Firstly I'm new to the forum, so a big hello to you all!
I've had guinea pigs for the last twenty years but bonding is quite a recent thing for me and has gone well so far.
I have three females in a happy trio.
Would it be possible to add a neutered male? Or would the group be too large and would it be best to start another group?
If I need to start another group, I'm presuming 1 male and two females are best?
All advice most gratefully received
Hi and welcome!
It is the sows that accept a boar. A husboar is outside the sow hierarchy, but integrated into an overall group hierarchy, which makes him a natural outsider in some ways.
The best way to make sure that acceptance happens is dating your sows with neutered boars at a good rescue that offers this service; this means that you come home with a "husboar" only if acceptance has happened. If you have a very dominant top sow, then it is better to look for a not to bolshy sub-adult or very laid-back/submissive adult boar.
I have found it best to build up a group of whatever size (over the years, I've had anything from a husboar with one sow-wife to a large group with a patriarch and up to 13 sows) around one dominant piggy, be a top sow or a dominant neutered boar. Bonding ususally fails if neither party wants to step down from their claims. Some, especially older sows that rule their group with an iron may not tolerate any boar at all.
Age is generally not an issue; I've had age gaps of up to 4 or 5 years either way, and it has worked well. The crucial bit is mutual liking and the trickiest bit the dominance phase.
If you want a trio, then you need two sows that are best of friends, otherwise you still end up with an outsider situation where one of the sows is left out from my - repeated - experience. I have had both working and dysfunctional trios. Personally, I would always recommend to go from a pair up to a quartet as outsider situations are much rarer and unless you can let the piggies choose who they want to live with between two groups.
I currently have got two husboar/sows quartets, one quintet and a trio, but I have a newly adopted stuck in rescue mum-daughter pair where mum is on the insecure/fear-aggressive side. I am letting her settle down at the moment, but don't know whether she'll eventually bond with one of the quartets or the trio (so far, neither meeting has been a success but also not an outright fail), or whether I have to find her a timid or sub-adult husboar to form another trio in the longer term via rescue dating.
Your closest good guinea pig rescues that offer dating are Glynneath Guinea Pig Rescue up the valley from Neath or The Littlest Rescue in Bristol. It is well worth waiting and travelling for the dating, as well as the security of adopting a healthy/fully quarantined and perfectly safe (over 6 weeks post-neutering op) boar for a smooth ride, especially if you are not pushed for time. You can find all the good standard rescues we can guarantee for your being in safe and experienced hands via our rescue locator:
Guinea Pig Rescue Centre Locator
Guinea Pig Rescue Centre Locator
