How to Properly Introduce Guinea Pigs

Guinea pigs are naturally social animals that should always be kept in pairs or groups. However, just plopping a new piggie into your existing cavy's cage isn't generally going to work. Guinea pigs must be properly introduced to give them the best chance for getting along. Once your pair is bonded, it's basically smooth sailing from there. While some cavies are harder to bond than others, there is almost always someone out there for every piggie. Knowing how to properly do an introduction can be essential to your guinea pig's happiness.

Neutral Territory

A problem that many people have while introducing guinea pigs, is that they aren't using neutral territory. If you have had one guinea pig for a few months and just brought home another, don't just plop the new one into the old one's cage. Think about it, if someone plopped a roommate directly into your home without so much as a meeting, would you be happy? I think not. When you first bring home a new guinea pig, it is advisable to quarantine the new animal for 3 weeks. After the quarantine, use a neutral territory to introduce the guinea pigs. A neutral territory is some place that neither guinea pig already considers theirs. This rules out either cage and possibly the play area too. If you're limited on space and have to use the normal floor time area as the introduction arena as well, don't worry, it can be done. I'd advise first thoroughly cleaning the area so that it doesn't really smell like one guinea pig over the other. I'd also recommend thoroughly cleaning out the cage that they will share should the introduction be successful. Once you have your neutral territory, you need to set it up. I generally use a pen of at least 8 square feet for introductions, but the more space you can use, the better (generally). You'll want to see how well your guinea pigs get along with food in the cage, plus you just want to give them something else to do besides see each other in there, so put in some food. I'd recommend a good sized pile of hay and a couple cups of veggies. Hopefully this will inspire them to eat and be friends. Before you put in the pigs, remember that you may need to separate them should something go wrong. While guinea pigs don't normally bite people, if they're going at each other you may wind up getting hurt if you get in the middle. I would recommend using a dustpan to separate them and/or a thick towel. Whatever you are going to use to separate them, have it handy just incase. Now that your pen is ready and your armed with protection should you need to get in there and break it up, you're ready to put in the pigs. I recommend having one person hold one, one hold the other, and put them both in at the same time (or more if you're introducing a pair to a new friend or something). It's important to stand back and let them do their thing. Don't interfere more than you have to. Let the piggies work out their social structure. So there you have it, that's your basic method. While there are fancy things to try like forcing the pigs to take a bath together, introducing in a started car, and other such methods, I've found that if the piggies can't get along in this basic introduction, you should try putting a different pair together. Scaring piggies into being introduced just doesn't seem to work as well long term. You might gladly live with a bunch of people in a shelter during a flood, but if you had to do that all the time you'd probably be upset about it. While guinea pigs might also buddy up during a traumatic experience, that's less likely to be lasting. Go for the basic introduction, it's served me well for many intros.

Knowing When to Separate and When Not To

Now that you have that dust pan handy, you're probably wondering how you'll know when to use it. If you're doing a guinea pig introduction for the first time, you're going to see a lot of things that may appear frightening to you. If you get really worried about your guinea pig being hurt, see if perhaps a rescue can do the introduction for you. Some people seem to give up too soon out of fear. Others go too far and end up at the emergency vet (if that's you, consider doing the introduction during the day so that you can go to your regular vet and not have to rush to emergency). Guinea pigs make a wide variety of sounds and gestures while working out their social status. Things that are okay include: rumblestrutting, humping, and chasing. Things to watch out for include: teeth chattering, nose offs, and an intense "tornado." Rumblestrutting is basically that thing guinea pigs do when they walk up to another guinea pig shaking their behind a bit and make a purring sound. Rumblestrutting tells the other pig that this one believes itself to be the boss. Humping is a dominance behavior seen in both male and female guinea pigs. As long as one guinea pig does the humping and the other is submissive, you won't have a problem. It's fine if at first they both want to challenge, but eventually you'll probably end up with just the one being dominant. This behavior can last awhile or it may completely stop after a week or so. It should definitely not be constant, and if it is, you should give the guinea pigs a loft on their cage or some other way for them to get away from each other. Chasing is generally done with the intent of humping. A good basic rule to remember, is that anything face to behind is okay, but face to face can be dangerous. Guinea pigs seem to go for the face when they attack each other, often splitting lips and sometimes even injuring eyes (if you've heard of guinea pigs that took out another's eye during an introduction, that one is true, it's not a myth). Teeth chattering is generally fine. Basically this warning is telling the other guinea pig to back off. However, you should be careful if you hear it and have your dust pan handy incase they should decide to lunge at each other. Nose offs look like the guinea pigs are trying to each get their nose higher than the other. These also can be okay, but watch out that they don't go for each other's face. Have your dustpan ready and don't be afraid to get in there. When people ask me how they'll know for sure that it's time to separate, I usually tell them to watch for a tornado. This one is hard to describe, but once you've seen it you'll know why I call it a tornado. When guinea pigs rapidly circle trying to bite and latch onto one another, it probably isn't going to work out. At this point, either throw a towel over them or push them apart with your dustpan. Separate them in the pen and give them time to cool off before picking them up, or you may end up getting bit. Basically, the tornado is the sign that your introduction is over. The pair rarely works out once it gets to that point, but if you're not choosing a pig to adopt but rather already have both pigs, do consider trying again at a later date rather than keeping them both single.

