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Guniea Pig Bonding - advice needed

happybunny

Mama Doe
Hi,

I posted a while ago that I was getting a male guniea pig to bond with my female and asked for advice.

Anyway, we ending up getting another female (from a rescue center) as the child who had the male wanted to keep him.

The 2 female get on well and play out together but live in seperate hutches.

The child then decided to get rid of the male guniea pig so now we have 3. We had him neatured and now its time to get all 3 together (bought a 5ft double hutch for them to live in - indoors).

The male runs from one female to another trying to mate and of course the 2 girls are not happy about this and try and run away.

We put up with the squels for a short time then seperate the male. What I would like to know is if this is what normally happens and if if will calm down. Should we continue and leave it longer or continue with the short burst?

Any help would be great!

Thanks
 
How long ago was he neutered? It may be that he still has the hormones so may be a bit soon to try and put him with the girlies.
I have never done this myself so my advice is purely from what I have read elsewhere. I had a quick look on the Peter Gurney website http://web.onetel.net.uk/~petergurney/c.html#_COHABITATION
which doesn't really deal with your situation as he tends to breed so wouldn't have neutered boars but he does state the signs of agression to look for and some ideas for helping to sort out tussles.
 
It needs to be 6 weeks between his operation and putting him with the girls.
I normally do bondings in a run somewhere on neutral ground.
Put the sows in first and then the male with pipes etc so they can hide if need be. Then leave them to it. He will do his little mating dance and make funny noises, and as you will find try and mate with them. It will pass normally in a couple of days.
The girls won't stand for it unless one of them is in season(which happens every 16 days). I run a neutered boar with 10 sows some neutered some not some times he doesn't know which way to turn this is one of the reasons why we have the sows neutered.
Guineas are normally very easy to bond but there is always the odd one that goes wrong. Then they will fight but if it's only squeeking and mounting then leave them to get on with it. The less you interfear the quicker they settle down to married life.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the response. Its been 5 weeks since his op, I have been told various periods to leave after the op but none as long as 6 weeks - I hope the girls are not pregnant.

Since they have already been together 3 times I might as well continue and see what happens. Better go look up the gestation period and play the waiting game.

Thanks again
 
Gestation period is around 63 days in piggy's but if he's been 5 weeks since his operation then he will probably be safe by now.
 
Thanks. So 9 weeks of waiting.

I read that they can have between 1 and 6 babies in a litter, that could be be 12 babies! How would I convince the other half we should keep them all?

I hate waiting.
 
At my local GP rescue they say two weeks so I should think you would be fine and they probably aren't pregnant! I think longer time periods are recommended more for the quietening down of hormonal urges than still being fertile.

Caz
 
Oh I do hope your right!!!

We are moving the new hutch in to thir bedroom tomorow and the girls (Peebles and Penny) will move in then. I can't wait to see if they like it and if they can get up onto the 2nd level.

Poser (the boy) might have to wait a while to move in but the sooner the better.

Thanks you all for your advice.
 
Towsbuns said:
How long ago was he neutered? It may be that he still has the hormones so may be a bit soon to try and put him with the girlies.
.

Neutering doesn't get rid of the hormones, I don't think, they're still as horny as ever :)

http://www.cavyspirit.com/neutering.htm
Neutering does little to change the behavior of aggressive guinea pigs, unlike the effect it has on other types of animals. Likewise, neutering does little to curb mounting or sexual behavior.

But you should be able to get him to settle down, have you tried dabbing lavendar oil or something above the nose so they smell the same? It works for me most of the time :wink: I hope you can get them to settle down!
 
Saffy said:
Towsbuns said:
How long ago was he neutered? It may be that he still has the hormones so may be a bit soon to try and put him with the girlies.
.

Neutering doesn't get rid of the hormones, I don't think, they're still as horny as ever :)

http://www.cavyspirit.com/neutering.htm
Neutering does little to change the behavior of aggressive guinea pigs, unlike the effect it has on other types of animals. Likewise, neutering does little to curb mounting or sexual behavior.

But you should be able to get him to settle down, have you tried dabbing lavendar oil or something above the nose so they smell the same? It works for me most of the time :wink: I hope you can get them to settle down!

There is a reduction (as you remove the main glands that produce testosterone) but it isn't as great as with rabbits. My bro-in-laws GP did have reduced mounting behaviour after he was done - which enabled him to live peacefully with his wife and daughter (as well as no more unplanned babies - thanks to P@H and their rubbish sexing). However it won't help two males to live together more peacefully like with rabbits - if they are already fighting they will probably continue to fight :( !

Caz
 
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