Hi, I have recently bought an approx 16 week old boar. He came from a farm and is by far the most nervous guinea pig I have ever had. I'm just after some advice to make him feel more comfortable and safe around me & my partner?
Bonding with a very nervous guinea pig
- Thread starter ConWarno
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New Owners' Essential Information and Practical Tips Starter Collection
Does he live with another piggy?
New Owners' Essential Information and Practical Tips Starter Collection
Does he live with another piggy?
He is on his own at the moment. We're doing a 3 week isolation period as he came from a farm and that's what Google said to do. We're also wanting to get him neutered because we have 3 intact girls. We have one other boy, who is getting neutered on 4th April. He's also currently living separately. So we have 2 boys living on their own and 3 girls living together.
Quarantine is two weeks in a separate room for piggies over four months of age.
Piggies under four months of age cannot be quarantined due to their desperate need for interaction and companionship.
If you are neutering both the boys, what is your plan after that?
Are you splitting the girls up and putting one of them with one of the boys and the other two girls with the other boy?
You cannot bond both boys in the same cage with the three girls. Doing this would be a disaster and would cause fights between the boys. It is only ever one neutered boar in with sows.
If having all five live together was your plan, then honestly I would abandon that idea now and instead attempt to bond the two boys with each other and keep them together as a pair and well away from the girls. A bonded pair of boys should be away from sows because smelling sows will also cause the boys to fight.
The issue is that at 16 weeks of age, he is at a difficult time for bonding.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Piggies under four months of age cannot be quarantined due to their desperate need for interaction and companionship.
If you are neutering both the boys, what is your plan after that?
Are you splitting the girls up and putting one of them with one of the boys and the other two girls with the other boy?
You cannot bond both boys in the same cage with the three girls. Doing this would be a disaster and would cause fights between the boys. It is only ever one neutered boar in with sows.
If having all five live together was your plan, then honestly I would abandon that idea now and instead attempt to bond the two boys with each other and keep them together as a pair and well away from the girls. A bonded pair of boys should be away from sows because smelling sows will also cause the boys to fight.
The issue is that at 16 weeks of age, he is at a difficult time for bonding.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Merab
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Welcome to the forum.
Hope you find it helpful, especially with the good advice you’re receiving.
We would love pictures.
Hope you find it helpful, especially with the good advice you’re receiving.
We would love pictures.
Hi, thank you for your advice! I've decided the try and bond the two males. I've put them in a large, neutral space, with plenty of hides and hay etc. There has been a lot of teeth chattering, rumbling, chasing, humping and noises from both pigs. I'm not 100% sure what the noises mean. There hasn't been any fighting and neither one of them has any type of wound or is bleeding. I am a little concerned that my eldest boy, Harvey, who is 2 years old this May is bulling Atreus, the approx 16 week old. How would I know if this is the case?
It sounds as if the bonding is going well. The behaviours you are seeing are all totally normal for the bonding process.
Although there should not be any hides in a bonding pen (hides with two exits can be added when they move back into their permanent cage).
Bullying is a sustained behaviour which can see the under pig become depressed, constantly be chased and never allowed to rest, lose weight through constantly being chased away from food etc.
It is different to normal bonding behaviours. Seeing chasing, mounting, rumbling when bonding is not bullying. It’s the ways boys sort out their bond and hierarchy.
Although there should not be any hides in a bonding pen (hides with two exits can be added when they move back into their permanent cage).
Bullying is a sustained behaviour which can see the under pig become depressed, constantly be chased and never allowed to rest, lose weight through constantly being chased away from food etc.
It is different to normal bonding behaviours. Seeing chasing, mounting, rumbling when bonding is not bullying. It’s the ways boys sort out their bond and hierarchy.