Fell in love - what do I do!

[MyGuineaPigPals]

Sooooo I went to pick up some hay from my local independant pet shop and fell completely head over heels for two tiny little teddy boars they had there! They even gave me one to hold and it was beautiful! I really need them in my life but can I, should i?

I currently have 4 piggies and I am admittedly a newbie so really shouldn't take on too much... but whats peoples experiences with introducing and success rates tips etc?

I ideally I would love to introduce them to my existing ones if the cage is big enough but first let me explain my set up...

I have 2 C&C cages next to each other in an L shape both are 2x5 cubes each
One cage has a divide in the middle and houses 1 pig on each side of the divide they like to socialise through the divide but they just cant live together without arguing so seperated them at about 8 months old. (colossuss and nemesis) I sense they are a bit lonely on their own but they both wanna be the big bully boss (both of these guys I have had over 10 months)

My other 2 are adopted and as good as gold living in the other 2x5 cage. I am not 100% sure of their ages I was told they are the same ages as my original 2 but they are a bit smaller especially Oblivion hes very small for his age. These guys very rarely deal with dominance oblivion knows he wont be the boss and arthur isnt a demanding boss anyway so they seem quite content. (I have had these guys for over 4 months now) it feels like so much longer!

So my original thought would be can 2 baby teddys go in with arthur and oblivion? or is the age gap a bad idea is the cage too small? what would be the best idea for this?

Or a long term Idea have I considered trying to action would be perhaps putting colossuss in with arthur and oblivion and getting some others to introduce to Nemesis.

I fell in love today... its torure but be brutally honest with me I would hate to take them on and it not work out

 

[MyGuineaPigPals]

I just want to add to this I tried to introduce all 4 together once before but Arthur and oblivion got sick of being bullied by colossus and nemesis who took it in turns to hump them and assert their dominance over and over again for hours so I decided all 4 together wouldnt work, but I think perhaps making a 3 and a 1 might work as once colossus aserts his dominance over arthur and oblivion they would **** accept it as colossus is bigger and hopefuly once hes established hes boss he wont need to bully them. again is this plausable?

 

[klee]

Generally as a rule any quantity of boars bigger than pairs run the risk of all boars falling out and doing serious damage to each other. Even after a long time of being 'bonded'
People have had boar groups work out but it isn't that common, and they have a lot of space and a great character match.

I would advise you only to get those two if you were able to house them separate to your current boars, what you don't want is to have 6 single boars being housed separately.
Hope that helps- I have never had boars myself but this is what I have heard.

 

[MargaretB]

I agree with Klee. I wouldn't think of trying a boar group- it's not worth the risk. It's possible your lone boars would take to a baby each, but you have to think what you would do if it didn't work out.

I found that my Hamish & Dougal went through quite a rocky period when Hamish reached around 8 months old. His hormones kicked in and he tried to assert his dominance over Dougal, which was never going to happen! He's now coming up to a year and they have settled down ok, though still have the occasional disagreement.

I feel for you though. It's awful when you fall in love. I held out for almost two weeks before going back for my girls, but I think I'd be silly to take on any more now, even though I would really love to.

 

[Wiebke]

It is always tough when you fall head over heels with a shop piggy or two. If you can, please walk away; if you REALLY REALLY can't, get them... Otherwise I would strongly recommend to wait until you have quite a bit more experience and wait until one or a pair turns up in rescue at some point in the future when you have gone through it with your current boars and you know better what you are up against.

Youngsters are delightful, but from 4 months onwards, they change and suddenly become not quite so cute teenagers which can give you major headaches even in a couple, which is by far the safest way of keeping boars - especially if you get a stable, already bonded pair from a rescue.

Teddies are lovely piggies and I am very fond of them, but they are generally not exactly known for being very laid back characters! In fact, they can be quite nervous in disposition and the biggest grumps in the piggy world. I have three sows and they have all given (and are still giving) me quite a few headaches. Hanwombat has quite a few teddy boys and has been through the boar wars with them all. Please DO NOT get them as part of a big boar group!

Any group of young boars is very unstable because they all have to go through a major hormonal phase before they settle down a bit more as adults (after 15 months old). Stable quartets are extremely rare, even if they consist of mainly adult boars. I know of only two successful ones that have lasted for over half a year, and both were from ladies who had lots of boars to play around with until they got exactly the right mix of laid back personalities.
Baby boar trios have about a 10% or less chance to make it to adulthood intact. Adult boar trios are a bit more likely to succeed provided they have just the right character combination, otherwise you are most likely to end up with some sort of outsider problem (bullying or fighting).

There are a few successful big groups of boars, but they need
a) LOTS of space
b) ideally a range of ages to keep the dominance clear
c) experience to spot and manage any bullying and/or dominance problems early on
d) experience in bonding boars, especially in knowing when to call it shots
e) extra accommodation for those boars that don't get on in the big group - and there are always some. Groups are also dynamic, so relationships between the boars change.

