Lone gp companion?

[TanginaBarrons]

I recently inherited a lovely young boar from someone who had become allergic to hay. She insisted he had to live alone as had a history of fighting with his brother and had actually needed a stitch to his eye as a result of a fight.

He's incredibly gentle with us, lives indoors in my ds room and is much adored with lots of attention and love.

I know it's not optimal to keep such a youngster alone (he is only 8 months) but is there a high rate of failure introducing 'aggressive' boars to babies? I can't keep 2 cages so would have to rehome the baby if they fought. My ds is very worried about him being lonely 😔.

Any wisdom much appreciated. There is a local litter of babies so could move quickly.

I would look for a local rescue (the guinea pig forum has a list of guinea pig rescues across the uk). Rescues should provide a boar dating service where they will find a suitable companion for your lone pig. Another option may be to have him neutered and then try and find him a female friend from a rescue.

You really can’t keep him alone as he could live another 6 years or so and guinea pigs are social animals.

I meant to add boars need a lot of space. Minimum requirement for 2 boars would be 150/160cm x 60cm. I have a ferplast plaza 160 as our cage for 2 adult boars. Too small a cage will increase any tensions and make it more likely boars will fall out.
Minimum for boar and sow pair would be 140 x 60. Bogger is always better though.

I suggest joining the guinea pig forum online as there’s lots of knowledge members who can offer advice.

I know it is recommended for them to be paired but if he lives inside with plenty of attention it shouldn't be an issue. If he was alone in the garden with little human interaction then fair enough. I had a lone sow in my room when I was younger and she was happy enough, once I paired her she wasn't interested and instead became competitive for human attention...

A gp dating service sounds ideal! He is in a c and c cage with masses of room and is very doted on. I would like to get him a friend for sure but just dont want anyone getting hurt and having to find a new home for one if it didnt work out. To be honest he seems really happy at the moment and is on my knee, stretched out and purring every night.

Thanks so much for advise. Not sure if rescues in Scotland are functioning just now but ill check it out!

Boar:Boar introductions when one is tiny work well but bear in mind that tiny little pig will grow and go through The Terrible Teens .

Chances are the issues with his brother was during boar puberty and possibly a too small cage .

C&C is great because you can adapt it to suit .

We bonded one of our boars (he was GP1 out of a pair , his brother died) . We got him a 6 week piglet and he was so happy it was heartening and heartbreaking . But little piglet grew (he was a Rex , 1.4kg at his biggest) and became the Alpha . There were a few tussels for leadership , no fights but some inappropriate behaviour on the part of the young one .
They had a huge Pighouse and their own spaces .

We castrated the young boar when GP1 died and got spws for him.
That might be an option for your boar - but some sows (my GP8) are feisty little souls . She wouldn't entertain our soppy boar GP6 and attacked him.

GP6 lived alongside two of our sows until the string willed one (ok stroppy little madam ) died and he got a chance to bond with the last sow .

Bonding any guinea-pigs whether they are sows , boars , mixed . It has to be done right .
Neutralise everything
Bath them
Big space (we used a paddling pool)
Huge lump of hay and food .

They are social , nosey little rodents .
Boars are lovely , our 4 boars were much cuddlier and soppier than our 4 sows .

And there's very little in this world that can compare to a tiny piglet .

Just to update for anyone debating this issue, we got him a baby boar friend. The bonding was easy and they are devoted to each other. Thank you for the advice - im so glad we got him a pal.

I'm so glad to hear this.

That has really warmed my heart as I am worried about my boy.

@TanginaBarrons

Just to update for anyone debating this issue, we got him a baby boar friend. The bonding was easy and they are devoted to each other. Thank you for the advice - im so glad we got him a pal.

Aw that’s lovely, glad he has a friend.

This week I have paired our rescue boar aged six months with a new rescue boar aged 12 weeks. I was nervous about it having read all of the scare stories online. We put them in adjacent cages to meet through the bars for three days. By the time we put them in a pen on the grass together they were very keen to see each other. A little bit of argy-bargy, but all very friendly. No cuts or scratches yet. Don't be too put off. Follow the advice and go carefully with a new pairing but be confident and it can work. My first boar was the same as yours, alone because he had vicious fights with his brother. Siblings often don't get on. I have read that it helps to have an age difference, but there's no one right way to do it.