General Housing Male Guinea Pigs Alone???

[Raclen]

Okay, so this is my first post on here, I’m so sorry if I’m doing this wrong, but lately I’ve come across what seems to be a controversial topic within the community. My friend told me that housing male guinea pigs alone is just fine, in fact, BETTER, for their health. I asked her where she heard this and she sent me a few sources saying that male guinea pigs are solitary in the wild. I’m just really confused here and don’t know what to believe, because I’ve always advised people to get guinea pigs in, at the very least, pairs since they’re social animals. Anyone have experience with housing their boars together/alone?

 

[bpatters]

There ARE no wild guinea pigs, and I don't know that anyone knows if the boars were solitary in the wild. I seriously doubt it.

Many, many people house boars together. Pairs will usually do OK if properly introduced when they're not in the middle of puberty. Trios almost never work. A few people have made large herds work, but they've generally had LOTS and LOTS of room, like free run of the house.

There are a couple of funny threads over at Guinea Lynx called "Boars Behaving Badly" if you're interested in looking them up.

 

[Soecara]

I have one boar who became extremely depressed when alone. His cage mate passed away and in the few days it took me to think over my options he lost interest in food, and just sat in the corner of the cage all day. As soon as I introduced him again to other guinea pigs it was like his reason to live came back. He straight away went back to his usual self.

I have never housed a boar alone long term in the 10 years i have owned guinea pigs. Every single boar has lived with other boars and honestly my boar pairs seem to bond with each other more than my sow pairs do.

 

[Raclen]

There ARE no wild guinea pigs, and I don't know that anyone knows if the boars were solitary in the wild. I seriously doubt it.

Many, many people house boars together. Pairs will usually do OK if properly introduced when they're not in the middle of puberty. Trios almost never work. A few people have made large herds work, but they've generally had LOTS and LOTS of room, like free run of the house.

There are a couple of funny threads over at Guinea Lynx called "Boars Behaving Badly" if you're interested in looking them up.

Thank you!!! I completely agree that boars can be housed together successfully, and the articles my friend sent me were extremely unreliable. I also have no idea where these articles got the “boars are solitary in the wild” idea. It’s so frustrating trying to learn and give advice on guinea pig care when there’s so much misinformation out there

 

[Raclen]

I have one boar who became extremely depressed when alone. His cage mate passed away and in the few days it took me to think over my options he lost interest in food, and just sat in the corner of the cage all day. As soon as I introduced him again to other guinea pigs it was like his reason to live came back. He straight away went back to his usual self.

I have never housed a boar alone long term in the 10 years i have owned guinea pigs. Every single boar has lived with other boars and honestly my boar pairs seem to bond with each other more than my sow pairs do.

Awe, I’m sorry to hear about your piggie’s cage mate passing. That’s good that he’s feeling better now though! I’ve heard of guinea pigs passing prematurely due to loneliness, so I’m definitely staying firm in my belief that guinea pigs shouldn’t be housed alone.

 

[Spotakiss]

My one boar was alone for 3 years and he did perfectly fine up until he got sick for the first time. He had stopped eating normally and was losing weight after he was better then i got him a friend. He has since been much happier and at a steady weight. They both have their own cage as they dont get along outside of the cage but they are both happy now and healthy


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