Should I get another pig

curiouscavies · Post » Mon Oct 30, 2017 10:55 pm

Hi there, I'm new here so sorry if I'm doing anything wrong:
I have two piggies, an American Agouti male and an American Crested female. My male (Baby) is a little over three years old and my female (Poppy) is 1 1/2, 2? They both live in separate C & C cages, and I'm worried that they're lonely. I take them out every day (or I try to) and I usually try to have them run around together in their pen unless Baby is in a particular mood to mate...😂
They're pretty good friends, however I don't want to be mistreating them. Is an hour or two of play not as good as constant companionship? Should I adopt two more?
Thanks for any help!

bpatters · Post » Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:00 am

Guinea pigs are social animals, and they do better in pairs or herds. You could adopt two more, or have the male neutered and let them live together.

WICharlie · Post » Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:24 am

You should never put a male and female together or you WILL have a pregnancy. Mating takes only seconds and you won't be able to move fast enough to prevent it.

curiouscavies · Post » Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:50 pm

Oh I definitely wouldn't put them together! They're living seperately. I would get a boar to live with my male and a sow to live with my female

bpatters · Post » Tue Oct 31, 2017 1:30 pm

WICharlie is talking about letting them play together. It takes, literally, a few seconds for them to mate. You could sneeze and miss it.

WICharlie · Post » Tue Oct 31, 2017 2:07 pm

" I usually try to have them run around together in their pen "

This made me think you were allowing them to "play" together. You certainly could get your male neutered and then let them live together. A male/female pairing often works out very well (be sure to wait at least 3 weeks after the surgery to put them together).

The big question is whether you can afford two more pigs (food, bedding, medical care, etc.) and whether or not you really want two more. And then there is always the risk of the two new pigs that you get not getting along with your present pigs. You also may have to keep the males in a separate room than the females for it to work. So you would have to factor all that into the equation.