Pairing up my pig is gonna be impossible? help!

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Raff

Raff

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Hiya, iv got a 9month old guinea pig called Alfalfa. He's been on his own since i got him, he was happy enough but i wanted another pig. I recently re homed a 5month old piggy called Pickles. Ever since iv had the new pig alfalfa's behavior has totally changed.
They are both in separate cages indoors, 1 on top of the other. Alfalfa is now more loud and noisy, he's also biting a lot more than he used to, he constantly wants to jump off me n search for pickles lol.
I'm very dissapointed as i though i was doing him a favor getting him a friend but now i feel like iv ruined alfalfa - hes not the same pig.
I'd love some tips or help if you've had any similar experiences.
Do i go ahead and try pairing them, or is it too obvious its not gonna work?
Also, pickles (the baby pig) he isn't bothered by alfalfa, it all seems to be a 1 way battle!

Thanksmallethead​
 
Hi male guinea pigs are really difficult to pair up unless they were pals from only a few months of age. I have sucessfully paired up an older male with a younger male but the youger male was just a baby, but it is really touch and go if they get on together, The best option for you would have been to neuter Alfalfa and put him with a female companion. i dont think your current situation will resolve itself and personally i would not put them back together again. I dont know if the other forum members will agree or have any other suggestions for you. All the best
 
I have bonded many many boars successfully of lots of different ages. However, all of these have only had one boar, if any, as a hormonal teenager. I think this has been your problem. And you still have two hormonal pigs, so really not a good combination. Have you actually tried bonding them or have they always been in separate cages? I would still try bonding them, strictly following all the rules, if you haven't yet. xx
 
My first guinea pig a year ago was a male and until i found this forum i had the perception (from reading various articles) that two males can never get on - i have to tell you that is complete twaddle rolleyes

I now have 4 males and they live very happily in two pairs! My first male piggie was very much our little 'human' piggie when he was by himself - mainly because he only had us for interaction. When we got him a friend the change in his behaviour was totally unexpected - he no longer craved us for attention - while we missed his little antics it was obvious that he was much happier with a friend of his own species!

The fact that Alfalfa is searching for Pickles is a very good sign and ive not read anything in your original post that would suggest they'd not get along - however you'd only know for sure by putting them together in neutral territory and seeing how it goes.

There are lots of posts within the behaviour boards which will indicate the signs to look our for when you go ahead with the bonding process - here's a good post:

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949


The way i did it was to put the cages side by side for a few days so they can see/hear/touch/smell one another. I then set up an area that neither pig had been in (some people out then in an empty bath with a towel down for grip) - i put plenty of hay/food/veg down and put both boys in it. I observed for around 30mins and if all was well i then cleaned out the cage i was going to put them in and that is where they stayed.

Once you commit to putting two boars together - unless blood is drawn or a fight breaks out you must leave them together. Offering short frequent meetings is like them meeting for the first time everytime. Do one single meeting and if all is well - leave them together. :)

good luck :)
 
from the sounds of it you havent tried them together (apologies if you have) i would wait until your older one is over a year and then try them together in neutral territory. you should be able to tell if they will get on, rumbling and chasing is normal.
 
Your boys' behaviour is totally normal - they react to each other's presence. You will see a lot of dominance behaviour when you introduce them! Even mild dominance behaviour looks like bullying to novices; the trick is to figure out when you have to sit back and NOT step in since piggies follow a strict protocol in saping their relationship!

Unfortunately, both boars are currently right in the middle of the hormonal teenage months (4-12 months) where bonding is at its most fraught and fall outs are most likely.

Have they been in contact through the bars or have you just stuck them on top of each other?

Here are tips for how to stage introductions:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38562
 
Thanks for your responses,

I have a playpen which i use for floor time, i seperate it so there is 2 sections side by side for each piggy, i thought that doing this for about 30mins a day would help them get used to each other but everyone says different things. Alfalfa really noses up the bars and makes a rubbly noise, sometimes his hair all stands on end, though a few times he has seemed to get a lil bored and just sits there quietly until he sees pickle move again then the rumbling starts again!

Alfalfa is definatly desperate to get his paws on pickle, i havent officially let them meet each other without a seperation guard yet cause I'm worried about the size differences, I'm worried that alfalfa could do some damage to pickles as he is alot smaller.

Their seperate cages and literally sitting on ontop f the other so they can hear eachother pretty well.

I just dont knbow whether to stop contact between them totally or really try and pair them up, i just want whats best for the piggies!

Surely alfalfa eventually would get used to pickles and realise he is un humpable lol? :{
 
Hi again, My comment from earlier when i put my 2 boys together (one was a few months old and the other was about 2 years old) they did get on most of the time but i ocassionally spottet the older one chasing the younger one around their cage and trying to hump him. I did consider getting them both neutered to calm them down from this behaviour, so if this happens to your pigs it might be worth considering, however i am no where near an expert on pig behaviour as some of the others on this forum, so i would certainly listen to what the others have to say. As it happens i unfortunately lost one of my boys to illness and now the remaindingboy is about to be neutered and put in with 2 girls, this is quite new territory for me. Good luck i hope it works out for you xx
 
Neutering does NOT change boar behaviour; it is only worth considering when you want a boar to live with sows. http://www.cavyspirit.com/neutering.htm

Chasing, rumblestrutting, humping, teeth chattering are normal behaviours. Guinea pigs live in herds and always need to sort out the hierarchy when they meet. In either gender, you will get dominance behaviour which looks like bullying to newbies. This thread details what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour. http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949

Please let your boars meet through the mesh for longer stretches of time, so they can work past the initial meeting moves and get used to each other. Otherwise, they will always have to start straight back in square one of the dominance protocol. At one point, you will have to commit to the full introductions and sit it out. Make sure that you have several hours or a day's time to keep an eye on the boys when you do that.
 
Two of my boys who live together are father (Homer) and son (LB) and i introduced them when LB was only just over 3wks old - he was tiny! I observed very carefully and left them in the run together for around 5hrs before fully cleaning the big cage and putting them both in there. I did my introduction at about 9am so it meant i had all day to closely monitor them. Because they are father and son they are very much alike and as LB is coming up to 9months old and is at the teenage stage, he does stand up to Homer though from time to time and this can cause a little friction (nothing more than a little head raising now and then). Homer does have 'fisky' moments every so often and will display this by relentlessly chasing LB around the cage - it is difficult to hear aas LB can be very vocal when this happens - however this is part of their life and they need to be left alone to deal with it - unless there are no fights or signs of aggression, they need to be left to sort out any issues - difficult i know - but very necessary for their relationship to blossom and grow stronger

My other two boys are completely un-related and there is only 1wks age difference between the two - they will be exactly 12months old on the 13th and 22nd of March. Ive never heard either one chatter their teeth and the mounting happens almost on a daily basis. I'm quite lucky though in the fact that my one boy Elvis is very laid back and he popcorns every time Shadow attempts to mount him - it's almost like a game they play between themselves.
 
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