Saturday, August 21, 2010

Can I put two male guinea pigs together?

Lately I have had quite a few people bring up the issue with housing two males together. Most of the time people automatically assume they can not do this.

It's frustrating because it is a HUGE myth about guinea pigs and not only is it not true, but it is also probably a cause behind accidental breeding. Thinking you have to have a boy and girl together in order to have two guinea pigs. Everyone wants their pig to have a friend, but boys shouldn't be together?

Let me be clear: BOARS can be housed together.

Just like people they all have their own personalities. When we got our baby guinea pig, he went in with our older male with no problem at all.

My girl (the first one we got) was absolutely horrible about accepting another pig. We tried split cages, baths together, everything we could think of. Finally it came down to getting a 2x3 grid cage and consistently trying to put them together. It took a long time.

The adoptable girls we have mostly live together. We have 7 right now and had 11 all in one HUGE c&c cage. They were all fine, and if we put our first girl in there, she is fine too, I think too many are there to be the spoiled pig she is. :)

As for the boys we have, out of the 10 we have gotten we have had two issues. 2 pigs that do NOT get along, I am not sure what their previous situation was, but they both came with a lot of bite marks. I'm worried they may have fought over food, housing, etc :( That was an environment issue.

The other two pigs we got and had a problem with were split before they came, they have been together ever since, but absolutely don't mix well with the other males. They were spoiled ROTTEN before and it isn't worth it to try to get them to go with others.

Really I believe it comes down to attitude. A pig that is laid back and such can be put with others, those with a spoiled background, somewhat stuck up (for lack of a better term) will be harder to adjust. With all of this said, I read a great page on all of this called Guinea Pigs Social Life by Cavy Spirit.

So if your question is Can I put two male guinea pigs together? The answer from most any real guinea pig experienced person is YES!

6 comments:

  1. I have 2 males housed together and they are the best of friends. It absolutely can be done. I know people who have housed 4-6 boars together with no issues. The key things with males is to make sure personalities don't clash and make sure they have enough room.

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  2. Exactly cfoster. I was able to house 6 together myself, it went well, they didn't fight or anything.

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  3. well my two boy guinea pigs were together since the 1 month old at the pet shop..i brought them home and all hell broke loose ..they hated eat others guts we tried everything we could bigger cage dividing the cage and they still fought..i have tried this 2 times with 4 different pigs and it was horrible

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  4. i know you can put to boys together but i have 4 guinea pigs 3 boys 1 girl and i can only put 2 of my males and my PREGNATE female together the other 1 has to be seperated. my point is i agree boys can go together but not allways 2 males 1 female :)

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  5. I'm really worried about getting another male guinea pig, I've had my guinea pig Sundance for a few years so I'm not sure whether it would be wise to put another male in with him as he has been on his own for so long. I really want him to have a friend while I'm out during the day. Do you think I could introduce a friend? Sundance is very calm but can be a bit timid.

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  6. If he is older I would try to add a baby or other very young piggie. There is a chance another pig would work, but babies are much more easily acceptable to older pigs who have been alone. Good luck!

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