So ! You've bought your new little pig home - should you pop her straight into the pen with your existing pigs ? The answer to this is no, not really a good idea - for several reasons - here are a few:

• Your new pig may have a health problem that may be transmissable to your existing pigs eg mites
• Guinea pigs, being herd animals, develop a heirarchy of control/dominance - therefore to suddenly pop a new pig in may cause all kinds of ructions - the new pig may try to take over as 'boss' pig or it may itself be turned upon by the existing pigs
• If you didn't check before you bought your pig home - there may have been a mistake sexing your new pig and you could be popping a young lad in with a few ladies and you can guess the implications of that
• Introducing a boar to another boar needs extra care [see bottom of page] - just popping a new boar in could result in aggressive fighting and extensive injury

Aww Trixie, don't be scared !

1. The new pig is placed in quarantine for 2-3 weeks - I use 'cube' cages for quarantine as they are so easy to take apart and sterilise afterwards and are great for sniffing noses through when I begin initial introductions. During quarantine I make sure I don't cross-contaminate between pigs - thorough hand washing / separate towels for lap time to protect clothing etc. Use this quarantine time to really get to know your new little pig, earn her trust and enjoy this one to one time with her. For more information about getting to know your new pig check out the new arrival page.

2. At the end of the quarantine time your new little pig will be settled and becoming used to being handled by you. I tend to take my time with introductions and have not had a failure yet, I am in no rush so we take it slowly. Presuming she has been declared 'healthy' after her quarantine.... I move the new piggy's cube pen next to the main pen so they begin to sniff and hear each other and stroke them alternately so they smell each other on my hands and cuddle them after each other so they smell each other on me too.

3. The next thing I do is let the original herd out for floor time, by this time they are normally really inquisitive about who has moved in and rush over and start poking their noses through the cube grids [see above when they were trying to say hello to Poppy]. You often find the new pig then runs away at the sight of all her new friends but once she realises she is 'safe' and they can't get in her cage her nosy nature usually comes out and she trots back over and sniffs them back - they may attempt a few 'nose nips' through the bars - sometimes they don't run away at all and are just desparate to make friends ! I then alternate this with the new piggy running free in the room so she can go and sniff the main pen [although there are no grids to sniff through] I often find that the new pig lays on the floor just the other side of the pigs who are inside who are showing great interest !

4. Next I do introductions on a one on one basis - [you will of course have checked and checked again that the sexing of your pig was correct !] my preferred method is on my settee - I get one of the existing pigs out and pop them on the settee then get the new one out too and sit her gently down, stroking both of them, feeding them a slice of cucumber each then sitting back and letting them have space to say hello and get acquainted. You will see them sniff noses, under chins, in ears, you may see them 'rumble' and rub against each other - don't panic - this is all normal communication ! Make sure you have a towel to quickly drop on them should they start to fight though, never use your hand ! I have to say I've never had a squabble with these one on one introductions, though I may have been lucky - but by this time they are well used to each others smells because of step 3. Here are pics of Poppy's one on ones !

Poppy, don't squash Splat !

5. If all has gone well with step 4 I then repeat it with 2 or more existing pigs - depending on how many I have available ! If this goes ok then I move on to joint floor-time - I open the main pen to let the existing pigs out, I scatter lots of fresh veg on the floor for a diversion, and then I open up a corner of the cube pen so the new pig can come out too - I've found this a really successful way of letting the pigs decide when they all want to meet properly - they can go in and out of each other's territory plus they have the whole room to run in and hide if they want to. You will probably hear a great deal of loud purring, see quite a bit of scampering and scurrying, the new pig may get cornered or squidged a bit and there may be a fair bit of squealing too - this is all normal, they are just working out what's what and who's who - grit your teeth and let them get on with it - it has to be done - do not interrupt them unless there are signs of real aggression [see below]. I have found before that the new pig has decided there and then she was going to move into the main pen after about an hour of floor time - if they all go back to the main pen and all seem happy I'll close the door and monitor them - if there are no major squabbles then that's it - they've moved in together ! There may still be a few confrontations as they establish dominance but as long as there's no aggression then it's fine. However, if this is not successful at first I continue this stage until they are happily grouped.

Yoohoo ! We can see you !

