 5.5 years) and I have the remaining one now (estimated 5.5 years). The remaining pig was always the non-dominant one. I am transitioning to dog ownership, but I couldn’t rehome the little guy and he became very depressed all alone. So I got a new Guinea pig a few days ago and have been slowly bonding him. I have already seen Skunk perking up even though they aren’t together yet.

They thought the new pig (Coco) had a sister. But it turns out his sister was actually a boy. So now I am being asked if I can take the brother, too. I did plan to get a third so I could bond the two younger ones and rehome them together to make it less stressful for them to be removed from a home they have known for years. Both are currently 6 months old. However, I have read that bonding three boars doesn’t go well. Skunk is uncastrated. I was planning to leave Coco uncastrated, as well, although I planned to read more about it once he got settled and older.

Is it possible a bond between these three boars will work out? Given that two are siblings, two are 6 months, and the third was never a dominant pig? I’m reading that this can cause issues down the line and I would hate to have to rehome one of them in a year or so because they clashed.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry for your loss.

The chances of a boar trio involving teenage boars working out successfully is rather low unfortunately. Being siblings or being castrated or not makes no difference to their ability to bond whatsoever. (Being castrated just stops pregnancy, it doesn’t calm them down like it does other species).
Sometimes a person will get lucky when a boar trio but generally the odds won’t be in your favour.
You can of course try it but you would need to be able to have the plan of them living side by side if it fails. Also bear in mind that a failure as a trio wouldn’t necessarily mean you end up with a pair and a single - you could end up with three separate piggies none of which accept each other again.

A clash could happen at any point - in the day of introduction due to non-acceptance or weeks down the line due to inability to form a hierarchy. Generally speaking a trio (even with sows) there is the risk of two remaining close and one being left out, or one bullying the other two.

If you were going to attempt it then cage sizing increases by a lot - the cage needed to attempt a boar trio is best to be at least 300x100cm so that each piggy has a square metre of territory, but lots of space won’t mean it definitely works out.

With bonding the current two piggies, do note that there is no slow bonding. Bonding is a one time event seen through to success or failure on the one bonding day.
You can keep them side by side for a while before bonding but the actual bonding is a one time, one day event.

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

Oct 31, 2017

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...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Behaviour, Bonds and Species Understanding

• 

Thread 'Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics'

Jan 23, 2019

1 Introduction
2 Pre-bonding
- Quarantine and sexing
- The need for a plan B
- The rule-breaker: Youngsters under 4 months (sub-teenage)
3 Setting up an introduction
- Getting to know each other
- ‘Buddy baths’ – why not
- Scent swapping - why not
- Setting up a neutral bonding area
- How to start the bonding
4 Acceptance phase: Do we like...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 7
• Forum: Behaviour, Bonds and Species Understanding

• 

 

[Aaaaa7]

I’m sorry for your loss.

The chances of a boar trio involving teenage boars working out successfully is rather low unfortunately. Being siblings or being castrated or not makes no difference to their ability to bond whatsoever. (Being castrated just stops pregnancy, it doesn’t calm them down like it does other species).
Sometimes a person will get lucky when a boar trio but generally the odds won’t be in your favour.
You can of course try it but you would need to be able to have the plan of them living side by side if it fails. Also bear in mind that a failure as a trio wouldn’t necessarily mean you end up with a pair and a single - you could end up with three separate piggies none of which accept each other again.

A clash could happen at any point - in the day of introduction due to non-acceptance or weeks down the line due to inability to form a hierarchy. Generally speaking a trio (even with sows) there is the risk of two remaining close and one being left out, or one bullying the other two.

If you were going to attempt it then cage sizing increases by a lot - the cage needed to attempt a boar trio is best to be at least 300x100cm so that each piggy has a square metre of territory, but lots of space won’t mean it definitely works out.

With bonding the current two piggies, do note that there is no slow bonding. Bonding is a one time event seen through to success or failure on the one bonding day.
You can keep them side by side for a while before bonding but the actual bonding is a one time, one day event.

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

Oct 31, 2017

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...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Behaviour, Bonds and Species Understanding

• 

Thread 'Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics'

Jan 23, 2019

1 Introduction
2 Pre-bonding
- Quarantine and sexing
- The need for a plan B
- The rule-breaker: Youngsters under 4 months (sub-teenage)
3 Setting up an introduction
- Getting to know each other
- ‘Buddy baths’ – why not
- Scent swapping - why not
- Setting up a neutral bonding area
- How to start the bonding
4 Acceptance phase: Do we like...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 7
• Forum: Behaviour, Bonds and Species Understanding

• 

I read on a different site for the two I do have right now to swap their cages to get them used to each others scent. Then I read on here that this can cause aggression. They are still separate. They can see each other through the cages, but the cages aren’t touching. It’s the second full day.

Should I try to give them clean/unscented bedding to undo that mistake? Or just leave it as is now? Should I go slower with introducing them now? I was going to push their cages together tonight so they could touch through the bars.

I also held the little one up to the cage and he tried to run away and I basically forced an interaction by mistake. I corrected quickly but now I’m panicked I messed it up. I got them from some college boys who won’t take him back (I suggested them taking him back to keep his sibling bond, but they refused). So I’m really worried I will screw up the bonding process and have to surrender or rehome him.

Any thoughts?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please do not swap cages or swap scent. It can cause problems. If they smell another pig in their territory and then meet that pig with that smell, they could see the pig as an intruder and thus cause hostility from the very beginning.
They each need their own bedding in their own cage.

