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denverguineas

denverguineas

Junior Guinea Pig
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Location
Denver, Colorado, USA
I took my two boys Rocky and Capone to the local rescue to do a bit of boar dating today. They were separated on January 14th. Unfortunately Rocky did not find a suitable match, he was too dominant for any of the males at the shelter. My plan next is to get Rocky neutered and find a nice sow. The good news is Capone did find a fabulous match at the rescue! Their introduction was one of the best I've seen/heard of. They chattered for maybe 20 seconds and then settled down next to each other at the hay pile. I knew it was perfect and I brought them home. As I type this they are in a large introduction pen and they seem like they've known each other for years. Rocky feels a bit left out, but he is getting some snuggle time :)

The volunteer at the rescue (I went to an all animal shelter) said that in the '10 years' of working with guinea pigs, no boars had been successfully paired. I knew that was completely wrong thanks to this forum. I asked him a couple of questions and all the answers were completely wrong - you would have thought he was a pet store employee with his lack of knowledge. If I would have taken his advice, I would never feed vegetables (he said they were poisonous), I would have to keep all of my boars in separate rooms, and they only need 100 cm of floor space. Crazy, right? I fed them some veggies just now and they all ate, but the new piggy chomped down his yellow pepper like no tomorrow!

Without further ado, this is Dulce de Leche, previously named Scooter! He is either a teddy or a rex, I believe rex because his fur is pretty wiry, but he does have straightish whiskers so I'm not sure.
He is so incredibly sweet and chill, I've had to rearrange things a couple times and not once has he tried to run or seemed scared in the slightest.

IMG_1863.webp
 
Congratulations - he is absolutely stunning
Glad it worked out for Capone.
Hope Rocky gets his lady / ladies soon.
When is his op?
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Glad that you have had some dating success! Dolce di Latte is a gorgeous teddy (rexes have tight crimped corkscrew whiskers and have become rather rare).

Have you contacted Cavy Care shelter/rescue to see whether Rocky may have more success there?
https://www.facebook.com/cavycareinc/
https://www.cavycareinc.org/

Here is our information on neutering: Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths And Facts
Click to expand...
Cavy Care is shutting down and sending their guinea pigs to different rescues. Dulce actually came from Cavy Care and I got him at a different rescue. I'm going to keep trying with Rocky. I'm hoping to find an older boar who can help him calm down. I'm really happy with the outcome of today's dating sessions. Rocky had a meeting with an 8 week old boar, but it seems he was too energetic for Rocky. I will keep trying though. For now he will have to be satisfied with seeing Capone and Dulce through a divider.
 
denverguineas said:
Cavy Care is shutting down and sending their guinea pigs to different rescues. Dulce actually came from Cavy Care and I got him at a different rescue. I'm going to keep trying with Rocky. I'm hoping to find an older boar who can help him calm down. I'm really happy with the outcome of today's dating sessions. Rocky had a meeting with an 8 week old boar, but it seems he was too energetic for Rocky. I will keep trying though. For now he will have to be satisfied with seeing Capone and Dulce through a divider.
Click to expand...

Thanks - things are always changing in the piggy world. What a pity Cavy Care are closing down. :(

All the best for finding Rocky a compatible boarfriend or a spayed sow that will have him (although they are not exactly thick on the ground!)
 
Have you tried a very young boar, and in Rocky's cage instead of neutral? My George and Scottie had a rather bad falling out, and couldn't even be in a divided cage, so they were separated.

Scottie is more docile, while George can be a bit temperamental. However, I've intro'd each of several boar pups I have and George showed zero signs of anything amiss with them. I've intro'd w/o neutral settings due the pups still being of nursing age, and any of the 3 appear to be suitable for George and even Scottie. It can always change down the line obviously, but it's a good start.

Since your Rocky is more energetic, you'd probably want one of a similar or higher energy level, so he'll hopefully tire out 1st. If you go with a younger boar, it'll out pace him, and Rocky can/should be in charge.
 
Little Piglets said:
Have you tried a very young boar, and in Rocky's cage instead of neutral? My George and Scottie had a rather bad falling out, and couldn't even be in a divided cage, so they were separated.

Scottie is more docile, while George can be a bit temperamental. However, I've intro'd each of several boar pups I have and George showed zero signs of anything amiss with them. I've intro'd w/o neutral settings due the pups still being of nursing age, and any of the 3 appear to be suitable for George and even Scottie. It can always change down the line obviously, but it's a good start.