You may not be as lucky as I have been and find that your pigs just will not get along - some sows can be really hoity-toity about new pigs ! - despite you gritting your teeth and hoping for the best - some other methods used are as follows:

• Shampooing all the piggies to disguise their scent - but their real scent will come through very soon !
• Rubbing the new piggy with the existing piggies hay to transfer their scent - you'll have to rub both ways !
• Introducing them in an outside run on a clean bit of grass - so it's completely neutral etc - they'll still have to share a cage at some stage so I like to get it over and done with !

I've never had problems introducing adult pigs to adult pigs [though I do appreciate I've been very lucky], but I have found it's especially easy to introduce a young pig to adults - as they tend to not challenge the dominant pig and just snuggle up to a nice big warm pig - it's scary being in a new house away from their mum and siblings ! - my pigs were very maternal to Splattie and accepted her immediately with just a cursory sniff. Likewise the girls adored Billy as soon as they saw him despite him being an adult male, I think they naturally succumbed to his 'male' dominance [he's neutered so there was no 'issue' with him living in with the girls] and he immediately loved them too. Young pigs to other young pigs are usually fine too.

They were so maternal to teeny weeny Splattie !

However you will sometimes just get pigs who don't like each other and have no intention of getting along, if they just will not get along then you'll have to accept it and house them separately - they may like to live next to each other and enjoy each other's company that way - or it might torment them and they'll be chomping on the grid bars to get at each other and you'll get no peace and they'll become stressed - experiment and work out what makes your pigs happy. Successful introductions really depend on the individual characters of the pigs involved.

Boars can and do live happily together in pairs as long as their introductions and living arrangements are handled very carefully - the problem is that in the wild there is only one dominant boar - and they all want to be him - even in the comfort of your front room.

Introducing males that don't know one another can sometimes present problems - some things you can try are [and much of it is very similar to the process I follow above for my sows]:

• Begin with your boars in separate cages but next to each other so they can learn each others smells and get to know each other but not feel threatened.
• Have shared, supervised lap time with the 2 boars so they start to get used to interacting with each other.
• Progress to shared, supervised 'play' time together on the floor.
• If they seem fine with this then you can try them in a cage together (a neutral one if you have one available) - make sure it is scrubbed clean of any previous scent (most especially female scents !) - the bigger the cage the better so they can establish their own territory in it - you may even want to give them separate hidey-holes, food bowls and water bottles / bowls so they never have to 'share'.
• You might want to give them each a bath before putting them together to reduce their scent - especially if one of them has had contact with a female and may still have his scent on her - that's asking for trouble !
• You will probably find that they will go through a bit of a tussle establishing dominance, the odd growl and foot shuffle around each other (and mounting each other) but as long as they do not chatter their teeth and raise their heads and 'fly' at each other (ie. get very aggressive and likely to harm each other) then they should establish who's boss and then get on fine ! (Check the Cavy Communication page) They might go through this 'tussle' in the future but should resolve it ok. Sometimes though 2 males will just not get on and you will have to house them separately. They will probably be fine in separate cages next to each other and get along happily. Still try supervised 'floor-time' as they may get on fine in neutral territory - just not living in the same cage.
• If you have ever seen 2 males fight you will know you don't want anything to provoke your boars to fight - I was shocked when I first saw 2 boars fighting - I couldn't believe how they changed from 'cute' little pigs to really aggressive fighting pigs drawing blood from each other, they really can do each other damage.
• Having a female pig in the vicinity may cause problems as the boars will feel competitive with each other in relation to who they think will be able to get to her and mate with her etc. - in the wild there is one dominant boar who is the only boar the herd will allow to mate with the females. And you can't argue with nature - you have to respect it and provide the right environment to allow 2 males to get along without bringing out these instincts.
• You will probably experience least problems with a young pair or an older boar with a youngster.
• You may find your boars present no problem at all and just get along - as with the girls - each boar has his own personality so it all depends on the individual pigs involved - many people find boars much more easy going than sows !
• However, you may find that 2 young littermates will live happily together until they reach 'maturity' and then suddenly turn on each other, at which stage you'll have to separate them.
• Neutering the male pigs will not necessarily make much difference to their aggressive behaviour (towards each other !!!! - I must stress that male piggys are not aggressive to people they are loving and wonderful animals !!!)

Next >>

Why a Guinea Pig ?

What Do I Do ?

Preparation Checklist

New Arrival

Sexing Guinea Pigs

Cavy Names

Breeds & Varieties

Cavy Books

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Last Updated: 03/02/06