How Many Males can live together

[holidayhutch]

Question as above really. How many unneutered male guinea pigs can live safely together without problems occurring?

[poppymoon]

i've no idea but i didn't want to read and run.

personally, unless they were babies and had been together since the off, i don't think i'd be brave enough to try it! i have enough hassle with my whinging girls

[janice]

From my rescue days I have known someone who had a number of groups of 4 - 5 males living together, the majority of them were unneutered. They had no females on site and they all lived in huge 'units' which were in a stable block. Each group had a large run which filled the complete floor space of a large stable unit with approximately half of it being double storey. I believe each unit was in the region of approximately 12 x 18 foot. They all had plenty of tunnels and tubes to escape from each other.

They had ended up with 4 groups as a result of getting 3 unneutered males at the start who had ended up fighting, slowly they had ended up adding to them young males who were 3 weeks old. Eventually they ended up with the 4 groups and with the large space they had it worked reasonably well.

In the early years of doing rescue I would rehome trios of boys, however I did find that pproximately 50% of trios of male babies I rehomed would end up being split due to fighting so soon stopped rehoming this combination. If people wanted three piggies U would try to persuade them the best option woudl be 1 neutered male with 2 wifeletts.

[holidayhutch]

Thanks Janice, I pretty much thought it was what you have said. I know someone who has adopted 4 males (2 pairs) from PAH adoption centre and they have put them all together in one hutch (which is way too small), they are approximately 6 months old and not neutered. PAH told them that they can all live together and it is recommended to keep same sex together . I am waiting for the phone call to say they have been fighting, do I know anyone that can take a pair off their hands