Guinea Chat and Quesions

[aquarius30007]

I have 2 guinea Pigs right now. Gidget a red Absessinian female, and Glitch a tricolor female Rex. I am a cavey slave and they're are like potateo chips, and I cant have just one =D. I am 16, and get money every week to buy them food and bedding and stuff like that. Dad says I cant have another one, but Im working on it because I want a Guinea Pig army! Actually I want basically 6. I have been looking around at Adoption places and have found many that I want. I was thinking about getting a male that has been neutered. I dont know if that would be a good idea but I will look more into this.
Here are some Questions if I were to get about 4-6

1. Should I keep males in seperate cages?
2. Could I keep Neutered males in with Females?
3. How many Neutered males could I keep in with females?
4. I was thinking about maybe getting 3 females 3 males, in this case, Should I keep 3 in one cage and 3 in another?
5. If males are un-neutered, can I keep more than 2 un-neutered male in the same cage (not with Females, I dont want any pregnecys)
6. And if I can keep more than 2 un-neutered males in the same cage, how far away should they're cage be from the females cages?

I would and have looked all this up, but I do prefer to here from personal experiences. Thank you.

 

[LiciaMommycott]

Harems are best???

I don't have the personal experience but from what I've read, groups should either be all of one sex or if you're going to mix the sexes you should have only one male in the group. Once you have more than one mail competing for the females, you'll risk problems. It's my understanding that neutering may not get around this (and of course if you're mixing the sexes, you should neuter them anyway).

Even if you keep them in separate cages, I'd recommend neteuring because they may get together during floor time and it only takes one time to suddenly have a pregnant mom.

 

[SDMarcum]

I had two nutered males in a cage and they faught constantly. I guess it just depends on personalities and if they were young together too. I would never put and older male with a younger male. The older male will try and kill the younger male...(personal experiance) If they're all use to being next to each other in cages. You might be able to swing it. But I haven't had much luck with getting males to get along...

 

[LiciaMommycott]

Not good news for me...

I would never put and older male with a younger male. The older male will try and kill the younger male

Oops! I hope that's not the rule. I had one male and wanted a second GP. Based on what I read, I went out and got him a baby male because I read that the baby would not be considered a competetor and therefore would be accepted. This sounded logical so I went for it. So far so good and the baby seems to thing the older one is his mom. I hope it works out for me.

 

[SDMarcum]

So far so good and the baby seems to thing the older one is his mom. I hope it works out for me.

LOL Ludi was really psychodic and probably not the norm. He attacked me every chance he got when I was around my husband. Mater of fact, I couldn't be on the bed when Sean was having Ludi time because Ludi hated me, the dog, and then Oreo. When Ludi had floor time after we got Oreo he would pop around Oreo's cage and drive Oreo nuts and tease him and then go over and bite the dog and make her cry and pop around. If I was doing something and had my feet on the floor, he'd bite me.. He was a brat. I miss the little bugger. lol

 

[morrigan]

1. Should I keep males in seperate cages? If these males are neutered they can be with the females. If not, They should be in a separate cage.
2. Could I keep Neutered males in with Females? That's up to you.
3. How many Neutered males could I keep in with females? It doesn't really matter as long as you have more space for them.
4. I was thinking about maybe getting 3 females 3 males, in this case, Should I keep 3 in one cage and 3 in another? It's ok if the males are neutere or females are spayed.
5. If males are un-neutered, can I keep more than 2 un-neutered male in the same cage (not with Females, I dont want any pregnecys). You can keep the neutered males with the un neutered males. But not with the females.
6. And if I can keep more than 2 un-neutered males in the same cage, how far away should they're cage be from the females cages? As long as males don't have an access to the females cage. My female cage is just right beside my male cage.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[CavySpirit]

Look folks. Please only give advice here if you KNOW the advice you are giving is accurate and correct.

DON'T GUESS. It doesn't do anyone any good. It usually propagates erroneous information.

#1, despite someone's personal experience with one pairing, an adult male with a younger male is the BEST pairing for two males.

#2, NEVER try to combine more than one neutered male with one or more females. It is NOT okay. Not at all. ONE MALE PER HERD or PER FEMALE. The only cases where more than one male has worked with one or more females are very special and unique and very rare. The males will usually fight to the death over the females.

#3, DO NOT suggest that males always fight and don't get along. It's based on the personality of the pig, the ages, and the cage space and environment within the cage.

Again, if you don't know the answer to something, please direct someone to a relevent link or just don't say anything until someone comes along who does know. I see this on too many posts in this forum. It's not necessary to respond to every post. I'm not trying to single anyone out.

Regarding this topic, please see this page: www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm