Does my Guinea Pigs need a friend?

Guinea pigs naturally form colonies where they live together with multiple friends. Although your piggy will love and bond with you, when you aren’t there, they will get lonely. A second (or third!) piggy makes a perfect companion to keep your pet mentally healthy.

Bonding Guinea Pigs

Guinea pigs are social and are generally not too difficult to bond. Girl pigs (sows) often get along well with each other and with a single desexed male (boar). Boars often do not get along well, even if they have grown up together. It is not recommended to have more than 2 boars, and if you have females, no more than one (desexed) boar, to reduce fighting. Desexing both males and females and having a large cage space can improve the chance of bonding. Please note that an undesexed sow and boar together will breed (even if they are related), and are unsuitable pairings.

When introducing pigs, supervision in a neutral area with non-slip flooring and a hide (ideally with multiple openings, like a tunnel, to avoid anyone getting trapped) per pig should be used. There will usually be some ‘rumble-strutting’ (walking around one another, making rumbling noises, and swaying their body), but with compatible pigs this will quickly reduce as they sniff each other. Occasional nips, without breaking the skin and with both pigs, then retreating (not chasing), are good signs. Be on guard if you notice any tooth chattering with neither pig backing down, as this may cause fighting if someone does not back down. Good signs include eating together, reduction in rumblestrutting, tooth chattering, sitting together, and approaching one another with minimal growling/rumbling. If a fight occurs and they are chasing or biting one another, especially if they are fighting to draw blood, this must be separated to avoid injury. Use a towel or something else between you and the pigs to avoid getting bitten yourself. They can cause some nasty bites! Introductions may take some time, a few hours up to a few days or weeks, before they are able to be safely housed in the same enclosure. When placing them in their enclosure, ensure it has been thoroughly cleaned to reduce scents of any guinea pigs, and that all bedding and hides/tunnels are new and clean. As they are claiming territory, pigs who bonded well on neutral ground may revert back to dominance behaviours when placed in their cage, so supervision is still required during this phase initially. Make sure there is multiple hides, multiple water sources and multiple food sources to avoid any of the guinea pigs bullying others away.

Some pigs may not bond, and some bonds may break due to sickness, a period of separation or 2 young pigs coming into their hormones. It is important to have a plan in place to be able to separate and house them separately if they can’t bond, or during the bonding process, until they can be housed together permanently. Some guinea pigs may not be able to be housed together permanently, but are able to be housed side by side with a wall/fence in between where they can still see each other and get some interaction, in a safer manner.

Rabbits and Guinea Pigs

Rabbits are NOT a recommended companion for guinea pigs. They are often much bigger in size and tend to bully guinea pigs, keeping them from the food sources. Rabbits also often carry a bacterium that is harmless to bunnies, but can make piggies sick. This can be fatal to guinea pigs. Finally, rabbits and piggies also have different dietary requirements, and so it is hard to balance everyone’s dietary needs in the same hutch. ‘Rabbit and guinea pig’ food mixes are too generalized and are not suitable for either species, despite their labelling.