Hi,just need a little help

[salamander88]

Hello,I own a almost five month old male guinea pig named Spock. lately he has seemed depressed and sad. I take really good care of him and he has lots of toys and things to play with. so I looked it up and multiple different websites say that he is lonely and needs a friend. I also read how to inter-duce them with the age difference. so I went to the local pet store with the intention of buying a baby male guinea pig, but the lady that works there says that male guinea pigs can live together for up to about six months and then start fighting over territory and may even kill each other. I do not know if this is true so I did not buy the guinea pig. so I would like to know if two young male guinea pigs can live together without hurting each other and live happy.
thank you in advance

[ThePigAlchemist]

Two young males definitely can live together. I've got a pair that are about the same age, and they've lived more or less harmoniously for the entirety of my having them, which has been about a year. However, instead of buying a pig at the pet store, consider adoption! There are many guinea pigs out there that need homes, both at rescues and shelters and on Craigslist, where people are privately rehoming their guinea pigs.

[BlueButterfly]

Two males can certainly live together! If they're compatible and have enough space, absolutely! Puberty may cause them to fight, so you may have to separate them then, but you can always reintroduce after their teen days are over. I agree with adopting, there are so many homeless pigs out there! Plus, pet store pigs are often not well treated, not socialized, and a whole mess of other. things. And pet store employees really don't know what they're talking about most of the time. Good luck! And welcome to the site.

[RodentCuddles]

Hi, it is just a myth that males cannot live together.
I have 3 males living together. Two of them are 1 year old and 7 months, they are half brothers, and the other boy is only 9 weeks old. They all get along great!!
Males and Females can both fight each other, it is all about their personality and the size of the cage.

It is really annoying when people won't let you get a male because they say males can't go together, It is just a myth that needs to be forgotten. (;

[salamander88]

Thank you all I will look into adoption

[bpatters]

One of the posters over at GL has a whole herd of males living together, and they're doing just fine.

[pigimama1999]

They can live together, as a matter of fact he MUST have a friend. But, if your are really worried about them fighting, just neuter them both. It will make there male hormones die down and they will no longer feel the need to fight for land. Even if you don't Newter them, my males lived together YEARS without fighting. (I had them as a child "rocket" and "The guy"). They will only fight like that in very extreme cases, but like I said, I do recomend neutering themeven if they didn't fight.

[joyfulnoise]

It is my understanding that neutering does NOT altar their behavior or hormones. That would be an unnecessary and painful action to take. Make sure that you investigate more in this forum on how to do introductions and check out the minimum cage size requirements (and possibly go a little bigger) and they should be fine. I currently have a 4 mo. old & a 7-8 wk. old that I introduced just last weekend and they are doing fantastic. No fights. Lots of follow the leader, cuddles during nap time together and they even eat of the same plate. They baby will even take veggies from reggie's mouth and eat it himself... Right now they are in a 2x4 cc cage and I am planning to change it to a 3x5 soon.
Definitely go with adoption/rescue or find some body who needs to rehome their piggie. Reggie came from a pet store(before I knew better) and the baby came from a girl who got kicked out of her apartment and couldn't keep him any longer.
Good luck with your search and be patient. The right one will come along at the right time. So glad to hear that you desire for your baby to be happy and have a friend.

[bpatters]

I wouldn't neuter them unless they need it. Many unneutered males live together just fine. Occasionally you'll run into a pig with sexual/dominance issues in overdrive, and neutering may help, such a pig, but there's no guarantee.