Hello all! Introducing older guinea pig to newly established pair of males.

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nibblesandguss

hello all, I'm new here and to keeping guinea pigs. we got our first piggys only four weks ago and after a little settling in they get on really well. i have agreed to take in a guinea pig whos mate has died and who has been on his own for a while & I'm very worried now i know more about him as I'm not sure how my two settled ones will cope. ours are four months approx and this one is around two years. any help, experience etc greatfully received :)
 
To be honest I wouild be cautious about adding a male to and existing pair it can work but it can also result with all 3 falling out and having to live singularly. I would keep them nextdoor to each other and see how they react. We keep any guinea pigs we aer hoping to match up in divided cages initially so they get used to the sight and smell of each other then swap sides so they share a small. Also when you put the boar ibn the other boars side you can gauge his reaction to the other boy by how he reacts.
Introductions should be on neutral territory with lots of veg sprinked about.
They will more than likely rumble strutt (wiggling their bottoms and making a rumbling noise to assert their dominance and mount each other. The next stage up in agression is teeth chattering this is when they are not happy with what is going on, next they will rear their heads to each other in a challenge which is the preliminary warning before they attack each other.
When mixing boars rumble strutting and mounting is normal some teeth chattering can be acceptable as long as it does not progress if they start head rearing I seperate them to avoid a fight.
Never seperate boars with your hands as a guinea pig bite is best avoided use a plastic house to put over one of them and keep him in there to calm down for a little while before you pick him up either that or dust pans are great at seperating boys who are not getting along.
I have several single boys here who enjoy company but not in their cage I would not rush anything just keep him near the others at first for some company of guinea smells and sounds and progress from there.
Good luck
 
There is a difference between head rearing and nose-offs though. Nose-offs are fairly normal and not particularly aggressive on their own. The head rearing can be accompanied by the teeth chattering and some lunging without serious intent. If they also start yawning to show off their teeth, this is also quite an aggressive behaviour leading up to a fight. With Nose-offs they'll stare at each other and try to lift their heads the highest.
 
I would agree with the other two posts, but from our own experience, we had a father and son bonded pair - put a third single boy next to them who used to wind them up - resulting in our strong bonded pair falling out viciously never to get re-bonded. As Vikki has said, it can work, but it's not for the faint hearted and I definately would be wary if I were a new piggie owner about doing it to be honest.
 
Hello again and thank you all so much for yourreplies and help. oh, dear, i thinnk i may have made a terrible mistake aggreeing to take this guinea pig. the book we got with our two said it was fine to introduce a new piggy at any stage, but then something got me thinking and i found thhis forum...probably better than a book! I'm going to ask the previous owners to let us have the cage at least at first as I'm going to try keeping the new on e separate but next to the other cage and just hope for the best. our two seem to have a great relationship & i really dont want to spoil it so will just let the piggys dictate how best to play it. we get him tomorrow so i will let you all know how we get on. really nice of you all to take the time to reply.
many thanks again, clare, nibbles & guss.
 
How old are your two boars? If they are still young then they may be fine with an older boar at first but trouble may start when they get older. I have recently introdued a pair of baby boars to their dad and it was successful however they will probably fall out when the babes get older.
 
hi nikki, they are about four months old as we got them on the fourth of may. the first week we had them we had all the rumble strutting & i panicked & phoned the shop, but now they seem really close. another worrying thing is the current owner said this new guinea bit him the other day whilst being fed! all adding to my apprehension.
 
It's a really nice thing you are doing by taking on the other boy :) I personally would quarantine the new boy in a different room or at the very other end of the room if that's possible for a few weeks and he can still hear the other boys and they can get used to hearing and smelling him without it being in their faces, whilst the quarantine should show up any bugs etc the newbie may have. The problem with adolescent boys is that between the ages of about 4-10 months or so all the hormones are raging and most go through the sulky teen stage (like us!) and this is usually when bonding friendships are likely to be tested. If the new boy is kept at a reasonable distance but you can still give him lots of cuddles and attention, he should be fine until you can guage the situation with them all, perhaps wait for the teenage terrors to ease etc. Everyone has their own way of doing things like this, and others may say they do things differently, so that's just what I personallly do :)

Regarding the biting - piggies arn't by nature vicious creatures, but they can bite if they feel unsafe, like if they're not being held securely, of being mishandled and so on. Alternatively, if the person he bit had been handling veggies or food, the piggie may simply have mistaken the smell left on the hands as his precious veggies and thought it was a tasty snack for him!

Welcome to the forum by the way :)

Edited to add - there is some great behaviour info on www.cavyspirit.com - go to the sectiion called "Social Life" on the left hand side menu. It gives tons of info about what to expect, options, behaviours etc
 
I'm sure that you have already got so much great advice here already but i have found that alot depends on the guinea.i have had two wonderfull adult males that are realy social and get on fine with other boys even around females (none of mine are neutered but are kept seperate from females) and then some little piggies have never been socialised or are a bit aggressive and its just never going to work out.good luck with the new guy
 
I just had a look on www.cavyspirit.com ... very good website, Boureki! :)

I would also be reluctant to add another boar to your already settled two ... it might work but it might not and you could trouble for the already paired boars.
Always a difficult one though.
Two's company, three's a crowd perhaps?

Keep us posted as to how things go.
 
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