The guinea pigs are cute in nature and also friendly and due to these qualities, they are popular pets. The guinea pig loves the company of their owners and that is why they get too attached to them and also their owners also get attached to the guinea pigs. But they are fully dependent on their owners for everything so it becomes the duty of their owners so that they can live a healthy and comfortable life inside their captivity.
In this guide regarding guinea pigs, we will discuss the topic of how to introduce guinea pigs to each other so that they can live happily with each other and also build a strong bond with one another. The guinea pig is social so it is an easy task but sometimes it can be hectic for them depending upon the behavior and the surroundings of the guinea pig.
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Why introduce guinea pigs to each other?
You need to introduce the guinea pigs to each other because they are herd animals and they need another guinea pig so that they can live happily and peacefully with each other. The guinea pig is a social pet and that is another reason that you need a new guinea pig in their habitat.
The guinea pig loves to live their lives in herds and in pairs so in order to maintain balance in their habitat you need to introduce another guinea pig.
If you will not introduce another guinea pig inside the cage then it would be difficult for you to take proper care of your guinea pig. The guinea pig needs another guinea pig to live a sustainable life and a life that they are used to living in the environment outside. The more you will take care of the guinea pig they will live a better life.
How to introduce the guinea pig to each other?
The guinea pig needs to introduce to each other and there are lots of ways you can do so some of those ways are listed as below:-
1. Young or old guinea pig
The first and the foremost thing that you should be aware of is the fact that what and how old guinea pig you should introduce in the cage of your guinea pig. So it is better that you should introduce a younger guinea pig if your guinea pig is old or an adult one and if they are young you should introduce an older guinea pig.
The reason is this will help in maintaining the balance inside their habitat because the older one will be dominating and the younger one will not have any issue regarding this fact. So this is one way that will lead to the peaceful introduction of the guinea pigs.
2. Sex selection of the guinea pig
Another important question that comes to mind while choosing the sex of the guinea pig, you should know what sex you should introduce inside the habitat of the guinea pig.
If you do not have any problem with babies of the guinea pigs because they give birth to at least 7 litters at one time and will increase their population. But if you want that they should not reproduce then it is recommended that you should get a guide pig of the same sex so that there is no issue of reproduction.
Also if an opposite-sex guinea pig is introduced it should be neutered so that no reproduction takes place. So if you cannot handle lots of guinea pigs then you should take proper notice and take one of the above options whichever suits you.
3. Dominant and submissive
The guinea pigs can be dominant and submissive in nature and that is the reason when the guinea pig that you will be introducing should be opposite in nature so that you should make sure that no guinea pig of the same nature should be introduced in the habitat of the guinea pig so that peace is maintained inside it.
If you will introduce 2 dominant males or females it can create lots of problems for the guinea pigs and there will always be tension inside their habitat. So make sure that there are guinea pigs that you will introduce that are different in their nature or both of them are submissive because then they will not fight with each other and peace would be maintained without any problem. The guinea pigs will not create any fuss when they will live together and the owners will also live peacefully.
4. Size of the habitat for guinea pigs
Whenever you are introducing 2 guinea pigs you should be aware of the size of their habitat so that they can live comfortably with each other. Make sure that it is spacious enough so that they can move freely and also so that they have a personal space.
The size should be appropriate enough and also a bigger cage will also help in living a comfortable and healthy life for the guinea pigs. they will not fight with each other as they will have proper space to live and also a personal space where they can do whatever they want and also will not take each other’s space and will live comfortably with one another.
5. Quarantine before the introduction
Whenever you will introduce the guinea pigs to each other you need to quarantine them in different cages so that they can get used to each other scents and o=when they will meet after that it will not create any issue.
Both will get used to each other’s scent and they will bond up at a faster pace and they will live at peace with each other. So do quarantine the New Guinea pig before introducing them to other guinea pigs because another reason is so that they can get used to their homes and will not create issues for the other one by direct introduction of two of them.
6. Discovery of the guinea pigs
After quarantine, you can bring them together and let the discovery of each other take place. They will either will be fine with each other or they will not be able to get along.
If they are fine then there is no issue. But if they will not get along with each other then you need to quarantine them again until they get along well together and need to try again and again till they become friendly with each other.
These are some of the ways in which you can introduce the guinea pigs to each other in a proper way so that there is no hassle created and also so that both of them can live a comfortable, peaceful, and safe life with each other.
Final thoughts:
The guinea pigs are cute pets that need other guinea pigs so that they can live a happy and comfortable life inside their cage.
This will also help the owners because then the guinea pig will not create any hassle for them and will play together with another guinea pig. They will get a partner with whom they can play, but it will be double work for the owners as they have to take care of two guinea pigs instead of one but you will notice that your guinea pig is happy and a happy guinea pig means a happy owner that is taking full care of their guinea pigs.
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