Bonding: Single Friends
So, your gorgeous guinea pig has recently lost his/her friend and you’re wondering what to do now. There’s a few viable options open to you to make your guinea pigs life complete. You can either, let them stay as a single piggy, find a boar for a boar, or have your piggy neutered and pair with a sow.
Single Pigs:
Some guinea pigs just don’t want another friend for whatever reason, and this is fine. As you’re aware we had Dougal living alone for many years, due to him not accepting another friend, but he did have many other guinea pigs within squealing distance if he wanted to be sociable. That being said we do think this is the least ideal solution, as guinea pigs are social animals and mostly love to live with their own kind, as lovely as our cuddles are, we don’t speak fluent guinea pig!
Boar & Boar:
Boar pairings are mainly about piggy personalities, some will get on well together, some won’t. It’s really that simple, just like our friendships really.
The hardest combination is going to be between the ages of 5 months and 2 years, as this is when they are at their most hormonal. They will push boundaries and battle for dominance, just like human teenagers! With this in mind, maybe pairing that age with an older boar would be better, or maybe a baby with an older boar too, as the older boar won’t feel threatened by the baby. Keep an eye out for any behaviour changes as the baby gets a bit older though.
Please have patience with your boar dating as it doesn’t happen straight away, but it will be well worth the hassle, just like us really, dating many frogs until Prince Charming comes along.
Sow & Boar + Sow & Sow:
Boars must, must, must be neutered before being paired with any sows. This will ensure that there won’t be any unwanted baby guinea pigs arriving in the near future. Any operation carries certain risks so please used a guinea pig savvy vet and wait 6 weeks after the operation before meeting a sow.
Patience is key again, sows are usually easier when bonding with other sows but they can be just as picky as boars over friendships.
Rescue Piggies:
Your local rescues will be able to offer help and support during the dating process, whichever one you choose to go to. Some even have a service where you drop off your piggy and they do all the hard work for you!
Happy Dating!
