New Boys - First Time Owner

[Dystopoly]

So, I’ve worked at a pet shop for roughly a year and ended up taking home two brothers that were abandoned with us at about a month old. They’re now two months, approaching three, but have been housed together their whole lives and have not had any issues to date. I’m currently housing them in a 2 x 4, soon to be buying a 2.5 x 5 with a 2.5 x 2.5 upper floor to give them more room as they continue to grow. My only concern as of right now is the inevitable puberty phase - does the likelihood of them being okay with each other into puberty increase if they’ve been housed together their whole lives until now? Is there anything I can do to try and make sure they’re not too aggressive with each other besides giving them as much space, hides, and doubles of everything as possible? Is neutering them before they hit full maturity something that could help? I’ve cared for pigs in the store for a while, but these are my first ever pigs of my own so I just want to make sure I’m providing them with the best situation possible. Thank you!

 

[Livia Rabideau]

Make sure they have lots of space. Two of everything on opposite sides of the cage. I have two boys. They get along fine.

 

[Gia]

So, I’ve worked at a pet shop for roughly a year and ended up taking home two brothers that were abandoned with us at about a month old. They’re now two months, approaching three, but have been housed together their whole lives and have not had any issues to date. I’m currently housing them in a 2 x 4, soon to be buying a 2.5 x 5 with a 2.5 x 2.5 upper floor to give them more room as they continue to grow. My only concern as of right now is the inevitable puberty phase - does the likelihood of them being okay with each other into puberty increase if they’ve been housed together their whole lives until now? Is there anything I can do to try and make sure they’re not too aggressive with each other besides giving them as much space, hides, and doubles of everything as possible? Is neutering them before they hit full maturity something that could help? I’ve cared for pigs in the store for a while, but these are my first ever pigs of my own so I just want to make sure I’m providing them with the best situation possible. Thank you!

Welcome to the forum! Two of my boys have been together since birth and are great together. They tend to bicker quite a bit, but will get very distressed when they are without each other. Since your boys have been together for their whole lives, I wouldn't be too worried about it. Maybe watch their behavior as they get older and make sure nothing serious is happening. Here is a guide from the top of the forum that I'd recommend reading. Boars: A guide to successful companionship.

 

[Piggies&buns]

It sounds like you’ve done everything I would suggest: as large a cage as possible, several open ended hides, two food bowls, two hay piles etc
As above though with Them having been together since very young, I wouldn’t worry either. To be clear though, it isn’t guaranteed, only thing that will keep their relationship working is one of them letting the other one be the dominant. If they both want to be dominant and neither backs down, that’s when you run into trouble.
I have two boys, one coming up to seven months and one coming up six months. They’ve been together since they were little. They do sometimes bicker, but it was more when their cage was smaller but now it’s much larger it has really helped (they were originally in a 2x4 c&c but are now in a 4x4 c&c with an a 4ft hutch standing in the middle of it providing an upstairs area) as my submissive can get away when my dominant throws a tantrum!
Also, neutering does not change a guinea pigs behaviour - it will only stop them being fertile - so won’t make a difference to how they get on in the future.

 

[Flutterby]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Great advice given already. Dig yourself into the guides on the forum, they really are amazing