Two neutered males in a group

[babyroxie]

I’m looking for some advice on whether to get girl or boy Guinea pigs. These will be my daughter’s first Guinea pigs, and will be handled by a 4, 6 and 8 year old. I have heard that boars are better for handling esp by children as generally they are more confident and bigger than sows. However, I have three kids and I am certain that once my boys see their sisters Guinea pigs they are going to ask for one each themselves for Christmas. We don’t have room for another enclosure inside. So, do I

1. Get a pair of sows and add another pair of sows for Christmas when we would likely give the boys a Guinea pig of their own each
2. Get four sows from the beginning
3. Get a boar and a sow, neuter the boar, and add two more sows around Christmas
4. Get a boar and three sows from the beginning, keep boar seperate and neuter him then add to the sows 6 weeks later
5. Get a pair of boars, neuter both, and add a pair of sows at christmas
6. Get a pair of boars, neuter, add another pair of neutered boars (has anyone ever had success doing this?)

I’ve read so many conflicting things about whether you can keep more than one boar together with sows that I’m not sure what to think or what is the best order to introduce them to each other. Ideally we would have more than one boar but I’m not sure that is possible in a group setting. One website I found said it could work if there were 3-4 sows. The enclosure I am building is big enough for 5 Guinea pigs total.

Advice from those with experience of keeping multiple piggies together very welcome!

 

[babyroxie]

Another thing to add is I am very happy to rescue / adopt older piggies in bonded pairs if that makes things more straightforward and means less liklihood of fighting piggies

 

[Piggies&buns]

Options 5 and 6 should not be considered. You cannot keep more than one boar with sows, and you cannot add any other piggies to a boar pair.

Option 5 will result in fights between the boys as they fight over the girls and should not be attempted. However you should be able to make two separate boar/sow pairs out of this scenario.

Option 6 will result in fights and you’d potentially end up with four single piggies all needing to be kept apart so consequently needing four separate cages. At best you’d get a pair and two singles out of it.
Boars must only ever be kept in pairs with no other piggy added, not even if they are neutered. Neutering doesnt affect piggies like it does other animals. All neutering does is prevent pregnancy, it does not change behaviours and will not make it possible to keep more than two boars together (neutering won’t even make two boars like each other).
Functioning boar trios and quartets can happen but are rare. They mostly only occur in older boars where testosterone has fizzled out and in carer groups. Or where the piggies have all chosen each other and have a considerable amount of space. Attempting to add other boars to a bonded pair, particularly where they are younger (and by younger I mean younger than elderly!) mostly doesn’t work. Boar herds tend to need around 10 boars together to diffuse tension and around 10 square metres of space along with plans to split them up if trouble occurs.

- To have a herd living together you must have either all sows, or one neutered boar and as many sows as you have space for.

- To have multiple boars, it’s only ever separate pairs in separate enclosures. They can never mix as a herd.
In addition, a boar pair can react strongly to smelling sows, so if you had a boar pair and a sow pair, then ideally the boar pair are kept well away from the sow pair (ideally different rooms) so as to not risk the boys fighting when they smell the sows. (even though they cannot physically get to them). At the very least, in stacked cages with the girls at the bottom to reduce the risk of smells getting to the boys, and with the boys always being handled first.

So this means options 1-4 are all viable, but, when you try to add more piggies to an existing pair (whether it’s a neutered boar or more sows) you have to be prepared that it may not work and have a back up plan for living arrangements - any bonding comes down to compatibility.
The safest way to add piggies to an existing pair is via dating at a rescue centre. That way the piggies choose whether they accept any others and which piggies they accept into their group.

If you do it by buying other piggies and carry out the bonding yourself, make sure you have a back up plan for them to live separately if bonding doesn’t work.
A boar from a pet shop is likely to be young. They can’t be neutered until four months of age and then the six week wait so it could be a while before a bonding in this scenario can take place.

The best way to get any piggies is to speak to a rescue centre and see what piggies they have. They may already have a bonded herd who needs a home or be prepared to merge pairs/add a boar for you so you can be sure you are getting a compatible group.
Boars will already be neutered if you rehome from a rescue centre.
If you are going to rescue, discuss your housing plans with them prior to getting things sorted - you don’t want to find they consider your housing options unsuitable.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

Boars tend to mellow with age and become friendlier but it doesn’t mean they are better at being handled by children, they aren’t always bigger either. Piggies make wonderful pets but aren’t really children’s pets. A lot of piggies won’t ever like being handled at all - some may learn to enjoy a bit of a laptime, others only tolerate a head stroke and some will only be handled for the essentials (weekly weight and health checks, nail clipping, medicating). This is where children can lose interest when they realise their piggy doesn’t want to be touched and their interaction can be more about just sitting in or next to their their enclosure watching them and not physically touching them.

