Myth #1: Male Guinea Pigs Can't Live Together

Somewhere, sometime, someone started a rumor that two male guinea pigs cannot live together. In time, the rumor developed into a full-blown myth that's been hard to erase. There's rarely a week that goes by that Cindy doesn't have to debunk this myth for a prospective adopter.

Fact: Two or more male guinea pigs can live together quite happily, and seem to be less prone to the kind of surprise falling-outs that we've seen within pairs and trios of females. A perfect example of a happy trio of males is Cheech, Chong and Diego, three sanctuary pigs profiled on our Web site.

Fact: Two or more males can't live together if there's a female in the cage with them. Having a girl in the mix stirs up spatting and outright fighting amongst the boys for alpha male status. Inevitably, the female, and one of the males, gets hurt. No bonded pair or trio -- no matter how long they've been together -- is immune. 

Fact: In many cases, two or more males can't live together peacefully if there's a girl or two living next door in an adjoining cage. There are exceptions, but they're the minority. 

Ultimately, successful matches between guinea pigs -- in any species, for that matter -- come down to individual personalities. Some mix, some don't.

We'll debunk other myths about guinea pig relationships over the next couple of days. In the meantime...have stories about successful pairings of male guinea pigs? Share them in the Comments section!

Comments

[Liv]

2 weeks ago someone asked me to rescue two 1 year old male pigs as I already had my 7 year old male I didn't really want to but gave them a home. My 7 year old jack has been so lonely since his brother died that I slowly introduced them thinking it would probably end with a massive fight and stressed pigs. I can't believe it jack is so happy they follow each other everywhere and are so noisy theyre best friends already.

[Natasha]

I've had two male guinea pigs for two weeks and they have been getting along fine in a fairly small hutch. Today I moved them both to a much larger run and initially they seemed really happy, however, they ate now trying to mate and fight (this wasn't happening in the small hutch) does this usually happen if they are introduced to a new habitat? I am only planning on using the run for a limited time each day for them to get adequate exercise

[Nique]

Hi! Is it okay for the following guinea pigs to live in the same cage: an adult male guinea pig who's been sterilized, an adult female guinea pig who's not been sterilized, two male guinea pigs who have been sterilized and are the offspring of the adult guinea pigs and one female guinea pig who's not been sterilized and is the offspring of the adult guinea pigs and is from the same batch as the two males? If not, then how should we separate the guinea pigs instead and why?

[Kylie]

Hi there. I have had 1 single male boar for 5 years now, since I lived with my parents I wasn't permitted to get more than 1.
I have no moved out and just recently purchased 2 young boars. They are around 6 and 8 weeks old.I have the 2 babies together and would like to introduce them to my current pig, but I'm hesitant to do it.

I've only been able to read up on introducing 2 single boars. I have yet to read anywhere about introducing 1 adult boar to 2 young boars (and yes I am 100% sure they are boars).

There is no sent of sows anywhere in the home since I only have boars.

Do you have any advice that could help with the introductions ?

I also just purchased a large pen for them and will be moving them to a seperate area of my home so it will be completely new territory for them.

[kim]

hello i have a 7 ft huch with 2 runs either side for mine and want to put 4 boys together is this ok?

[laura young]

i am thinking of getting 2 guinpigs what is the best sex for me to get two females or males
never had these before.

[kim]

Hiya i have 2 male guinea pigs about 8 months old and i am looking to add another 1or 2 do u think this will be ok?

[Christina]

So i was at the pet shop today with my guinea pig which is a male and around 6 weeks old, and i wanted to know if it was ok to buy another male guinea pig. The manager said i would have to watch closely because they can start fighting and now im nervous to buy another 1! Any help??

[Whitney]

Hi Hannah:

I'm so relieved to hear that. Thank you for taking the advice.

Females can reach sexual maturity as early as 4 weeks of age, so you understand the urgent tone I took in my last response to you. Some sources say that males as young as 3 weeks can get a female pregnant, so the news only gets worse. For some pigs, sexual maturity may come a little later, but few people will take the risk of leaving unneutered pigs together for too long.

Gestation is about 60 to 72 days, give or take a day or two at each end of that range. You'll want to watch the female's weight over the next 8-10 weeks (get a baby scale or a 5-pound food scale).

Some starter links to read include:

http://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/breeding.html
http://www.cavyspirit.com/breeding.htm

You (and the female) may catch a break, and she won't turn out to be pregnant. For now, until time gives you the appropriate indicators, I would start preparing yourself for a pregnancy.

Hang in there. You're not the first person this happened to.

[Hannah]

Thank you so much for answering my question. I got a nice sized cage for her and will have her in it ASAP. She is far too young to be pregnant, so hopefully she isn't. By the way, about how old are male guinea pigs when they start mating?

Thanks!

[Whitney]

Hannah:

Oh dear. This is no good. This is no good at all. You're on the brink of a situation that is going to cause the time and costs of guinea pig care to skyrocket for you.

I implore you to separate the female from the boys *immediately* -- either buy a second cage, or ask a rescue to take her in for you.

I also implore you to read my post at http://guineapigconnection.typepad.com/pig_notes/2010/10/guinea-pig-colonies-no-unneutered-males-with-unspayed-females.html. That blog post will fill in additional details to what I'm about to say here.

There is *no way* that this a happy or healthy living situation for that girl.

