Male guinea pig friends?

[xMerenwenx]

Male guinea pig friends?

I currently own a very timid and shy 4 month old Guinea Pig, that is male. Now, for Christmas, I am allowed to pick out another Guinea Pig. Well, considering the fact I find breeding wrong and I find neturing wrong to, is it alright if I get another male guinea pig?

For my piggy's personality (shy, gets frightened eaisly, never bites, very calm, etc) should I get another male that's exactly like that? Or should I get a spunky one? I'm going to be getting it from a shelter, by the way. I know that they are more accurate then Pet shops with their gender, if I'm not mistaken.

Also, I do own a fairly-large c+c cage, big enough to house three guinea pigs. I've seen people who ask questions like this be asked their cage size, so I figured I should post it.

 

[guinea pigz rulz]

Re: Male guinea pig friends?

they will fight i put to males together (my friends one and mine) my one jumped on top of it an started biting its neck!8o my c&c cage is 6x2 but first my pig stalked it around the cage then prounced and attacked :evil: .my friend try to separate them and mine bit him and mine is friendly and so is his but it still happens:rollin: . i snatched mine from the cage, none of the pigs got hurt but my friend did it went very deep too .
my pig is called pepper his is fudge .i also have a female her name is spotty .
cya hope i was useful.

 

[michaelince]

Re: Male guinea pig friends?

Many people have pairs of boars living together, although an already neutered female might be the most trouble free option.

I have had three pairings of male Guinea pigs;
Zack and Humbug started to fight (drawing blood) when they got to about 6 months old and had to be seperated - they still enjoyed having another piggie near & when Humbug died Zack pined terribly.
Zack and Ajax were introduced when they both were 4 and got on fine from the first meeting, unfortunately they both fell ill and Ajax eventually died after only having him a month.
The new pairing Zack and Ashley has been OK so far, after about two weeks together there was a bit of a fight - but after a day apart they were both chewing the bars to be together and so far we've had another two weeks of peace - (Ashley is 2 years old).

If you do get a boar I really reccomend you follow the introduction advice at www.cavyspirit.com.
Whether you have male or female piggies there are likely to be dominance issues.
Things like introductions in neutral territory, disguising their scent, making sure the cage is scent free before finally putting them together, having two (or more) of everything (water bottles, hay-racks etc.) really do help.
You may also have to be quite brave and let them sort things out, there may be lots of teeth chattering, chasing, showing of teeth, even the odd tuft of hair being pulled out before things are settled... If things start to get nasty in the introductions try and divert or distract them, if you do have to seperate them for more than a few minutes then go through the introduction process again...

I know it sounds daunting but if your cage is big enough to have a divider you have nothing to lose - if they get on wonderful - if they don't then they'll be a lot happier for having a piggie next door.

 

[SuperCavyLover]

Re: Male guinea pig friends?

I have had well over 60 male guinea pigs over the years, and all of them have fought. I do not reccomend putting two males together. They may do okay while they're young, but once they have matured a little.... you will have problems.

 

[Briana D]

Re: Male guinea pig friends?

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>They may do okay while they're young, but once they have matured a little.... you will have problems.



You shouldn't make such blanket statements.

Whether or not male pigs get along has a lot to do with cage size and how well they are introduced to each other. A lot of it depends on the pigs. Not all males will fight.

I have a pair of boars that do fine and I have a trio of boys that also do fine. Teresa has had luck pairing up many boars. I'm sure she's run into problems but more often then not the boars get together.

If you decided to spay a female be VERY careful in choosing your vet. Spaying is a very evasive surgery.

 

[SuperCavyLover]

Re: Male guinea pig friends?

You are right. Not all males are the same.

 

[n1shell]

2 Boars in 1 Cage.

I've got an 8mo boar with a 3mo boar. They are not related. They have been together since the younger was 3 weeks old. They have not had any trouble so far.

They were both introduced to their C&C cage & to each other at the same time. Therefore neither had any prior claim on the teritory (I don't know if this was a contributing factor in their relationship)! They have plenty of room to move away from each other. I also thought that both being under 6mo at the time of introduction may have helped.

I also have the option of cutting off access to the top level & having one in the top & one in the bottom (would then be 2x3 each instead of the current 2x3 on 2x3 (1 grid removed for access), should there come any time of trouble.

Here they are into their food dish together:
https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/data/507/36DCP_0808-med.JPG

Shell, Cailin, Chet, Clair, Cooper, Dylan, Callie, & Janie