Literally put their cages right side by side and leave them like that for as long as it takes for them to settle in and calm down - it could be a week or it could be several weeks. This enables them to see each other and start to get to know one another.

Then when you and they are ready, pick your bonding day. Then set up a neutral territory bonding pen. Put both pigs in that bonding pen with just hay and water, no hides. Leave them in the bonding pen all day, overnight if needed, for them to get through the early stages of bonding.
If all goes well during this time in the bonding pen, you clean out the cage they are to live in. When ready you then move them to their cage together and leave them together from then on. It then takes two weeks for them to fully sort out their hierarchy.

If the bonding fails, then sadly they will need to go into separate cages and stay like that permanently.

 

[Aaaaa7]

Please do not swap cages or swap scent. It can cause problems. If they smell another pig in their territory and then meet that pig with that smell, they could see the pig as an intruder and thus cause hostility from the very beginning.
They each need their own bedding in their own cage.

Literally put their cages right side by side and leave them like that for as long as it takes for them to settle in and calm down - it could be a week or it could be several weeks. This enables them to see each other and start to get to know one another.

Then when you and they are ready, pick your bonding day. Then set up a neutral territory bonding pen. Put both pigs in that bonding pen with just hay and water, no hides. Leave them in the bonding pen all day, overnight if needed, for them to get through the early stages of bonding.
If all goes well during this time in the bonding pen, you clean out the cage they are to live in. When ready you then move them to their cage together and leave them together from then on. It then takes two weeks for them to fully sort out their hierarchy.

If the bonding fails, then sadly they will need to go into separate cages and stay like that permanently.

Yes, so what I had mentioned was that I already did this by mistake after reading another webpage. But it also was a reputable page, so I’m confused. But what I was wondering if I should replace the bedding with clean bedding and stop the process and just keep them in separate cages for a few more days to try and fix the error

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes, so what I had mentioned was that I already did this by mistake after reading another webpage. But it also was a reputable page, so I’m confused. But what I was wondering if I should replace the bedding with clean bedding and stop the process and just keep them in separate cages for a few more days to try and fix the error

The other page is giving you out of date advice.

If they are currently on each others bedding, then yes change it so they are on their own fresh bedding.

Keep their cages side by side (you don’t need to leave a gap between the cages) for as long as it takes the new piggy to settle in and for any territorial behaviours between the bars to settle down - that may take a few days or it may take a couple of weeks before you can attempt to bond them. It’s something you have to play by ear.

 

[Aaaaa7]

The other page is giving you out of date advice.

If they are currently on each others bedding, then yes change it so they are on their own fresh bedding.

Keep their cages side by side (you don’t need to leave a gap between the cages) for as long as it takes the new piggy to settle in and for any territorial behaviours between the bars to settle down - that may take a few days or it may take a couple of weeks before you can attempt to bond them. It’s something you have to play by ear.

It’s on both pdsa and uk blue cross. I’m not trying to argue lol I’m just genuinely confused what to do at this point. I don’t see harm in swapping for clean bedding and still pushing the cages together though, so I guess it doesn’t matter at this stage. Thanks!

 

[Piggies&buns]

It’s on both pdsa and uk blue cross. I’m not trying to argue lol I’m just genuinely confused what to do at this point. I don’t see harm in swapping for clean bedding and still pushing the cages together though, so I guess it doesn’t matter at this stage. Thanks!

The scent swapping advice you are seeing on those websites is old, out of date advice and is no longer recommended. There is a lot of out of date advice out there - i can assure you the advice in this forum is up to date.

The harm of scent swapping is that it risks a feeling of being invaded when smelling the other pig that has ‘been in their territory’ and thus risking the bond failing when they meet.

You absolutely do need to push their cages together.

 

[Aaaaa7]

The scent swapping advice you are seeing on those websites is old, out of date advice and is no longer recommended. There is a lot of out of date advice out there - i can assure you the advice in this forum is up to date.

The harm of scent swapping is that it risks a feeling of being invaded when smelling the other pig that has ‘been in their territory’ and thus risking the bond failing when they meet.

You absolutely do need to push their cages together.

That makes sense. I’m gonna give wash some fresh bedding and then will push them together when it dries tonight. Fingers crossed!

 

[Piggies&buns]

That makes sense. I’m gonna give wash some fresh bedding and then will push them together when it dries tonight. Fingers crossed!

You don’t need to wait to push their cages side by side. The cages could have been side by side since the day you brought them home.

 

[Bill & Ted]

that is sound info you have been given by @Piggies&buns Sadly there are many animal charities still giving out poor advice to people. Only the other day there was a thread about the RSPCA giving very misleading info too.
This site is run by volunteers who have many, many years of experience and our guides offer sound advice

 

[Aaaaa7]

You don’t need to wait to push their cages side by side. The cages could have been side by side since the day you brought them home.

They are already licking each other through the cage and popcorning after, so it’s going very well. Would you suggest trying a full on meet tomorrow in a neutral area? Or should I give it more time? It’s only been a few hours. The little one is all about it. The older one is responding positively, but not as interactive.

 

[Piggies&buns]

They are already licking each other through the cage and popcorning after, so it’s going very well. Would you suggest trying a full on meet tomorrow in a neutral area? Or should I give it more time? It’s only been a few hours. The little one is all about it. The older one is responding positively, but not as interactive.

You can bond as soon as you feel they are settled and that territorial tension is at a minimum.