--If the boys aren't neutered, you're looking at repeat pregnancies for her, which become increasingly dangerous to her life and the lives of each subsequent litter.
--Even *if* the boys are (or were to be) neutered, this female is still facing a life of harassment as the boys compete to mount her for sex. (Neutering stops their ability to get females pregnant, but it does NOT kill their sex drive.)

You also -- by putting the female in with them and sparking competition over her -- ruin what I can only assume from your comment has, up until now, been a harmonious bond between the boys.

The sad thing is: it's not outside the realm of possibility that this female is already pregnant from her first day with this pair of boys. The boys would have wasted little time in trying to mount her -- and it only takes one successful mount for a girl to get pregnant.

For her safety, and that of any babies that are conceived, the girl must be removed from that cage *now*. If you really want a trio of pigs, work with a rescue to find a third male that will fit with the bonded pair you have.

I must emphasize again. This is a depressing, highly stressful, and cruel situation for the female. Please be merciful and don't prolong it for her. I have no reason to believe you went into this with anything but the best of intentions -- but now I'm asking you to channel those intentions in a different direction, one that's in her best interests.

[Hannah]

Hi, I have 2 male guinea pigs and they stay in the same cage all the time. Today, I got a female and put her in the same cage as the others. (since I don't have another cage) What should I do to keep them from hurting each other?

Thanks!
Hannah

[Whitney]

Dear Laura, Abby, Ashlyn & Molly:

The whole "male guinea pigs can't live together" concept as a categorical rule is a MYTH. They don't have a higher incidence rate of fighting than females, and anyone who says otherwise is just perpetuating another variation of the "male guinea pigs can't live together" myth.

It all comes down to personality, just like with humans. We've had in the rescue many successfully matched, closely bonded pairs, trios, and quads of males.

It comes down to finding the right match, and not mishandling the initial introductions. Working with a rescue, where handlers know the personalities of their pigs very well, and sharing information about your pig's temperament can increase your chances of a good match.

You can find good instructions for introductions and integrations on Cavy Spirit (http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm). Some rescues will also help you make the introductions.

Good luck!

[Laura]

Hi, I have a 6 month old male guinea pig and I have really wanted to get him a companion as he seems so lonely sometimes. He's really sweet and calm, but I wonder if it is ok to add another male? I don't want them to fight or have to separate them. I'm not sure if I should get a girl guinea pig instead because then I would have to neuter him and I don't want him to go through that. Any suggestions?

[Abby Fitzpatrick]

Hello, I have 1 male guinea-pig, named Samosa, and I was wondering if it's a good idea to buy another male for him t live with? I've heard they fight but I think Samosa has a gentle soul. Advice?

[Ashlyn]

I have an un-neutered male Guinea pig, Marty, that I bought at Petco about a year ago. When I bought him, the Petco associate told us he was probably four to six months old, so we guess he's about a year and a half old now. He is fairly neutral towards people, he's not always affectionate but he's never bitten anyone or been uncomfortable when being pet or held. I'm not home during the day six days a week and I know he must get very lonely, so we have been considering buying or adopting another baby male Guinea pig so he can have someone to play with all day. Do you think this is a good idea? Would it make the two pigs less friendly towards people? How should I go about introducing them? Thank you so much!!

[Molly Moo]

I ahve looked up on varys of differant websites and they say that 2 male guinea pigs fight.... :/ but i dont know whether that is true?? can someone help please!!! Molly xxx

[Silvia]

Hi,
i am really desperate and don't know what to do... I have 10 months old male guinea pig Emil, i have him since he was a baby. But recently i noticed he wasn't happy any more, he used to be really active but now he spend almost whole day sleeping or lying down.. So i thought maybe really big cage will make him happier, so i got for him huge cage. But nothing changed for better. Then i thought maybe some other than mine company could cheer him up. So i bought 3 months old male guinea pig ( i didn't want to buy female as i don't want to end up with big family of guinea pigs right now ) But it's such a disaster. Everytime i try to keep them together, Emil tries to do sex with the baby male guinea pig. And when i keep them separate in different cages then Emil is trying to bite and destroy his cage, make noises similar to cry and scream. I can't watch either of these two situations. Please tell me what to do with them because i can't find any solution!! Thank you.

[neelima]

Hi,

We have two male guinea pigs which we had to have neutered as they were fighting . As they as neutered we thought it would be ok to introduce two females into their cage. Unfortunately it didn't go that smoothly! They two boys tried to mate with the girls and were then sparring with each other. Is this likely to settle after some time together? Is there anything we can do make introductions go smoothly or will we have keep them apart? Thanks

[Whitney]

Laura:
It's not a question of "if the younger male breeds with the older female." The male WILL breed with BOTH females. BOTH females will have litters, and you'll have more guinea pigs than you'll know what to do with. If you don't separate the first male -- and all the males in the two litters -- from all the females, you'll have even more breeding and more litters...and will be overwhelmed by the care and expense required for them all.

Please do yourself a favor -- and please do right by those first two females -- and get the male neutered before you put him in with any females.

The simpler thing to do would be to only get females.

Rescues are full of guinea pigs who came from accidental litters that resulted from folks not knowing what sex their guinea pigs were, or folks thinking males were too old or too young to mate, or folks thinking females were too old or too young to get pregnant. Given our high occupancy rates, I think you can understand why we take such a firm stand in trying to avoid more accidental litters.

You can read more important breeding facts at http://www.guinealynx.info/breeding.html.

Thanks for dropping by.