Guinea Pig Advice Needed

Outkast_IRE

Long story short is , i had two male guinea pigs brother nearly 4 years old, unfortunatly one died a few months ago due to a long term re-accuring stomach problem. The problem wasnt diet or food related as both guinea pigs are on Burgess pelleted food, Burgess Hay, and Fresh veg and fruit. He had been to the vet 3 times with the same problem vet believed he had a problem since birth.

Herein the problem lies, the guinea pig thats left is 4 years old perfect health , as active and as vocal as ever, he seems happy enough on his own, but i think a friend to chat to would be nice.

What im thinking is , to get another pair of young boars, and keep them in a seperate cage and do an introduction to each other on neutral ground where they can be closely monitored.
I have read and from experience can recongnise the usual posturing the males do when facing off to each other, and i know to leave well alone unless it turns nasty.

Im just wondering would other experienced owners agree with this approach ? Am i right in thinking it would be beneficial for the older boar to have some company , all be it in seperate cages for their own good?

I cant see my current male accepting a cage mate so would what i proposed be the best soloution ?

loveisdivine

Well you have a few options, I would be looking at the below scenarios first.

Is you male neutered? You could see about getting him a female from a rescue? They would have slightly older pigs to match your piggies age. Also introducing a female would probably involve less drama than 3 boys.

Or you could see about getting an older rescue boy to pair up with?

I would have minor concerns about introducing an already bonded younger pair to another male, if you get me? But thats just me and I tend to worry a lot. I've only ever introduced single pigs into already bonded groups, so it was easy for the single pig to join the bottom of the pecking order.

I'd advise you to head over to The Guinea Pig Forum. A lot of the regular posters there are very knowledgable and they have stickies on exactly this kind of thing.

Sigma Force

Being in seperate cages could be company for him but might also frustrate him, depends on the pigs really.

One option could be to introduce a baby boar to him or if he is neutered a female.

It is possible to introduce adult males to each other but do so carefully here's one story http://www.guineapigwelfare.org.uk/2012/09/its-getting-boaring/

Each pig is an individual so mabey dealing with a rescue where you can try out a few different guinea pigs until you find one that suits, a good rescue will help you with matching up a buddy for your pig.

Outkast_IRE

Hes not neutered as he was pet only in the company of another male.

I would be a bit hesitant of putting a 4 year old guinea pig under any sort of operation at that age personally so i think i will rule out neutering for now.
So that rules out female company

So it really is a case of him being on his own or introducing a young boar maybe , i think introducing the older boar may be more troublesome as they would both be dominant .

loveisdivine

In that case I'd go with a younger boar. More likely to "fall in line" than an older or a bonded pair.