Should I add a third boar to my pair?

Adriannecvr

Adriannecvr

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey guys! Some info on my piggies... My oldest is Neil, he’s calm for the most part, a bit shy but quite dominant, he’s about to be a year and 3 months old! My other piggie is Norm, he’s very energetic, a ball of love, adventurous and LOVES food! He’s about to be 9 months old in a couple of weeks. I’m looking to add a third boar. Does anybody have any recommendations when it comes to age? Or if I should wait until Norm is out of adolescence, etc? Anything you could tell me about bonding a single pig to a bonded pair would help! (Not sure if it’s any different than the process I took to bond Neil and Norm). Thank you :)
 
Makes sense. What do you think I should do in any case? The idea behind it is that when one of them passes away, the other won’t be alone. Hope that makes sense!
 
Unfortunately, it is one of the immediate problems with having 2 boars and one pass away. The only thing I can think of to avoid immediate loneliness is to adopt another boar pair that can have a side by side cage with them so if one passes away, he can still have interaction with other piggies. Of course this is dependent if you can afford another pair and all the space and necessary things needed. If that's not possible, the best thing you can do for a bereaved boar is to go boar dating in a rescue when the time comes.
 
Okay! A lot of great ideas. Thankfully my boys are very young still so this shouldn’t be the case for a long while but I like thinking ahead haha. Thanks for your input :)
 
In a word.... no! LOL! Trios of boars very seldom work out. Worst case, it breaks the bond between the original too as well and you end up with three singletons who won't go back together. Unfortunately, there's really no option here to have a third so that you are left with a pair when one passes away. It's easier to find a new friend if and when it's needed... we have information on bonding new friends on our behavior page, though hopefully you won't have to deal with it for awhile!
 
As the others have said, please do not do this - it’ll be a disaster.

The only thing you can do is to have them both neutered now while they’re young. That way, when one does pass away, you have increased your options of finding a compatible friend as you’ll be able to bond the one left behind with either another boar or a sow, rather than only being able to waif for a compatible boar to come available.
Either way, there is nothing you can do now - you cannot add any more piggies at all to a bonded pair of boars without causing massive problems.
 
Thank you for both doing your research and for listening to those that advise. You’ve rescued yourself from the jaws of disaster 😂
 
Thank you all for your time and advice. I have two things in mind, either I wait until my boys are older, maybe 3 years old and then get another boar that is 12 months or older OR as someone said, once Neil passes, I’ll neuter Norm and get 2 bonded soars. I want bonded girls because bonding Neil and Norm was hell, at least for me if not them!
 
It’s best not to risk adding another boar even when they’re older. As mentioned above, getting the balance right (even for older boars) is risky. Even if you introduce an older piggy who’s also out of his teens doesn’t guarantee it would work. The risk of three singles would still be there.

The best way to get a friend for them is to take them to a rescue that does the bonding for you. I know it’s difficult but I would say be patient and see what to do when the time comes. If you want more piggies you could adopt a bonded pair of boars and just keep them separately.
 
Siikibam said:
It’s best not to risk adding another boar even when they’re older. As mentioned above, getting the balance right (even for older boars) is risky. Even if you introduce an older piggy who’s also out of his teens doesn’t guarantee it would work. The risk of three singles would still be there.

The best way to get a friend for them is to take them to a rescue that does the bonding for you. I know it’s difficult but I would say be patient and see what to do when the time comes. If you want more piggies you could adopt a bonded pair of boars and just keep them separately.
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Definitely! I totally do understand that there’s always a risk of them not bonding and maybe even ending up as 3 single pigs.
That sounds awesome but since covid and everything I don’t think that would be done at any of the rescues near me. I’d want to be there for the whole process and at the rescues near me they wouldn’t even let me inside to meet my boys before getting them. They weren’t bonded when I bought them (I fell in love with Norm at first sight so I needed to have him lol) and everybody said they wouldn’t bond and who knows? Maybe I was lucky but the point is, I wasn’t allowed inside beforehand. I don’t think I will do anything right now or for a while! And yes like you and others said I’ll just wait and then act when the time comes! Thanks for the advice :)
 
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