Keeping boys together

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Ok so here is my question. (with pictures and videos ;D)

My Pig Mocha had 2 babies, 1 male and 1 female. The boy I named Teddy.

3 Weeks has just come up but when I took Teddy away from his mom he just did this:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSIvLHyz9Lk[/ame]

ALWAYS. Everytime he hears a sound everytime my cat comes near the cage. ALL the time basically except when he was stuffing his face with Veg or sleeping.

So then that night we went to the city to get some hay because I was nearly out and we went to a different pet store than normal to see what prices were like there and they had 4 REALLY young guinea pigs. And I just couldn't help myself... I got edward:

2009-12-03-03470.jpg


When I got home I put Edward and Teddy together in my other cage which had a new fleece tent and was clean so it would be neutral. At first Teddy was kinda bullying edward, pushing him around, circling him and mounting him and guarding the veg bowl, but the wonderful thing was for the first time in the last week and a half, TEDDY WAS QUIET. It has now been a day and they aren't displaying dominance at all even while feeding. They sleep and eat and play together just fine. When I take Edward out Teddy Cries again.

But my problem is people are telling me it is not possible to keep 2 male un-neutered pigs together in 1 cage. Is this true? I really would prefer to not risk surgery on my boys but I don't want them to hate each other someday either =( How many of you have un neutered boars that live happily together?
 
Nooooooooo, neutering does nothing except stop them reproducing! Do not worry... but you may find they could fall out when they hit there stroppy teens, but I'm told most boys can and will make it though this period!
 
I have two pairs of un-neutered boys together. Neutering only removes the piggies ability to breed and does not stop dominance displays or fighting. Piggies can bond especially when they are babies although when they reach the hormonal stage they may fall out. My two teenage boy brothers (6 months old now) have been having a few spats the last few days but my older pair are perfectly happy together, you just never know how it will turn out but neutering won't help unless you decide to split them up and put them with girls.

By the way I think Teddy is adorable (and Edward too of course!)
 
Tedward! :(|)

Mine are 3 months old now and keep having little arguments but they soon make up, I am keeping my eye on them though as I think it is becoming more frequent.
 
i-love-pigs said:
I have two pairs of un-neutered boys together. Neutering only removes the piggies ability to breed and does not stop dominance displays or fighting. Piggies can bond especially when they are babies although when they reach the hormonal stage they may fall out. My two teenage boy brothers (6 months old now) have been having a few spats the last few days but my older pair are perfectly happy together, you just never know how it will turn out but neutering won't help unless you decide to split them up and put them with girls.

By the way I think Teddy is adorable (and Edward too of course!)
Click to expand...

How large of a space do you have your boys in? when its warmer here I would like to attempt to build some big cages for my pigs as pet store ones are that big and they are expensive. I am sure I could do much better building my own.

I know they are both totally cute ;D I have no resistance to cuteness. I will probably end up with like 20 guinea pigs haha.
 
Lots of links in the housing section for C&C cages if you have the room. Unfortunately I have lots of small children and big dogs so this wouldn't suit my home as my piggies live in the lounge with us. I have nero cages for my boys but they get plenty of floor time in the evening and outside (in the summer of course).

Piggies are very hard to resist, I agree. I started off with one, then 3, now 5! Hope to get a friend for my single boy in the new year so that will be 6.
 
Ideally, you have as much space for boys as you can afford! If you can build your own accommodation, it might be worth considering to build it in a way the it can be easily divided, so both boys can have their own territory without losing contact.

We have quite a few people on here who have boars living happily next door to each other, but don't mind sharing a run or play time. That way, you can avoid the "add a new companion" spiral.
 
i-love-pigs said:
Lots of links in the housing section for C&C cages if you have the room. Unfortunately I have lots of small children and big dogs so this wouldn't suit my home as my piggies live in the lounge with us. I have nero cages for my boys but they get plenty of floor time in the evening and outside (in the summer of course).

Piggies are very hard to resist, I agree. I started off with one, then 3, now 5! Hope to get a friend for my single boy in the new year so that will be 6.
Click to expand...

