How many guinea pigs truly cannot be paired with another?

[Bekki]

Just a quick question for all of you super experience folks. Its something that is thrown around youtube quite often "my pig cant live with others", "pets at home said she/he must live a lone", "I bought another pig shoved them together and they didnt get along so they obviously dont want friends" these arguments are rife. I know of one rescue who have rescued over 1000 pigs and never had one that truly cannot be bonded. What about you guys and your experiences? Especially rescues?

 

[gizmo01]

Just a quick question for all of you super experience folks. Its something that is thrown around youtube quite often "my pig cant live with others", "pets at home said she/he must live a lone", "I bought another pig shoved them together and they didnt get along so they obviously dont want friends" these arguments are rife. I know of one rescue who have rescued over 1000 pigs and never had one that truly cannot be bonded. What about you guys and your experiences? Especially rescues?

its very rare to get a pig that will refuse a friend of somesort but not unheard of usually its because of owner restrictions

 

[Bekki]

its very rare to get a pig that will refuse a friend of somesort but not unheard of usually its because of owner restrictions

:-) thats what i've read on here but there are so many people who wont listen and say they have tried and stuff but its like every owner of a lone pig says it, which I dont believe for one minute lol.

 

[gizmo01]

we have 2 lone pigs we could re bond with a friend each but dont have the space for more pigs so they are where they can interact with the others

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

i have several piggies previously branded with statements such as 'prefers to live alone' or 'doesn't get on with other guineapigs', they are all now very happily living with other piggies. some pigs are more difficult to find companions for than others which is why piggy dating at rescues is such a great idea.

 

[Suzygpr]

I've had so many come in as aggressive to other pigs, anti social, loves people but not pigs, blah blah blah that I take absolutely no notice of that and bond them up any way - some do take longer and are trickier than others but no-one leaves the rescue alone. I reckon I must have bonded around 300 rescue pairs, plus the pigs via the dating service. The dating service runs all year with a pair a week on average being bonded, most are successful though some do have to return for a second visit. Girls can be just as tricky as boys so it's not just a boar problem (I prefer to bond adult males as I'm more confident in understanding the vocal/body language).

Suzy x

 

[Bekki]

Thanks for replies, I know pigs shouldnt be alone and would do anything needed to make sure they weren't. Its just so often on youtube people are like we tried and she killed another guinea pig or I have tried her with 30 different pigs and she still tries to kill them etc it just gets very annoying to read and see pigs alone!

 

[helen105281]

I have only had one pig that refused to live with another and that was Rosie, she would attack any pig she lived with including a 4 weelk old baby (Little Rose), but she was able to interact with the herd through the grids. Mrs Fuzzy is on her own for now but will be bonded with the herd when her quarantine period is over. Tim is currently on his own after losing Buzz but once we are happy that all health issues are sorted out then we will look at finding him a friend.

 

[Jebebr]

We are going through something similar ourselves. We have just re-homed two 10 week old sows. Generally they both get on brilliantly, but there is an odd occasion (noticed more so on floor time) that they start to get the heckles up, making the brrr-ing noise, wiggling their rear and witnessed twice launching at each other to have a nip! Not a nice thing to see but I believe its a bonding thing and the fact they are laying the land to each other and their new home.
Is it right to assume this?