New guinea pig!

smudgeandcrumpet

smudgeandcrumpet

New Born Pup
Joined
Mar 18, 2022
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Location
manchester
hi everybody!
i have been thinking about getting another guinea pig to bond with my two females, preferably a female since i wouldn’t want any mistakes as in being told a male is neutered and he’s not! i got my two from pets at home since i wasn’t really aware of the downsides then, i’ve been looking for rescues and id appreciate if people could help me, (bonding tips, rescues, etc) also, if i got the guinea pig and my guinea pigs dont accept it, what should i do? i mean of course theres always get another guinea pig as a friend for the rescue (which is never a bad thing!😄) if it doesn’t work the first time round and they don’t bond and i have to put the other guinea pig in a separate cage with another friend i dont mind but i will probably put off getting my guinea pigs now a friend for a while. any tips would be appreciated, i live in england near manchester and i’d appreciate if anybody could tell me if they know any rescues here! thank you🤍
 
The safest thing to do is take your two piggies dating at a rescue. That way the staff can try the bonding and your piggies can choose their own new friend. If your girls can choose their own new friend, then you won’t come home with another piggy unless the bonding is successful.

Not all rescues offer dating so you may need to try the bonding yourself at home. This is fine to do and the benefit of this is even if the bonding doesn’t work, you can return the piggy to the rescue and try another when one became available. You won’t be left with a piggy in a separate cage.

Adding a neutered boar to a sow pair is likely the be the most successful way of adding another piggy to a pair of sows (Still via dating at a rescue though given your girls would need to accept him). Adding a single sow to an established pair of sows can be risky (again though, this is why dating at a rescue is the safest way). If you get the piggy from a rescue then you can be certain he is neutered as most reputable rescues neuter as standard plus they would be happy to show you vet records if the piggy was neutered by them .

If you buy a sow from a pet shop, then the risk is all yours. If they don’t bond, then they will need to live separately and you will then need to get a fourth piggy to bond with the then single.

The guides below explain bonding and what does and doesnt work when adding piggies to already established pairs. Our rescue list is also linked in below

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-forum-recommended-rescues.196734/
 
Piggies&buns said:
The safest thing to do is take your two piggies dating at a rescue. That way the staff can try the bonding and your piggies can choose their own new friend. If your girls can choose their own new friend, then you won’t come home with another piggy unless the bonding is successful.

Not all rescues offer dating so you may need to try the bonding yourself at home. This is fine to do and the benefit of this is even if the bonding doesn’t work, you can return the piggy to the rescue and try another when one became available. You won’t be left with a piggy in a separate cage.

Adding a neutered boar to a sow pair is likely the be the most successful way of adding another piggy to a pair of sows (Still via dating at a rescue though given your girls would need to accept him). Adding a single sow to an established pair of sows can be risky (again though, this is why dating at a rescue is the safest way). If you get the piggy from a rescue then you can be certain he is neutered as most reputable rescues neuter as standard plus they would be happy to show you vet records if the piggy was neutered by them .

If you buy a sow from a pet shop, then the risk is all yours. If they don’t bond, then they will need to live separately and you will then need to get a fourth piggy to bond with the then single.

The guides below explain bonding and what does and doesnt work when adding piggies to already established pairs. Our rescue list is also linked in below

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-forum-recommended-rescues.196734/
Click to expand...
thank you!🤍
 
smudgeandcrumpet said:
hi everybody!
i have been thinking about getting another guinea pig to bond with my two females, preferably a female since i wouldn’t want any mistakes as in being told a male is neutered and he’s not! i got my two from pets at home since i wasn’t really aware of the downsides then, i’ve been looking for rescues and id appreciate if people could help me, (bonding tips, rescues, etc) also, if i got the guinea pig and my guinea pigs dont accept it, what should i do? i mean of course theres always get another guinea pig as a friend for the rescue (which is never a bad thing!😄) if it doesn’t work the first time round and they don’t bond and i have to put the other guinea pig in a separate cage with another friend i dont mind but i will probably put off getting my guinea pigs now a friend for a while. any tips would be appreciated, i live in england near manchester and i’d appreciate if anybody could tell me if they know any rescues here! thank you🤍
Click to expand...

Hi

Please contact one of our recommended good standard rescues that do neuter their boars and where you won't have any bad experiences. They also generally offer dating at the rescue so you come home with a new piggy only if acceptance has happened. There are currently far too many (neitered) single boars looking for new homes; much more than sows. I have had many happy mixed gender trios - right now three of them.

Please take the time to read the information in these guide links here, which you may find helpful:
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-forum-recommended-rescues.196734/
A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed) (most of what goes for a mixed gender pair also goes for a 2 sows/1 neutered boar combo)
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care (see pictures at the end - it is very easy to tell a neutered boar (which is a minimum of 5 months) from a full boar or a smaller sub-teenage baby)
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Please contact one of our recommended good standard rescues that do neuter their boars and where you won't have any bad experiences. They also generally offer dating at the rescue so you come home with a new piggy only if acceptance has happened. There are currently far too many (neitered) single boars looking for new homes; much more than sows. I have had many happy mixed gender trios - right now three of them.

Please take the time to read the information in these guide links here, which you may find helpful:
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-forum-recommended-rescues.196734/
A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed) (most of what goes for a mixed gender pair also goes for a 2 sows/1 neutered boar combo)
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care (see pictures at the end - it is very easy to tell a neutered boar (which is a minimum of 5 months) from a full boar or a smaller sub-teenage baby)
Click to expand...
thank you! i realize now it would be best to have a look for a neutered one at a rescue, ive never owned a boar but i was a bit worried since a few years ago i was told these two rabbits i had were females and one of them turned out to be a boy!
 
smudgeandcrumpet said:
thank you! i realize now it would be best to have a look for a neutered one at a rescue, ive never owned a boar but i was a bit worried since a few years ago i was told these two rabbits i had were females and one of them turned out to be a boy!
Click to expand...

Please use one of our recommended carefully vetted rescues if possible. We cannot guarantee for any of the others.

Please also be aware that the big hurdle for cross gender bondings is initial acceptance by the sows. If you can get that done at the rescue, then a cross gender bond is the most stable of piggy constellations. ;)
Any you get to enjoy the boy side of piggies...
 
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