Moving On After Separation?

[CTwidle]

Good morning,

I hope someone may be able to offer some advice please. I stumbled on this forum last night after we decided to separate one of our guinea pigs and wanted some reassurance.

We bought 3 guinea pigs from a pet store about 3 months ago. They are all boars and were told that as long as they had enough space they would be fine! Well, so far so good, until a couple of days ago I noticed one (Dash) making a chattering/growling noise at the other two. He has always been a bit more boisterous than the others, but they seemed to be getting on ok.

Then on Tuesday I noticed the most reserved of the three (Scratchie) had a little tear on his ear. I couldn't see fresh blood, and he didn't seem bothered by it so I thought maybe they were just having little tussles. Now last night I have seen a tear on the middle one (Muffin), in exactly the same place as Scratchie. I was so upset and even witnessed Dash making a lunge at Muffin, so I removed Dash from the cage.

Now having read a number of threads on here, I realise having 3 boars in the same cage was not the best set up. I feel really let down by the store not explaining that it may not work well, and if we had known we probably would have gone for two pairs. (The reason for picking 3 is for our 3 children, I now know I should have done much more research)

So, to get to my query! I now understand that they are having a testosterone spike, that this is normal and hopefully should settle down. But I am worried about Dash being by himself. How do we go about getting him a companion. As he is the most aggressive of all, I'm worried about introducing a young guinea pig to him. Also, would it be better to get him a male or female companion. When he was on my lap last night he was so calm and relaxed, resting his head on my arm. It's so hard to believe he is being aggressive to the others.

I feel quite shell shocked, as it all seemed to be going so well, and has escalated very quickly.

Many thanks for reading my essay, and I look forward to any suggestions :-)

Catherine x

 

[Wiebke]

Good morning,

I hope someone may be able to offer some advice please. I stumbled on this forum last night after we decided to separate one of our guinea pigs and wanted some reassurance.

We bought 3 guinea pigs from a pet store about 3 months ago. They are all boars and were told that as long as they had enough space they would be fine! Well, so far so good, until a couple of days ago I noticed one (Dash) making a chattering/growling noise at the other two. He has always been a bit more boisterous than the others, but they seemed to be getting on ok.

Then on Tuesday I noticed the most reserved of the three (Scratchie) had a little tear on his ear. I couldn't see fresh blood, and he didn't seem bothered by it so I thought maybe they were just having little tussles. Now last night I have seen a tear on the middle one (Muffin), in exactly the same place as Scratchie. I was so upset and even witnessed Dash making a lunge at Muffin, so I removed Dash from the cage.

Now having read a number of threads on here, I realise having 3 boars in the same cage was not the best set up. I feel really let down by the store not explaining that it may not work well, and if we had known we probably would have gone for two pairs. (The reason for picking 3 is for our 3 children, I now know I should have done much more research)

So, to get to my query! I now understand that they are having a testosterone spike, that this is normal and hopefully should settle down. But I am worried about Dash being by himself. How do we go about getting him a companion. As he is the most aggressive of all, I'm worried about introducing a young guinea pig to him. Also, would it be better to get him a male or female companion. When he was on my lap last night he was so calm and relaxed, resting his head on my arm. It's so hard to believe he is being aggressive to the others.

I feel quite shell shocked, as it all seemed to be going so well, and has escalated very quickly.

Many thanks for reading my essay, and I look forward to any suggestions :-)

Catherine x

Hi and welcome!

I am ever so sorry for your quandary. Please keep Dash next to the others with interaction through bars for the time being, so he won't feel lonely. He not likely to understand what he is doing wrong. Things have not yet got to the point of all full out fights, but they are quite obviously getting there.

I would strongly recommend that you contact our recommended rescues; you have got three good rescues within comfortable reach. Ideally you contact all of them to see whether they have got suitable companions to bond at the rescue (not necessarily listed on the website, so don't be fooled by that!), so you come home with a new companion only if there has been success and you have got the rescue to fall back on in case there is trouble along the line. All three rescues are piggy savvy and very experienced with the issues that come with hormonal boars, so you will be in good hands.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-rescue-locator/

If you'd rather go down the neutering route, try to find either a general vet with lots of piggy neutering practice or a specialist who is experienced with small furries operations, as that can go a long way in ensuring a smooth ride. Dash would have to wait a full 6 weeks post-op before he would be safe to be bonded with a sow; ideally they would have to live a distance away from the other two boys or below them due to the pheromones. With sows in the house, you will always have to service any boar pairs first so the scent doesn't carry across and set the boy off, especially while they are in full juice!
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-vet-locator/

Please take your time to think and talk things through to find what could be the best option for your circumstances. You are welcome to ask any questions that come up. Rescues are very busy and fully volunteer run, so it may be a few days until you hear back anyway.