introducing male guinea pigs

Question
Hi, i have a 13 week old male and was going to get a 9 week old male, but im slightly worried about introducing them as alot of people say they will fight straight away, while others say only keep him, i work during the week so wouldnt be able to keep an eye on them all the time, please help thanks

Answer
With the newcomer being so young your pig should accept him without a problem. The younger male coming in doesn't represent a threat to your pig's territory and the introductions usually go okay.

You may see your pig try to push the new kid around and may even mount him in an attempt to breed. At 13 weeks he is starting to become sexually mature and will try out his hormones on anything that comes into the cage. Don't be alarmed. This is normal behavior. It usually stops within a few days as the chain of command has been established and the new addition learns the rules.

Sometimes as both of them get older there may be some challenging of who is boss all over again. Occasionally they start fighting and need to be permanently separated. That doesn't happen in all cases, but you need to be prepared for it in case it does.

Males of all species are driven by hormones. In wild herds there is always only one male boss. This applies to horses, cattle, cats, dogs and any other herding animals. Lions will live in a 'pride' or group. The young males are allowed to stay until they start getting ideas of taking over. Horses do the same.

When the young males reach or approach maturity and attempt to take over the females a fight begins and the young ones are driven away, banished from the herd forever. If the senior male is getting old and doesn't win the fight then he is banished.

Just being raised domestically doesn't always change that instinct. I always put my newly weaned baby boars with an older male for companionship and comfort, and they usually get along fine until 'junior' starts trying to strut his stuff.  End of happy household.

If I put two very young males together they get along fine until one of them realizes he has a greater purpose in life and tries to start trouble. Of course I have a caviary with 60+ pigs, so the 'scent of a woman' often causes the male hormones to come alive quicker.

I'm telling you this so that you are prepared just in case it happens later. Not having any sows around may prevent this instinctive drive from causing trouble at all. The only way you're going to find out is to try it.  

If you're worried about your pig having companionship and needing a cage mate, you don't really have to worry about him.  Although they enjoy the companionship of another pig there are lots of households with only one single pig and they live quite happily. This is going to be a personal choice.

Best of luck to you and your pigs. I hope this helps you make a decision one way or the other.