Guinea Pig – Cage Mates
Before you go out and buy a guinea pig, first think about how many you will want.
If you are just starting out, one is best. However, Guineas are very social creatures, so once you’ve gotten the hang of taking care of one, think about getting your piggy a cage mate.
If you do not plan on breeding your guinea pigs, housing same sex piggies together would be the best idea.
Two males and two females will usually live happily together, even if they have disputes over food from time to time.
If you are introducing guineas, remember that age dfference is crucial. An older guinea and a youngster might get along great, but introducing two older guineas may mean trouble. However, if you are a first timer and you are buying your guinea pigs at the same time, then providing they are young guineas,they will usually get along nicely.
Males and Females
If you plan on spaying or neutering your piggies, keep this in mind. Spaying a female guinea pig will be more difficult and costly than neutering a male one.
As discussed in the behavior article, when introducing two males, they may start rumbling and even mount each other. This is not mating behavior, they are trying to establish dominance. Who is the king of the cage? So to speak.
Two females will generally get along well, just put them together and let them do the rest. Be sure to have one or more ‘hidey houses’, as talked about in my “Buying a Guinea Pig” article. In case they need to escape from each other for a while.
Keep in mind, however, that guinea pigs do each have their own personality, so if the twos’ personalities clash, there may not be a reason for the fighting they are doing other than that they just don’t like each other.
If you decide to go with a female, upon introducing her to a male they may begin rumbling and mounting. If the female is not in heat, she will deny his attempts at mating with her and may become aggressive. However if she is in heat, she will become more submissive.
Other animals
It is a bad idea to put other animals in the same cage as your piggy. They have separate and very different diets and if the animals are different sizes, the larger may begin to bully the smaller. Do NOT cage rabbits and cavvies together.
Here is a video I found that may help you in introducing your guinea pigs to one another. Once again, I did not make this video nor do I star in it. I just knew it would be helpful.
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