Should I get a 3rd guinea pig?

Aisling

Aisling

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 28, 2023
Messages
113
Reaction score
107
Points
275
Location
ireland
Hello,
I have 2 bonded female guinea pigs both 3 years old and was considering getting a 3rd guinea pig however where I live there are no rescues or anywhere where I could get a guinea pig older than about 2 months. But bonding might be easier with a younger guinea pig. My current 2 guinea pigs also have a very close bond and I don't know if adding another guinea pig will weaken their bond
 
It's a bit tricky to add a 3rd guinea pig to a 2 female guinea pig group. If you add a female, the trio wouldn't work out very well without a male in the group. In nature, trios of female guinea pigs without a male are non existent. The females will usually fight without there being a male to keep them in order.
If you have 2 female pigs that are happy in each others company, I'd leave them. If they're happy, that means that they are balanced in their social order. When another guinea pig is added, the hierarchy is re-established, and personally I wouldn't want to risk their bond.
However, if you decide to add a 3rd guinea pig,1 (neutered) male might be accepted in the group.
I hope this helps. 🙂
 
Adding a third female doesn’t necessarily mean it wouldn’t work out. However, there is the risk of having an outsider situation, or two against one. If you can’t bond at a rescue and the newbie was not accepted, what would you do? You’d have to get her a friend especially if under four months.

I would perhaps consider getting a pair to keep separate. Or a male who you can try and bond once they’re six weeks post neuter. But again, it comes down to compatibility. He would have to be accepted by both females and not just one.
 
There are functioning sow trios without males on this forum. A sow trio absolutely can work without a male but you must, with any bonding, have character compatibility in the group and that goes whether it’s another female or a neutered boar.

Any bond comes down to character compatibility - they must have it for it to work and unfortunately without being able to date beforehand, adding any piggy will come with a risk that they will not be acceptEd and the bonding will fail. There is also the issue of the outsider situation occurring in a trio (the two you have remain close and the third new piggy gets left out) and the fact older adult sows can be less willing to accept newcomers into their bond (they want to remain just as the two of them). Adding a neutered boar can work but as Siikibam has said, both sows would have to accept him and that doesn’t always happen (you would then potentially be looking at the fact you’ve got either a boar who had to live on his own or your sows would need to be split up so one sow with the boar and one sow alone).

If you are going to only be able to add piggy by purchasing (as you don’t have the ability to date first) then you would need to look for a piggy who will not disrupt the current hierarchy and this is why a baby can work but there is no guarantee. You would therefore need a plan for if the bonding failed so that the new piggy could live in a separate cage side by side with your current pair, and you may potentially need to look to get a fourth piggy to live with the third.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
 
My experience with trying to add a third girl to a bonded pair resulted in adopting a 4th girl and having two separate pairs. The bonding was a complete fail from the first try.
I love having 4 piggies! But it was disappointing at first because I would have loved to see a bigger group interacting, and wouldn't have to worry about a piggie being alone if a cagemate sadly passed.

I did read a ton of threads about this on here. Good luck whatever you decide!
 
Siikibam said:
Adding a third female doesn’t necessarily mean it wouldn’t work out. However, there is the risk of having an outsider situation, or two against one. If you can’t bond at a rescue and the newbie was not accepted, what would you do? You’d have to get her a friend especially if under four months.

I would perhaps consider getting a pair to keep separate. Or a male who you can try and bond once they’re six weeks post neuter. But again, it comes down to compatibility. He would have to be accepted by both females and not just one.
Click to expand...
these are some of my biggest concerns. Especially since one of my guinea pigs (Chomper) was fairly aggressive when first trying to bond her with my other guinea pig (Lou) however she calmed down as soon as Lou realised Chomper was the dominant one. But this could be an issue if you have 2 dominant guinea pigs
 
Aisling said:
these are some of my biggest concerns. Especially since one of my guinea pigs (Chomper) was fairly aggressive when first trying to bond her with my other guinea pig (Lou) however she calmed down as soon as Lou realised Chomper was the dominant one. But this could be an issue if you have 2 dominant guinea pigs
Click to expand...

It would be a big problem - two dominant piggies together will unfortunately fail. This is why a baby is advised because as a baby they won’t challenge for dominance but there is still no guarantee.
If you are able to accommodate a second cage and potentially a fourth piggy then risking an on spec bonding would be less of a problem.
 
Piggies&buns said:
It would be a big problem - two dominant piggies together will unfortunately fail. This is why a baby is advised because as a baby they won’t challenge for dominance but there is still no guarantee.
If you are able to accommodate a second cage and potentially a fourth piggy then risking an on spec bonding would be less of a problem.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for the replies,
What age guinea pig do you think would be best if I do decide to try a 3rd guinea pig? And would I be better to try and bond them in a neutral territory or in Chomper and Lou's territory?
 
Aisling said:
Thanks so much for the replies,
What age guinea pig do you think would be best if I do decide to try a 3rd guinea pig? And would I be better to try and bond them in a neutral territory or in Chomper and Lou's territory?
Click to expand...

It’s character compatibility which matters rather than age. However a baby piggy would be less likely to challenge for dominance but it does not guarantee character compatibility.
Do you have the ability to have a second cage if the bonding fails and then to get the new piggy her own new friend?

Always in neutral territory. Never put a new piggy into the territory of an existing piggy - doing this is a sure fire way to cause hostility and potentially cause a bond to fail.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
 
Piggies&buns said:
It’s character compatibility which matters rather than age. However a baby piggy would be less likely to challenge for dominance but it does not guarantee character compatibility.
Do you have the ability to have a second cage if the bonding fails and then to get the new piggy her own new friend?

Always in neutral territory. Never put a new piggy into the territory of an existing piggy - doing this is a sure fire way to cause hostility and potentially cause a bond to fail.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Click to expand...

Sorry to keep asking questions but would adding a new guinea pig upset chomper and Lou's bond? But yeah I could house 2 more guinea pigs if I had to
 
That possibility is there, along with incompatibility with one of your girls or an outsider situation.
 
Thank you everyone for all the replies!,
they were all very helpful
I will let you all know if I decide to get the 3rd guinea pig or not
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top