Ruby Inferno
Teenage Guinea Pig
I've been at lost for what to do for ages. Everyone I ask has different advice...
So, currently I have two separated boars (14 months old) in different floors of a double hutch, and a pair of sows (6 months old) in an indoor cage. There isn't really enough space indoors for an indoor cage longterm though, it's not very convenient, but I adopted them in February so it would have been too cold to move them straight outside. Last summer, there was very bad bullying and fighting going on between the boars so I had to separate them. My dominant boar (Caramel) was bullying and hurting my submissive boar (Doughnut). To be honest I think it's mostly because it was very hot and their hutch is not particularly big (at the time I was not aware it needed to be bigger for boars, they are my first ever piggies). The inner dimensions are around 110x50 cm, not big enough for two boars. They lived in the top floor, I used the bottom one for storing grooming tools, food, etc.
Originally my plan was to neuter both boars and introduce them to some sows. I'd buy a big 6ft double hutch from Ryedale; Doughnut would be introduced to my pair of sows and live in one of the floors, and I would adopt a single sow for Caramel. Doughnut is very sociable and always wheeks very loudly when he is brought near the girls' cage, while Caramel doesn't seem too bothered, so Doughnut would probably be happy to live with both of them.
However, someone recently suggested I should just neuter Caramel and introduce him to the girls (as he is quite dominant), and Doughnut can live with a dominant boar as he is quite submissive. I would only have to neuter one boar so that's probably a good plan, but it would mean everyone living in a double hutch might not be an option and I don't really have the space for a second hutch (the hutch I have now is not really big enough for any more than one piggy to live in). The scent of my sows could make my boars fight, and I'm not sure what to do about that.
My first plan would probably be more flexible (unlike the second one), because if one of the piggies passes away and someone is left on their own (such as Caramel, leaving his hutchmate on her own), introducing the lone piggy to the other piggies is possible. I would make sure the single sow I adopt is younger than my boars, just like my current sows are, so they are likely to outlive the boars which means if a sow is left on her own she can simply be introduced to the other piggy(s). If the sows were older and passed first, it would be much more difficult to bond the boars, and impossible if there are any sows because of course you can't have multiple boars living with sows. If any of that makes sense!
Argh what do I do?! Poor Doughnut is really desparate for a cagemate, I feel sorry for him.
So, currently I have two separated boars (14 months old) in different floors of a double hutch, and a pair of sows (6 months old) in an indoor cage. There isn't really enough space indoors for an indoor cage longterm though, it's not very convenient, but I adopted them in February so it would have been too cold to move them straight outside. Last summer, there was very bad bullying and fighting going on between the boars so I had to separate them. My dominant boar (Caramel) was bullying and hurting my submissive boar (Doughnut). To be honest I think it's mostly because it was very hot and their hutch is not particularly big (at the time I was not aware it needed to be bigger for boars, they are my first ever piggies). The inner dimensions are around 110x50 cm, not big enough for two boars. They lived in the top floor, I used the bottom one for storing grooming tools, food, etc.
Originally my plan was to neuter both boars and introduce them to some sows. I'd buy a big 6ft double hutch from Ryedale; Doughnut would be introduced to my pair of sows and live in one of the floors, and I would adopt a single sow for Caramel. Doughnut is very sociable and always wheeks very loudly when he is brought near the girls' cage, while Caramel doesn't seem too bothered, so Doughnut would probably be happy to live with both of them.
However, someone recently suggested I should just neuter Caramel and introduce him to the girls (as he is quite dominant), and Doughnut can live with a dominant boar as he is quite submissive. I would only have to neuter one boar so that's probably a good plan, but it would mean everyone living in a double hutch might not be an option and I don't really have the space for a second hutch (the hutch I have now is not really big enough for any more than one piggy to live in). The scent of my sows could make my boars fight, and I'm not sure what to do about that.
My first plan would probably be more flexible (unlike the second one), because if one of the piggies passes away and someone is left on their own (such as Caramel, leaving his hutchmate on her own), introducing the lone piggy to the other piggies is possible. I would make sure the single sow I adopt is younger than my boars, just like my current sows are, so they are likely to outlive the boars which means if a sow is left on her own she can simply be introduced to the other piggy(s). If the sows were older and passed first, it would be much more difficult to bond the boars, and impossible if there are any sows because of course you can't have multiple boars living with sows. If any of that makes sense!
Argh what do I do?! Poor Doughnut is really desparate for a cagemate, I feel sorry for him.