Adopting / Bonding Question

[cherryredcutie]

Hi guys,

I wonder if you give me some advice in this.
My guinea pig is about 5 months old now and I am looking into getting him a friend from a rescue. He is pretty shy, I had him since christmas and the day before yesterday he finally crawled on my lap for the first time during floortime to get one of his beloved carrots .

I have seen a guinea pig at my local rescue online (they don't have an animal center and all their animals are in foster homes), he is a male, about 7 months old and neutered. I e-mailed the rescue about how to go about having a home visit and visiting him, but they said that is would probably not be a good idea coz not bonded male guinea pigs may fight and that it would be risky and the best option would be to get my guinea pig neutered and get him a female friend.

I don't really want to get my piggy neutered coz there's always a risk of it going wrong so I don't really know what other options I have. Does it matter how old the boars are when there are being introduced (ie. puberty)?

 

[cookie_gal]

I bet you were asking rspca walsall? What was his name? I'm looking a piggy too in the same area and read that many in our area won't even try two males together, its rubbish I know. Fortunatly I have females.

Many people here have successfully bonded two males together. Hopefully someone will help you if they have 2 males but I would go back to them and explain that they can get on and just ask to try just in case they do get on.

 

[TX_2_Pigs]

I started out with 2 boys, brothers, Harry and Chopper. They will be 2 next Thursday. Just before Christmas, I got 2 more boys, Dodger and Mr. Wiggles, not brothers and they were supposed to be bonded but honestly I don't think they were. Dodger I think is around the same age as Harry and Chopper and Mr. Wiggles is probably around 9-10 months.

After the 3 week quarantine I introduced all four boys. It was pretty boring and uneventful. But I introduced them in a huge area, 4 grids by 9 grids. And the cage they have is 3x8 with a 2x3 loft.

They have been together for about 6 weeks now. There is still a lot of chasing, nose-offs and butt sniffing and I think if the cage were smaller, there might be some serious fighting. So introducing unrelated pigs is possible if you have enough room.

Then again there are some, wiggly_narco and fourboys4now, who were not so lucky and had to eventually separate into 2 herds.

Another thing to consider is that you might want to try a baby or an older guy and not one so close in age to the one you already have. That might also lead to a better chance of success.

 

[cherryredcutie]

@cookie_gal: I sent you a PM .

@TX_2_Pigs: Thanks for the tips!

 

[Millkat]

I know you are worried about getting your male neutered. I too got a young male guinea pig just after Christmas. He was probably something like 4 or 5 months old then. I wanted to get him a friend, but was worried about another male not getting along. So we adopted a female friend for him and got him neutered. We went to a nice animal hospital (that handles all kinds of exotics and has a good reputation) but it cost us nearly $200 to do it. He did just fine. It didn't stop him from wooing his female friend on the other side of the bars. A cute little purring like sound. It didn't seem to bother him at all. Though they did give us pain meds and antibiotics. I didn't even have to fight to give him the meds. He eagerly took them from the syringe and wanted to keep nibbling the syringe after he had the meds. He recovered quickly and was completely healed within the week. Valentines day was the 4 week mark and he and his mate finally got to be together.

Maybe you can find a female that is already spayed.....

Hope this helps.

MillKat

 

[Cherish]

A lot of people have the misconception that you can't ever introduce older males.
To be fair, it isn't as easy as introducing sows, but it does sometimes work out.
I have four boars living together, all of whom are different ages, and were introduced by myself. It wasn't easy, and it was a very gradual and rocky process, but we got there eventually.

However, it is much easier to introduce a baby boar to an older boar, perhaps you could see if they have any babies in?

 

[Sammy and Peanut]

They say that in petstores all the time. They say, "Oh, no. I hope you keep them apart. Your guinea pig has already been alone for too long and they will not want another friend." Shows what they know...

Usually it depends on the personality of the guinea pig whether they are going to like the new friend you bring home.

 

[cherryredcutie]

Well, I'll have a talk about it with my boyfriend later. We would have enough room for them so they could get to know each other on neutral ground first.
Thank you all for your advice, it's very much appreciated!