young cavies

Question
Thanks annie for the advice, to reply there are 3 boars and 1 sow in the litter (2 boars and sow have homes to goto, and we're keeping the last boar). i only have two large cages so would it be okay if i kept the 3 young boars with their father until rehoming when they are 5-6weeks old (pls let me know if the age for re-homing is not correct)  they are 3 1/2 weeks old at the moment. Also do you have any further tips about how to introduce or should i just put them in the run with dad initially and leave them to it.
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Followup To

Question -
The boys in our 4week old litter are ready to be separated.  They have always lived with there mother and one other female adult.  Can you give me some advice on how to introduce them to their father as they will be living in his cage.  We have introduced them once in the run but the father just tried to mount them.

Answer -
Hi Bianca!

It is very normal for guinea pig males and even sometimes females to mount other guinea pigs. Mounting can mean two things one is sexual the other is just a show of dominance.
Usually after a while they will stop mounting the other guinea pig. Don't worry about the mounting it won't hurt the other guinea pigs.

When I cage male guinea pigs together I usually only do two males per cage. The reason I do this is because more than two male guinea pigs in one cage will sometimes fight, epically when they are older.  

All of the boars from the litter should be fine together at least for a while.  Putting more than one young male with an older male, such as their father, can cause problems, usually competitive in nature.

You didn't say how many male pups you have, but you could try just one of them in with his father and two together in a separate cage.  If there are only two, just keep those two together and leave Dad by himself.  I like keeping young guinea pigs with another animal, but things don't always work out that way, and as long as they get attention they are fine even alone.

I hope this helps, let me know if you need anything else.

Annie


Answer
Hi again,

You can send them to a new home as young as 4 weeks, some breeders even do it younger than 4 weeks.  It is okay to wait if you want to - that is really up to you.  Either way will not adversely affect the piggies.

I guess the best idea would be just to toss them in with dad and watch to make sure they are okay with him for a little while.  You'll know in an hour or so if there is going to be any problems.  I think what will happen is that Dad will just treat them all like sows at first.  Just make really sure that Dad doesn't come into contact with any sows before you introduce the babies to his run - I'm also assuming that the run is large enough for them rest a little ways away from Dad if they want to.  You can never be absolutely sure of the response of any individual guinea pig until you actually try it, but I really believe you'll be okay for a little while as long as they are all placed into the run at the same time and don't have any sow (or the scent of a sow) to compete for.  I'd be interested in knowing how it turns out.

Good luck,
Annie