Since your Rocky is more energetic, you'd probably want one of a similar or higher energy level, so he'll hopefully tire out 1st. If you go with a younger boar, it'll out pace him, and Rocky can/should be in charge.
Click to expand...
That would be the ideal situation, but young enough boars in my area are few and far between. I saw a five week old at my local rescue posted at 11:14, I drove straight there with Rocky, got there at 11:42. Someone had adopted him five minutes before I got there. It's a tough market to be looking for guinea pigs. I got really lucky with Dulce. I will keep a lookout for a young boar though, I hope he can find the perfect partner!
 
Here's a bit of an update -
I was incredibly nervous for the first night, who knows what would happen. I have them in a 120x120 cm cage (it will be expanded later) with two hay racks, water bottles, and food bowls. I only have multiple entrance/exit hides as well as a few toys.
Turns out I had no reason to be nervous! This morning I checked on them as soon as I woke up and they were snuggled up right next to each other in a cuddle cup! I had two in the cage right next to each other, but I guess they just wanted to snuggle! I filled up both of their hay racks and they ate from the same one, with zero bickering when Dulce stole a seed head right out of Capone's mouth!
You would think they had been together for ages with the way they behave together.
 
denverguineas said:
Here's a bit of an update -
I was incredibly nervous for the first night, who knows what would happen. I have them in a 120x120 cm cage (it will be expanded later) with two hay racks, water bottles, and food bowls. I only have multiple entrance/exit hides as well as a few toys.
Turns out I had no reason to be nervous! This morning I checked on them as soon as I woke up and they were snuggled up right next to each other in a cuddle cup! I had two in the cage right next to each other, but I guess they just wanted to snuggle! I filled up both of their hay racks and they ate from the same one, with zero bickering when Dulce stole a seed head right out of Capone's mouth!
You would think they had been together for ages with the way they behave together.
Click to expand...
Love this.
And you said they are both boys?

I planned to get my boy Finn a cagemate but ran into a homeless girl Lara so now they both live in seperate cages but close enough to see and hear each other. This has worked for us.
 
So glad things are working out for the boys. Hope Rocky can also find someone he’s happy to share his cage with.
 
So gorgeous! I would so love to get some more piggies but I don't think my two boars would be too pleased with another one.
 
Aww what lovely boys. It's good you've found one match. I would keep trying as there's a friend out there for everyone. I volunteer at a rescue in Scotland and we've had a fair few successful boar pairings. Only 1 of our matches that I know of was returned to us as the new owners were panicked during the boars establishing who was boss at home despite our reassuring her it was normal behaviours and would calm down once theyd sorted it out. :soz:
 
Aw, it’s lovely news, so sweet they were snuggled up together the next morning, how nice is that x
 
denverguineas said:
I took my two boys Rocky and Capone to the local rescue to do a bit of boar dating today. They were separated on January 14th. Unfortunately Rocky did not find a suitable match, he was too dominant for any of the males at the shelter. My plan next is to get Rocky neutered and find a nice sow. The good news is Capone did find a fabulous match at the rescue! Their introduction was one of the best I've seen/heard of. They chattered for maybe 20 seconds and then settled down next to each other at the hay pile. I knew it was perfect and I brought them home. As I type this they are in a large introduction pen and they seem like they've known each other for years. Rocky feels a bit left out, but he is getting some snuggle time :)

The volunteer at the rescue (I went to an all animal shelter) said that in the '10 years' of working with guinea pigs, no boars had been successfully paired. I knew that was completely wrong thanks to this forum. I asked him a couple of questions and all the answers were completely wrong - you would have thought he was a pet store employee with his lack of knowledge. If I would have taken his advice, I would never feed vegetables (he said they were poisonous), I would have to keep all of my boars in separate rooms, and they only need 100 cm of floor space. Crazy, right? I fed them some veggies just now and they all ate, but the new piggy chomped down his yellow pepper like no tomorrow!

Without further ado, this is Dulce de Leche, previously named Scooter! He is either a teddy or a rex, I believe rex because his fur is pretty wiry, but he does have straightish whiskers so I'm not sure.
He is so incredibly sweet and chill, I've had to rearrange things a couple times and not once has he tried to run or seemed scared in the slightest.

View attachment 105348
Click to expand...
I do love a good piglet chin welded to the floor 😊
 
What a handsome little piggy Dulce de Leche is! 😍😍 Glad he found a great companion from Capone. Hopefully Rocky will soon find his companion as well.
 
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