Pair of male guinea-pigs:

[LordOfTheFlies]

Does anyone have a pair of boys?

We are looking for rescue pigs and there's a pair of little brothers (just under a year) that sound lovely. I haven't met them because we need to wait until we've got the accomodation sorted.

Do they smell any more than 2 girls or boy/girl?

Do they try to 'outdo' each other in marking territory?

I'm planning to have them outside as much as possible in a well insulated playhouse ( about 5'5" x 5'5" ) with a hay-filled wooden box ( and a heat pad if they insist!) weather permitting and in the kitchen/small bedroom in winter. They currantly live outside.

I would line the pig-house with Megazorb horse-bedding. (Recommended on this site)

[kingprawntikka]

I have two males that live together. They fought once when they were about six months old. I increased their living space rather than separate them and it seem to solve the problem. They live indoors in a C and C cage, which is about 6 feet by 3 feet. Your living set up sounds good. Plenty of space.
I don't know if males smell more than females. we remove any poo daily and clean out fully every five days or so. I keep our on fleece which is very economical

[fortifiedwithtea]

I have had boars and sows and I think sows wee is a nasty niff. They also seem to get it up the walls of the hutch. Poop smells are not a problem as all they eat is veg. Elderly boars can get impaction, not something the girls suffer from. I have an elderly boar whose muscles round his anus have gone saggy and his bum stinks.

I love my stinky old boar the best, he has more character than the girls.

[SquigglePigs]

We have 2 boys. They don't smell any more or less than the girls I had growing up. They don't fight - argue occasionally but as long as they have enough space to wander away from each other it isn't a problem.

[DoesItWearingWellies]

DD has 5 boys and they don't smell any worse than our girls did.

A big giant yes to MegaZorb - if you don't have a local supplier, Millbry Hill and Farmway are the cheapest online retailers I've found (if you have room for 2 bags, go with Millbry Hill, or just one, go with Farmway due to delivery costs).

The size of playhouse sounds absolutely perfect for them - the bigger the better is always the best policy! I'd also give them 3 hideys, perhaps two boxes and an arc as sometimes they will want to snuggle, but other times they will want to spread out on their own! Two water bottles and two dishes will also be a good idea, as well as as much hay as they could possibly eat.

They don't mark their territory per se, but if they start a little dominance fight, they sometimes do a little flicky-one legged-bum shuffle thing where they try to spray each other with urine, but a quick bath if they get sprayed sorts that out.

Also, boars have a grease spot at the base of their spine that can sometimes get a bit gunky, but a quick rub with baby shampoo or (if you have it) Swarfega usually remedies this!

I hope you are able to adopt them and they bring you many years of fun and cuddles.

[LordOfTheFlies]

DoesItWearingWellies -how often to I need to clean the greasespot? Is it just if they get a bit manky or do they clean themselves?
Do you use a damp flannel or dip their bottoms in warm water then shampoo?

(I've had mainly female GPs, some baby males until they were rehomed, and one poor little male who didn't make 2 yo. Savage mate to blame) This was when I was a child.

Our 2 boys don't seem territorial.One is bossier and the other just plays second fiddle so far. They've got lots of cardboard boxes to hide in but at night snuggle down together. Sweet! ]grin]

[DoesItWearingWellies]

DD just cleans it when it's looking a bit claggy by dunking their bums in warm water and giving it a good rub with either baby shampoo or the natural orange Swarfega (depending on whether she's planned to do it, or if the baby shampoo is just to hand IYSWIM). Sometimes she'll just sit there and pick the worst off (which makes me feel sick )

You can either towel-dry them or, if they'll stand it, the hairdryer on a low heat/low speed.

Before DDs mad couple of months where she acquired her 5 boys, we had only had females and a neutered male.

It sounds as though their pecking order has been established so you shouldn't have many fights, but possibly have the occasional bicker.

They are very sweet though. Have yours "rumble-strutted" yet? (They will do a deep purr/rumble sound and wiggle their bums as they walk) It's so adorable to watch

[LordOfTheFlies]

The bigger one (agouti smoothcoat) is the bossy noisy one.He does do the deep purr/squeak , not directly at his brother but more if he's parading around, doing a bit of domain surveying.
The smaller black, slightly fluffy one is much quieter, purrs when cuddled and seems to rely on the brother for his lead.

My childhood male used to purrrrr-squeak and turn 180 degrees. (But he had a laydee to impress.)

[DoesItWearingWellies]

Aw, bless. They sound adorable!

[didldidi]

Our males seem to smell more and make more mess than my neighbours pair of girls.

[LordOfTheFlies]

didldidi do they make more smell/mess because there are females next door. Most other male rodents are niffier than females (I had 2 boy mice for 2 days -they were rank and I had to return them).

I don't know how good a GPs sense of smell is, but if they knew there were girls in the vicinity they would go into overdrive with scent marking.

My boys are messy little tykes but not smelly (beyond the normal smell I've had with previous GPs ) and they are adopting a 'toilet corner' which helps.

Our neighbours have rabbits and chipmonks so hopefully they won't get interested.