What are the benefits of having two guinea pigs?

[Guineapigluver2]

Hi I'm still working on convincing my mom to let me get a second guinea pig. I have an 11month old male and am planning on getting a 7 or 8 month (that my mom happens to like). I feel really bad for the piggy because he has been there a while and I just want to give him a good home. I know about making a bigger cage and proper introductions and quarentine already so I just have to somehow make my parents know how much better 2 guinea pigs are than one. I really want to know about your guinea pig pairs (or more) especially if you have two males succesfully living together. Thank you.

[deathnotronic]

I have two males Chad and Brad. I was a little concerned at first as Brad is a lot smaller than Chad but they get along WONDERFULLY. It's better to have a younger one paired with an older one so that there isn't a fight over who's the dominant one. They are the best of friends. Yes, once in a while Chad will have some dominance issues (getting the food first, pushing Brad away when he wants water) but that's totally normal. Most of the time I can find them snuggling in their pigloo together.

Also, I had Chad for a few weeks before I got Brad and Chad is so much more happier now that he has someone to play with. They both love running around their cage, wheeking and popcorning like there's no tomorrow!

[Neocavyowner]

A second cavy will give your little guy some company. Show your mom this link.

Guinea Lynx :: Companionship

[envisionary333]

Here is another great link: http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm

Not only are guinea pigs much happier and livelier with a pal, but they are healthier too- they exercise more, try more new foods, and enjoy life. Plus, you will enjoy them much more as well when they have a friend to play with. You will experience a great range of behaviors and antics that you've never seen before. Tell your mom that guinea pigs are herd animals by nature and never live alone, which is very similar to humans. We are social creatures as well, and who would want to live alone for their entire life without ever meeting another person? That would be a very sad existence.

[Guineapigluver2]

Thank you for the help so far. I also have a question about quarentining. I found this website before I got my first guinea pig so I dont have a store bought cage for quarentining and I'm not going to wast the money on one. Would a one by two grid cage wich is 2.88sqft be ok for quarentining? That is how much I need to add to my cage for it to be big enough for another piggy. Is it ok to just tape it on after the quarentine while they are getting to know eachother?

[Ly&Pigs]

You really want to read the social life page that envisionary posted a link to. You do quarantine in separate cages in separate rooms. It needs to be for 3 weeks because many illnesses take 3 weeks to incubate. If at all possible you need a larger cage than a 1x2 for quarantine. By the time you put in a food dish and some sort of pigloo or hidey place, there's no room for the pig to move around in. At least a 2x2 would be needed for a quarantine.

Once the quarantine period of 3 weeks is over, then you do one introduction in a neutral place at first. If they get along, they can move into a newly cleaned cage together. If they don't get along, then separate and let them live next to each other for a few days and try again. If the second intro fails, then try a buddy bath.

What you do NOT want to do is to put them together and take them apart repeatedly if they get along. This will stress them out and make establishing dominance that much harder.

It will be fine to add on to your existing cage. Duct tape can be used to add on more coroplast.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

How big is your regular cage? How big did you intend to make it?

Two males you really need to upgrade as much as possible, and possibly add a loft.

[Love4Piggers]

I have two boars that have been living together successfully for a long time. I got Tutter first, then Bear about a month later, and they were around 3 months old when introduced. Well, they will be 5 years old the end of this year, and they are still together, never seperated. When I found this site, they moved into their first C&C, a 2x5 that I bought and put together for them. They are soo happy, and getting along and enjoying eachother. What I mean is that, even though they now have all this space, they still choose to be near eachother a lot of the time. They are so much happier to have eachother, than they would be if they had been housed seperately. I sure hope you are able to get your little guy a buddy, but please do respect the quarantine period, and proper introductions are extremely important as well. Here's a few pics of my boys choosing to be near eachother, even though they have run of a 2x5 C&C.

[Guineapigluver2]

Originally Posted by rabbitsncavyluv

How big is your regular cage? How big did you intend to make it?

Two males you really need to upgrade as much as possible, and possibly add a loft.

My cage is 2x3 but my grids are over sized so its 8.64sqft. I am planning on expanding it to 2x4 (11.52sqft) or 2x5(14.4sqft). I will probably only be able to make it 2x4 but I'll do my best to let my parents let me make it bigger. I plan on making a temperary 2x2 cage for the quarentine (again, bigger if possible) which will be in my sisters bedroom but I'll have full access to the cage and piggy.

[Guineapigluver2]

Wow your two boys are adorible.

[pigsforlife]

Good Luck with everything, if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

[Guineapigluver2]

Can anyone please answer my other question? Here's the link http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...month-old.html