I currently have four boars (two are five years old and are a bonded pair. The other two are now 1 year old and were a bonded pair but their bond broke down as the teens hit and they have lived separated ever since). They have ranged from taking food from my hand on day 1 (the two youngest) to the other end of the scale where my most nervous piggy (one of the 5 year olds) wouldn’t come anywhere near me for a year and a half.
Even now things vary. One of the youngest actively enjoys cuddles and asks to be stroked, he will be held but is happy to let me know when he has had enough.
The two oldest have definitely become friendlier as they’ve got older - they do now let me stroke them but when they want to be stroked but otherwise they just run off. The other youngest piggy does not want to be stroked, touched or handled but he is very friendly if I sit with him and don’t touch, he will happily take food from my hand! None of those three like to be held so handling is just for the essentials.

Children And Guinea Pigs - A Guide For Parents

 

[breakawayfromme]

Honestly as someone who has only ever had boars I would say get females, you would have so many more options if a bond broke down, you wanted to add more etc etc


The only way option 5 could potentially work is like how masons cavies has there setup
150 pigs in a massive shed so plenty of girls to go around

 

[Freela]

Generally speaking, neutered or not, males do better in pairs and groups seldom work. Bigger groups tend not to work well, two males, even neutered, cannot be around females and get along. Neutering only changes fertility, not behavior, in guinea pigs.

For what it's worth, we first got guinea pigs when my kids were about 6, 4, and 2. We have always had females. They have all been fine with the kids. I honestly think that personality is more important than gender and over the years we've had everything from really active pigs, couch potato pigs, really intelligent pigs, really not so intelligent but still very sweet pigs (sorry, but it was true!), big three-pound pigs and little one-pound pigs, all girls. So you really can get a variety. Females can live in trios (assuming they like each other) and are generally easier to bond with other females if something happens to an existing pig (we've had a lot of experience bonding girls because out of our initial pair, one unfortunately passed young due to an illness- since then the ages never match up well... our current pair have a two-year gap.

Honestly, I think options 1 and 2 are your best bet. And bear in mind that any group can fall apart if members decide they hate each other, even if you purchase them together, you you may need a back-up if you get four sows who decide later on that they are not going to be able to live together. It might be easier to start out with four pigs than to make a group of two and then add two later, especially if you are basically going to be adding new pigs to where existing pigs are living. Introducing pigs is more complicated than just sticking them in the same enclosure, be sure to check out the bonding articles that are stickied on the behaviour page so you go in with some information on how to best allow them to get to know each other in a neutral location. We actually introduce new pigs in the bathtub!

 

[Cheekypigs]

With small children, the best options for them interacting with guinea pigs are to have them offer food to the pigs while the pigs are in the cage, or to have them feed and pet the pigs when the pigs are on an adult's lap, or in a playpen where the pigs can come and go as they please. For a guinea pig, being held by a young child that may move suddenly, make sudden noises or not support them properly is very scary, and may make them reluctant to be held or petted at all.

Guinea pigs are naturally timid animals and aren't physically robust - their long backs mean they are easily hurt if dropped or lifted the wrong way. The pictures you see of guinea pigs relaxing while being held are the product of a lot of time and work making the pig feel safe with the human, they won't behave like that "out of the box".

They are wonderful pets, and I think could be a great addition to your family and you and your kids could get a lot of joy from them. I just want to manage expectations a bit. The handling of the pigs has to be adult-led, patient and careful. The kids' interactions with the pigs should be mostly while the pigs are in the cage or a playpen, and on the pigs' own terms.

Encouraging your kids to feed the pigs in their cage is a very good thing to do, because the pigs will start to associate the children with food and good things, and will learn to trust them. Guinea pigs can absolutely tell humans apart. Ours are very keen on my daughter because she has often fed them treats (and she is never the one taking them to the vet or cutting their nails!) so they will always turn round and reach their heads out when they hear her voice.

Edit to add: I agree with the above, your best options are 4 sows, or 3 sows and 1 neutered boar. The other options are almost guaranteed to end badly.

 

[Engel]

Guinea pigs require quite a bit of space so even though the enclosure you're building could hold 5 pigs, I'd aim to under populate it. I have 8 pigs total; 4 boys (2 of which are neutered) and 4 sows. My sows are much bigger than my boars and out of the 8 only 3 are remotely cuddly (on their terms).

If you are looking for something more interactive and cuddly with people, especially kids, I'd recommend rats. (Some people don't like them which is fine, however I love them and have had 7. They're like tiny dogs and for the most part crave attention?.

I have nothing else to add as it's already been mentioned above. I'd love to see the enclosure once built though. We have a lot of creative people on here and I'm always impressed with what people come up with.