Which sex to choose to add to my pair?

[minnie_ozzy]

Hi there,
I own 2 piggies - Minnie and Ozzy, a female and neutered male siblings (4yrs). Their mum died a few months ago sadly, and since then I've thought about getting them a friend to bring them back to a group again. Unfortunately, a recent health scare with Ozzy has given me a push to start thinking about doing this asap, as I don't want to leave a piggy alone

I would love to adopt an older pig, as I don't want to start an endless cycle of lonely guinea pigs, however, I've noticed that all rescues near me seem to put guinea pigs in pairs. I completely understand why they do this, but it makes it a bit tricky for me as I will need to travel with the pigs occasionally throughout the year (3 is a manageable number, 4 is a bit too many!), and all pairs (that have been available) are either 2 boys or a boy and a girl. Ideally, I would love to adopt a single older girl, but these seem incredibly hard to come by. I'm even considering getting a couple of young girls just so I can increase the size of the group, but this is the last resort for me. There seems to be a consensus that more than 1 boy in a group is a bad idea, but I've seen conflicting info on whether this applies to a group of 2 boys and 2 girls, I'm assuming it probably won't work either, but I feel so sad for the huge amount of boys in rescues! :'(

I was thinking of asking my local shelters if they would be willing to give me an unbonded older girl if one arrives (I'd be happy to take two girls - just before they bond a girl with a male!), I'm not sure how successful this will be though, has anyone got any experience with this?

For the time being this is hypothetical, as Minnie is having some health problems that might need surgery, so I'm going to be waiting until those are long taken care of.

Thanks for any insight and advice in advance!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry for your loss.

As you already have a boar, then you can only ever add sows.
It is only ever one neutered boar to any number of sows - you try to keep two boars with any amount of sows, then it will be a disaster and will end with the boys fighting.
Boars can only live in pairs if there are no sows around.

When adding piggies to an established pair/group doing so in a way which will not upset the current hierarchy ie bonding in a younger sow who cannot challenge for dominance is usually most successful, but it all comes down to character compatibility so you still need to find the right sow for the pair to be willing to accept her.

The guide below explains what does and doesn’t work further
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

I hope Minnie is ok

 

[minnie_ozzy]

I’m sorry for your loss.

As you already have a boar, then you can only ever add sows.
It is only ever one neutered boar to any number of sows - you try to keep two boars with any amount of sows, then it will be a disaster and will end with the boys fighting.
Boars can only live in pairs if there are no sows around.

When adding piggies to an established pair/group doing so in a way which will not upset the current hierarchy ie bonding in a younger sow who cannot challenge for dominance is usually most successful, but it all comes down to character compatibility so you still need to find the right sow for the pair to be willing to accept her.

The guide below explains what does and doesn’t work further
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

I hope Minnie is ok

Ah thank you for the clarification! I suspected it wouldn't work, and after sleeping on it last night I think I might have to get a pair of younger girls, which is a shame as I really wanted to give an older pig a new home!

Thanks for the link as well, I tried looking for a page on the matter but must have skipped over it!

Minnie is well, she's dealing with a hormonal (we think) problem but it is not slowing her down in the slightest haha x