C & C won't work here either we have 2 german Shepards, 1 great pyrenees, 1 Chihuahua (though she isn't much of a threat), and 3 cats. Do you have a picture of your cages?
 
Not at the moment, I will have to take some piccies, but they were from pets at home (who don't stock them anymore I don't think). Mine are kept on fleece - I'm a recent convert so still learning - and have two pigloo beds, two feed bowls etc. Incidentally, as Wiebke mentioned single boars can be quite happy on their own. My littlest is in a cage next to the older boys and enjoys a chat through the bars with them!
 
I have seen somewhere (sorry, can't remember where) how somebody used a wide Ikea bookshelf (or you could push two together to get the depth) and C&C grids and cable ties for the front to build up to three cages on top of each other. I remember thinking what a great, neat idea that was!

Another possibility is connecting cages via a big, short drain tube.
 
OH my! The first little piggie with curly hair is adorable! Love him! I'm glad he's happy with his new friend :) Hopefully when they hit puberty they will be fine.

I have a 7 week old baby boar and a 4 yrs old boar and they get along well but I'll also have to watch as the baby gets older. My older male is so relaxed and laid back he used to live with another male that was his age and they were fine so I guess it just depends on personality. As least your little baby is happy right now and not crying all the time I know how heart wrenching it can be to listen to!

Lynn
 
I have 14 boars who all live together ,the living area is 3mx2.5m and they have boxes round the side to go under with a second layer of boxes on top with plastic stools to climb up on and access the upper area.They have all lived together since babies and I have never had a fight ,bit of chasing and rumble strutting but no harm to any of them,and they are housed indoors next to the girls and neutered boars separated with metal grids so they can all see each other.
People say it cant be done,but it seems to work okay for me . I aim to get all the boars neutered as and when I can afford it then hopefully they can all be together the girls side is much bigger and when they are all neutered I can take out the divider and they will have lots more room
 
I wish my boars got along with each other...

I have 3 boars - Piglet 15 months old, Little Arthur 12 months, and Pumpkin 4 months. They all live indoors and are currently each in their own cages alongside each other. When they were very young Piglet and Arthur had their floor time together but had a major falling out about 6 months ago and Piglet ended up with 3 large bite wound abcesses. They now bicker constantly and will literally fly at each other if they get an opportunity. I was settling into a good routine of seperate floor time with joint veggie time on the sofa but separated by my legs. Then i rescued pumpkin from a market. He was so small and seemed so lonely and pitiful on his own, he didnt even have any hay to eat or hide in and when i asked what veggies he liked they told me they didnt know as he'd never had any). I couldn't walk away and leave him there, so i brought him home to love and spoil. And he is now the sweetest, happiest little pig, popcorning all the time, wheeking at the top of his (exceptionally loud for his size/noise ratio) voice every time he hears a bag rustle (grass!).
Piglet wants to relentlessly rape him, and Arthur just wants to dominate him, and he doesnt like either of their attentions! Although Pumpkin is too little for floor time at the moment, he has to have seperate veggie time with me on the sofa, after the other 2 have been put to bed (with their herbies). This already takes me from 5.15pm until 9.45pm every evening. When he's old/big enough for floor time is he going to need his own hour out as well. I wish they could all have floor time together...what am i doing wrong? What should i do to rescue this situation? Am i a rubbish guinea pig mummy? Sorry for the ramble but i could really do with some advice from people in the 'know'.
 
jake & oliver are not neutered & live together just fine
jake's had a hard time this year as he lost beckham in feb then when i got him a new cage mate charlie everything was fine till charlie got ill due to a birth problem after losing 2 cage mates in a year you would think he'd want to live on his own but about 2 weeks after losing charlie he started pulling his home to bits & looking lonely so i but bambi in but they just avoid each other no talking fighting but wasn't interested in each other so i went out & got oliver jake's nose went straight up in the air when i got oliver home put them on the sofa with a bit of carrot & then jake took oliver home they've now been together just over 2 months & everything is brill they are so happy

sweet beans your not a rubbish mummy it would be nice if they all got on but it just doesn't happen harry & ben hate each other ben goes all puffy when he gets near harry ready for a fight! you are doing a brill job giving them time with you & floor timex)
 
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