What age?

[Pigpig2314]

I have a 1.5ish year old sow, she has recently lost her sister. She was bullied by her sister and the other pig she was with so we have kept her on her own for coming up to a month to get her back to full health. But I was wondering what age pig should I get her for a friend
She is quite shy but will stand her ground, so I don't want her to become a bully to any new pigs (I'm worried she'll bully a baby instead of being more maternal)
We are looking into getting a herd back eventually but she has never been in a herd only 2 or 3 pigs so we'll need to take it slow I think

 

[Wiebke]

I have a 1.5ish year old sow, she has recently lost her sister. She was bullied by her sister and the other pig she was with so we have kept her on her own for coming up to a month to get her back to full health. But I was wondering what age pig should I get her for a friend
She is quite shy but will stand her ground, so I don't want her to become a bully to any new pigs (I'm worried she'll bully a baby instead of being more maternal)
We are looking into getting a herd back eventually but she has never been in a herd only 2 or 3 pigs so we'll need to take it slow I think

Hi

Please consider rescue dating her with her with a laid-back neutered boar if you can get to a good welfare standard rescue which offers this service. A pair of younger sows may also work as your second option.
This way, you only come home with a new piggy if acceptance has happened and she has a say in who (or whether) she wants to share her space with. She sounds like she could have some fear-aggression issues.
Mutual liking comes long before age or gender in any piggy bond.

Building up a herd from a mixed gender pair is not a bad way to start as long as you adopt next a pair of sub-teenage/sub-adult sisters who cannot upset/challenge the existing hierarchy at the tip and continue to do so. Not every piggy is suited to live in a larger group.

Please take the time to read the in-depth information on particular aspects I have mentioned above. You will find our guide links very helpful:

- Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
- Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs
- https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-forum-recommended-rescues.196734/

- Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
- A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed)

- Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
- Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour (includes a chapter on fear-aggression)



Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

 

[Pigpig2314]

Hi

Please consider rescue dating her with her with a laid-back neutered boar if you can get to a good welfare standard rescue which offers this service. A pair of younger sows may also work as your second option.
This way, you only come home with a new piggy if acceptance has happened and she has a say in who (or whether) she wants to share her space with. She sounds like she could have some fear-aggression issues.
Mutual liking comes long before age or gender in any piggy bond.

Building up a herd from a mixed gender pair is not a bad way to start as long as you adopt next a pair of sub-teenage/sub-adult sisters who cannot upset/challenge the existing hierarchy at the tip and continue to do so. Not every piggy is suited to live in a larger group.

Please take the time to read the in-depth information on particular aspects I have mentioned above. You will find our guide links very helpful:

- Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
- Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs
- https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-forum-recommended-rescues.196734/

- Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
- A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed)

- Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
- Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour (includes a chapter on fear-aggression)



Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

I think she's fear agressive too but hopefully it hasn't got too deep to fix
Also 2 things
1.Someone I live with is allergic to boy pig pee( they get allergy symptoms 1-2 days after full clean) would a neutered boar make it so they're not?
If you don't know its OK
We had foster boys 1.5yr ago and it was a major pain needing to be cleaned every 2 days
2. I'm in the North West nearish liverpool we go near Preston quite regularly, have you got any rescues or fosterers that are around there that we could potentially get a neutered boar from?

 

[Wiebke]

I think she's fear agressive too but hopefully it hasn't got too deep to fix
Also 2 things
1.Someone I live with is allergic to boy pig pee( they get allergy symptoms 1-2 days after full clean) would a neutered boar make it so they're not?
If you don't know its OK
We had foster boys 1.5yr ago and it was a major pain needing to be cleaned every 2 days
2. I'm in the North West nearish liverpool we go near Preston quite regularly, have you got any rescues or fosterers that are around there that we could potentially get a neutered boar from?

Hi

Allergens are usually carried in the pee of both genders. Because cross gender pairs involve quite a lot of peeing at each other. Boars spray pee to mark a sow as theirs and sows target pee to quite literally tell an over-eager boar to ' off', there will be even more pee particles in the coats than usual, so I would not recommend to go for a neutered boar in this case. It is the spray peeing habit more than the gender itself that has likely triggered the allergy.

Perhaps looking at cuys is the way forward - although there are not many of those ending up in rescues and you are very unlikely to find neutered boars.