A big boar group is a dream you may aspire to eventually, but if you start too early with too little experience of boar behaviours and problems, it can very easily turn into one big nightmare with lots of single boars who won't go together with anypig else. We have had cases on here before where members have ended up with all singles that needed to be found new homes because their owner couldn't cope anymore.

 

[Rodentopia]

As your a newbie to piggy keeping I wouldn't advise introducing boys as it carries risks. I have groups of boars but I have kept piggies on and off for years and know what to look for in successful groupings, with boys its down to personality and every piggy is different and with experience you learn. If you don't have the experience it could and can go wrong. You need large pens for them and plenty of space and need to watch them for any bullying and nip it in the bud early. What Wiebke has said above is very true

 

[MyGuineaPigPals]

thanks guys I know there would be lots of risks etc I wouldn't do anything to risk putting them in danger plus money isnt as strong as it should be at the mo so affording them isn't ideal either. I would get them from my pet shop because it small and independant and as far I know have specific breeders not mass breeders like pets at home and they handle all the animals regularily in store to tame them. If I do eventually decide to get them (for example if they are still there in a few weeks which I doubt as they are so cute) then I would **** get the extra cage for them too anyway to keep them in and then have a go at introducing but without expecting to much. I would never just throw my pigs together and hope for the best.

As I have said I have tried introducing before with my boisterous 2 pigs and did extensive research before I did it and didn't take my eyes off them for a minute while they were together and was able to decide that it wouldn't work.

I still plan to see if i can make my current pigs into a 1 and a group of 3 and will look at neuturing down the line if Necessary but I'm not rushing into it I am waiting until Colossuss and nemesis are over a year old so they hopefully calm down a bit. I don't see any problems happening with Oblivion and Arthur because of their size difference and Oblivion knows his place and never challenges Arthur. He prefers to challenge me instead hes a stubborn little boy sometimes haha

my long term goal in life will be to run a small home rescue centre for all small animals once I get a house with a mortgage (hopefully next year) so all the experience I get from trying and testing these things now is how I will learn

 

[Rodentopia]

Once males get best 15 months they are less boisterous and calm down somewhat. If you don't want to go down the rescue route then in my opinion you are better going to a reputable breeder then a petshop

 

[MyGuineaPigPals]

I am not convinced by my local breeders as they seem to mass breed and sell on facebook constantly advertsing new ones every few weeks (in my area we have a local animal page for selling and rehoming so I look out for rescues on there too). I am more than happy to rescue Arthur and Oblivion are adoptions themselves. I am more convinced by the small pet shop personally but will reasearch first anyway. Another plan I have after the advise I have got will be to eventually neutur Nemesis and get him some female company once I save the cash to do it. Again will look to adopt females ideally but will consider babies if I fall in love!

 

[Rodentopia]

I have mainly rescued boys but I do have some from a breeder mainly as you don't see Peruvians in rescues very often, if you have a specific breed you like look for breed clubs and find someone in your area will be able to help you find a reputable breeder, most on facebook ain't a clue unless you join breed specific groups then you find people who show them and produce good quality stock. If you go down the rescue route then a rescue will help you bond your piggies

 

[willow]

Please adopt from a reputable rescue rather than buying from a petshop.
No one should be breeding intentionally to supply petshops, while so many small furries are in rescue wating for their forever homes.
There will be baby piggies in rescues if you really want a baby.

 

[Wiebke]

Once males get best 15 months they are less boisterous and calm down somewhat. If you don't want to go down the rescue route then in my opinion you are better going to a reputable breeder then a petshop

There are several high recommendable good standard guinea pig rescues in the Hertfordshire area.

Please do not add to the flood of mass bred piggies that are sold via pet shops! Are you aware that well over half of the growing number of piggies ending up in rescues have started out their life in a pet shop - and the numbers and percentage is mounting? By buying your piggies from a shop or a breeder you encourage them to replace the ones you bought and produce more, adding to the growing problem of no longer wanted pets. Good breeders are sadly very rare, and they rarely sell to pet owners.

PS: No good rescue will rehome an unbonded, unstable pair of boars or potentially pregnant sows, leaving new owners to cope with the fall out of their negligence.

 

[Doeylicious]

PS: No good rescue will rehome an unbonded, unstable pair of boars or potentially pregnant sows, leaving new owners to cope with the fall out of their negligence.

Just wanted to highlight this point - as the wonders of FB and 'free advertising' seems to have caused a huge rise in small animal 'rescues' over the past year, and a lot of the animals in them quite frankly need rescuing from the damn rescue!

I myself have taken a 5 year old sow with whacking great ovarian cysts and an unneutered Swiss boar from such a place, I collected them in January amongst thick snow where they were being kept (not together thank God) in a damp, overcrowded shed in indoor uninsulated cages...this place is unfortunately still going, the owner has since had a huge row with me and threatened all sorts of rubbish towards me, and sadly she manages to convince a lot of new owners she knows exactly what she is doing and is a great rescue...she met her match when she came up against me!

Stick to the PB recommended ones if in any doubt at all x