One of my friends took in a guinea pig that his cousin didn't want anymore. I explained to him that GPs are social and do better in groups. Well now the poor thing is showing signs of being lonely. Heres the tricky part.

1) he is a male
2) He is from a petstore (no idea how old he is or his temperament is genetic wise)

I told him males tend to not do well with males and that it is risky seeing as they don't know his background. He was thinking of having him neutered and adopting a female from a local shelter. Is it even wise to think about it seeing as we don't know his age? I'm not sure if our local rescue does spays on them since they're so small (the only animals typically spayed here are dogs, cats, and rabbits unless there is a health reason.)

Actually, male guinea pigs often get along just fine with enough space . The problem is that most guinea pigs are kept in undersized cages. What kind of cage will the guinea pig be housed in?

This website is pretty useful: http://www.guineapigcages.com/

What Sasami said!


About age- If he is from a pet store, chances are that he is under a year. As long as you have a good vet and do blood work and what not, I wouldnt worry too much about getting him fixed.

Unfortunately, you've got some out of date information. Males do fine with other males, provided they're given a large enough cage, and their genetic background or temperament is not really necessary to know before bonding them.

It's nearly impossible to predict how one pig will react to another. I'd recommend telling your friend about Guinea Pig Cages website (that Sasami linked) and then contacting one of the local small animal rescues for help with 'dating' so that your friend's pig can find a buddy.

Neutering isn't impossible, and most males do fine with it, but it's not necessary to pair them with a female to insure they'll get along (in fact, I've had multiple male/female and female/female pairs also fail numerous introductions).

I'm not sure how big the cage is. How big would it need to be for two boars? Maybe we could make it a winter project =]

The website I gave you has that info .

oh haha. Well he talked to a breeder and she has some rescues and retired show bucks that she is willing to pair as well as some youngsters. Thanks everyone!

I would really recommend going to a rescue over a breeder. A reputable rescue is going to have done veterinary checks and will even help you build cages if necessary. Considering the absolutely outrageous overpopulation of cavies in CA (I see euth notices weekly as the rescues scramble to make room for all the pigs that these breeders dump at the shelters), it shouldn't be hard to find a rescue piggie.

I know a few breeders in my area rescue as well. Its crazy I know!

It's not crazy. Often they'll try to "rescue" a few pigs to assuage their guilt about breeding 100+ pigs a year. Some of them utilize these "rescues" as additional breeding stock.

There may be responsible guinea pig breeders out there, but so far I haven't met one breeding for health and keeping their pigs in good conditions. (Many of them utilize tupperware totes and keep pigs in less than half the recommended space). No one can make the choice for you, but I don't understand why someone would support a person contributing to the overpopulation problem when their area has a ton of homeless pigs, many available through rescues who vet screen them and will assist you through every step of the pig's life until their death.