Cage Size

After your cavies have been introduced, they'll need to live together in the same cage. They might do a bit of challenging again for awhile, but generally nothing serious if the introduction went well (for at least 30 minutes). However, a lot of people make the mistake of choosing a cage that is way too small. In that case, of course they're going to fight. I've had people tell me before that guinea pigs are anti-social animals because they never could get two to get along. When I ask them what size cage they had, they'll tell me that they had "huge" cages of 2 square feet. I would recommend at least 6 square feet for a pair, but preferably closer to 9 square feet. For able bodied young piggies (under 3 years), it's advisable to include a loft on their cage to give them a place to get away from each other. Lofts can also be used for older piggies, but sometimes arthritis prevents them from being able to make as much use of the loft. Aside from cage size, you'll also want to make sure that the cage has enough of everything available to them. You don't need your piggies fighting over food when there should be plenty. I'd recommend at least two hiding houses, two waterbottles, and if possible, two pellet dishes as well. After awhile, you can take out the second pellet dish to save space in the cage. It's a good idea to have two waterbottles no matter what though, just incase one malfunctions. Since guinea pigs generally don't want to share their hiding spot, you are always going to need one for each piggie, minimum. With ample space and supplies, your piggies should be all set.

Dispelling the Boar Myth

While many people believe that two boars simply cannot get along, this is a myth. When given enough space, two boars can get along just fine. Some people say that two boars can only get along if they came from the same litter, but I don't find this to be true at all. If anything, two boars get along better if they aren't from the same litter. Two boars of the same age will be harder to keep together, which brings me to the next point.

Age Can Make a Difference

Age really does matter sometimes. Two guinea pigs of the same age, especially males, are going to be more likely to fight when they reach adolescence together. After the year mark, it really doesn't make much of a difference how close in age they are. The easiest way to introduce guinea pigs though, is to introduce an adult to a baby. I've only seen a couple adults ever try to attack a baby. Generally, your guinea pig is not going to attack a baby. The baby is also not going to attack. You can introduce a 3 week old baby to an adult boar and it will not only be a much easier introduction, but you'll also be helping the baby out. At 3 weeks of age, the baby boars must be separated from their mother, which leaves them with no one to watch them. An adult boar will be a sort of "nanny boar" to the young pup. When the pup hits adolescence they may challenge their nanny boar's position (and even succeed), but generally this is still a very nice and easy way to introduce two guinea pigs.

Neutering

While many people now realize the health and behavioral benefits of neutering cats, dogs, and rabbits, these benefits do not always carry over to guinea pigs. Generally, if you're going to have same sex pairs anyway, there is no point in neutering your guinea pigs. Of course, there are exceptions. If your children might accidently put your males into the female cage, the males could be neutered anyway to prevent any accidents should that occur. In regards to introductions however, neutering males to make them compatible generally doesn't do much good. However, there is one very important reason that I mentioned neutering as far as introductions go: if you have your male neutered, he can be introduced to females. If you've found one very bossy male that just can't get along with any other male, you might still have success with a female. If the bossy male isn't healthy enough for the surgery, consider adopting a spayed sow. Not all vets can spay or neuter guinea pigs, so be careful which vet you choose if you're having the operation done. While being altered is routine surgery in cats and dogs, for guinea pigs spays and neuters are not yet frequently done. However, there are many competent vets out there that have great success rates, so you shouldn't be too fearful if you did your research on vets. If your guinea pig is going to have to live alone his whole life or get the surgery, go with the neuter.

Introducing guinea pigs may seem a bit frightening at first. Don't be afraid to ask for help if needed. Generally, if you're adopting from a rescue they'll be glad to help you with the introduction (they'll probably help even if you didn't adopt from them). Some rescues actually require the introduction before the adoption to ensure that the pair will work out (or at least give the pair a better chance). If you already have two single guinea pigs that you could introduce, keeping trying if they don't get along at first. Especially if one or both are under a year old, hormonal issues may be causing part of the problem. With females, introductions might be more difficult if one or both are in heat (hard to tell especially for the inexperienced guinea pig owner). Guinea pigs are social animals however, and nearly every guinea pig has the potential to get along with another. Doing a proper introduction is very important in ensuring that your guinea pig finds a buddy, and therefore, happiness.