Potentially adopting a 5th boar, have questions

[4boipigs]

I'm not sure which section to post this in, so here we are.

I work at a vet in a pet store in America. Someone bought and returned a pig the same day. The pig was returned with a nasty cut. The people claimed he was sold like that. I was furious and I want to adopt the pig after we clear him at the vet.

I have some questions...first, even tho we have to clear him for sale, should I still quarantine him? He has a history of ringworm, like most guinea pigs that come into the pet store. He was obviously cleared for sale by the vet before, but the pet store constantly has gpigs w/ ringworm. I have a topical mousse from my vet (an outside exotics vet that my pigs see) that I can use on him if needed. If I choose to quarantine him, how far away should he be from my other boars, and for how long?

He will not be going with any other pigs for a while. I have 4 boars (a pair per cage). One pair gets along, and the other pair are in a divided cage since they couldn't get along. One boar has heart failure, so when he passes I want to try bonding new guy with one of the 3. In the mean time, I want to keep this new guy next to my boars that live in a divided cage. Is it okay to have 3 boars divided like this? I want to do it this way so he doesn't potentially disrupt the bonds of my pair that get along.

As for the cage...I have an old pet store cage. It is supposedly 121cm by 61cm (sorry if this conversion is wrong - it's 2 ft x 4 ft). Will this be sufficient for him temporarily? If not, I have some extra coroplast I could use to form a small c&c cage. I'm trying to use anything extra that I have but save some space too.

Should I expect this cut to cause any trouble or scar him? We don't know what happened to him. It is definitely not a guinea pig bite. He is on 2 meds (don't recall what) and metacam. Amazingly, we didn't have to stitch the wound closed.

I attached a pic of the poor guy. You can see the blood from the cut behind his ear.

I don't support buying gpigs from pet stores. For this guy I'm making an exception because I don't want some idiot to get him.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Poor piggy. It would be lovely for you to give him a home!

In answer to your questions -

Quarantine only applies for piggies over four months of age. Piggies under four months should not be quarantined due to their companionship needs.
If he is old enough to be quarantined, then it is ideally two weeks in a separate room.

Living arrangements -

I'm a little confused, you say you have a pair per cage but then say two of them don’t get along and are in a divided cage.
So, by my understanding you have a pair and then two single piggies?

If so, then can this new piggy not be bonded straight away/post quarantine with one of the already single piggies? Particularly if he is a youngster, living in the same cage with another piggy is best where possible.

Anyway, it’s fine for them to be in a divided cage until you can bond, as they can interact through the bars.

A 120x60cm cage is fine for a single piggy.

The cut - in theory provided it is kept clean, doesn’t get infected and he’s given pain relief and antibiotics, then you would expect it to heal well.

 

[Tnoz]

Aww poor baby hope he heals soon, I guess a dog or something has gripped him, some people just don’t understand what Guinea pigs need, bet he was so scared. Good luck with him and hope you can keep him

 

[4boipigs]

I'm a little confused, you say you have a pair per cage but then say two of them don’t get along and are in a divided cage.
So, by my understanding you have a pair and then two single piggies?

I have a pair that gets along in a 2x5 c&c.
I have another 'pair' in a 2x6 c&c that is split down the middle with grids. They have 2x3 sections to themselves. These boys I tried to bond but they kept fighting.

As for his age, not sure honestly. He weighs about 1.5lbs right now and maybe 3 or 4 months.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ok, so can this new boy not go with one of the singles then? They aren’t a pair if they are living in a divided cage and they don’t have a bond to break so for one of them to be bonded with the new piggy would be fine.
You would need to remove the divider so it is back to being a full 2x6 again (although a 2x5 is the size needed for a boar pair). And then boy who is living alone can go in the 120x60 pet shop cage.
That way, you have two pairs and a single rather than one pair and three singles.

1.5lb converts to about 600g so, yes he is likely quite young so would benefit from live in companionship

 

[4boipigs]

Ok, so can this new boy not go with one of the singles then? They aren’t a pair if they are living in a divided cage and they don’t have a bond to break so for one of them to be bonded with the new piggy would be fine.
You would need to remove the divider so it is back to being a full 2x6 again (although a 2x5 is the size needed for a boar pair). And then boy who is living alone can go in the 120x60 pet shop cage.
That way, you have two pairs and a single rather than one pair and three singles.

1.5lb converts to about 600g so, yes he is likely quite young so would benefit from live in companionship

Without making it complicated, I was going to try bonding new pig with my CHF pig's friend, once my CHF pig passes (which I'm assuming will be this month). That would be the easiest thing, because I won't have to move pigs and cages. I just don't have a ton of space and it stresses me to think of all that right now. Maybe it will be different when I have him.

As he may potentially still have ringworm or be around it/in contact since ringworm is common at this store, I intended to keep him separate for a few days to monitor and use a mousse our vet has given us for ringworm in another pig.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ringworm is 10-14 days from infection to outbreak so he will need to be kept separate for that time when you bring him home

 

[4boipigs]

I finally have him after having to deal with the pet store! I put him next to my lone boar, since his partner had to be pts yesterday. Hopefully I can bond them together, but I want to make sure the newcomer doesn't have anything going on first. He is in a 2x3 c&c and enjoying himself and the company next door.

 

[Siikibam]

Just thinking that if he’s living next door then hasn’t your lone boar already been exposed to whatever your newbie may be carrying?

PS photos to drool over please