Can males and females live in the same room (not cage) w/o males becoming territorial

99susan · Aug 30, 2012

I've had guinea pigs for 3 months now and have never had any before this. We have 2 females. One was pregnant when we got her

. She had 3 males they are 5 weeks old now. I've read that if males have not been around females they will have a better chance of getting along and not becoming territorial and fighting. We would like to keep all of them. Are there any problems with keeping them all the same room in different cages? Does that count as not being around females?

Piggypogs · Aug 30, 2012

You may have some provlems with being in the same room as females they would be able to smell them you may want to keep them in a different room from the females. Ive heard that pairs af males get along better than three of them i dont know if thats true but you could allways get one of the guys neutered when he gets old enough then put him in with the girls.

bpatters · Aug 30, 2012

There are people that keep all their guinea pigs in the same room, but separated by genders into different cages. I've read posts by owners that say their males are no more territorial and aggressive when doing than when they're in separate rooms, others think they may be more aggressive with each other.

I think there's probably no way to know which is true (neither or both), because SO much depends on the personality of the individual pigs. If I were you, I'd try it and see what happens. You DO have the male pups already out of the cage, I hope, because otherwise you may have more pregnant females.

99susan · Aug 30, 2012

Yes! I was told by a vet tech that I had all females. Then one day the way one of the babies was chasing the mom, I knew he was NOT a female. So I took them to an experienced gp vet and he said they are all males! When we got home they were NOT put back with the females. I do NOT NOT want another pregnant one! Just not sure what to do with them all right now.

Piggypogs · Aug 30, 2012

In a perfect world theynwould all me females so you could have kne big happy family

iamsnape · Aug 30, 2012

It's possible that they will get aggressive due to the scent of the females, but there are also owners who don't have this problem. The same goes for keeping a group of boars - some boars get along fine in groups, some can only manage in pairs.
For lack of better phrasing I think it all depends on your pigs. Give it a go, if it doesn't work out, move them. You may have to try them in another room first to see how they do, then move them in with the females - if they suddenly kick off after being in a group, you know it's the sows (so then there won't be the whole 'is it them? or is it too many boars?' problem). Best of luck!

99susan · Aug 30, 2012

iamsnape said:
It's possible that they will get aggressive due to the scent of the females, but there are also owners who don't have this problem. The same goes for keeping a group of boars - some boars get along fine in groups, some can only manage in pairs.
For lack of better phrasing I think it all depends on your pigs. Give it a go, if it doesn't work out, move them. You may have to try them in another room first to see how they do, then move them in with the females - if they suddenly kick off after being in a group, you know it's the sows (so then there won't be the whole 'is it them? or is it too many boars?' problem). Best of luck!

99susan · Aug 30, 2012

Since the males are only 5 weeks old, does anyone know around what age they will start if they're going to be territorial?

bpatters · Aug 30, 2012

Anywhere from three months to two years. If you get them settled in a large enough cage (see the Home page of this website for recommendations, and remember, bigger is waaayyy better when it comes to boars), they may always get along. Or, they could hate each other. There's no way to know, and it depends on the personalities of the individual pigs.

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Can males and females live in the same room (not cage) w/o males becoming territorial

99susan

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99susan

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