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There is a myth not so uncommonly heard, that boars cannot be housed together with other boars. This is indeed a myth as many boars can be housed together and will be best mates for life.

Common Myths
- Boars can't be housed with other boars after they've been with a sow.
- Boars can't be housed with each other because they will always fight and end up seriously injuring or killing each other.
- If you want to house two boars together you must house an adult boar with a baby boar and never two adults together.

The Truth
Male guinea pigs can be housed together although it is all a matter of taking in to account a few important factors. Yes males can fight with each other in some cases but if the below factors are taken in to account then this should not occur.

1: Boars are best housed in " pairs " and not " groups ".
Male guinea pigs are best housed in pairs or trios in general it is not advised to house more than three males together. Larger groups of males can on the occasion work although in a lot of cases you will find that too many males in a group will result in dominance issues and males trying to work out their placing in the group which can in turn result in ongoing minor to major fighting between them.

2: Male guinea pigs need their SPACE. ( as should any guinea pig either male or female ). Male guinea pigs like their space and too many males kept in a small space, or even a couple of males kept in a small space of less than can result in frustration/cramped conditions which in turn can lead to fighting. Males kept in a small space also doesn't leave any room for them to ' escape ' from each other if they did have a confrontation with each other which can result in fighting causing injury.

3: Handling and a Stress Free Environment. Environmental factors affect both female and male guinea pigs in the same way. Guinea pigs as with any animal react and can develop certain behaviors depending on their environment. A guinea pig needs to be kept in an environment where they feel safe, calm, stable and where they don't feel threatened. A guinea pig that is handled roughly or over handled ( over handled for example could be when children are allowed to handle the guinea pig many times throughout the day or over handled can also depend on the individual guinea pig if a guinea pig doesn't enjoy being handled much then over handling could simply mean handling the guinea pig when it does not enjoy being handled ), that is kept in an environment with a lot of noise and rowdiness will in turn become frustrated, highly strung and will feel threatened. These feelings can result in different behavioral problems in a guinea pig. Sometimes the problems can be chewing things/biting people and/or other guinea pigs or excessive squealing. Sometimes the problems can be seen in the guinea pigs behavior towards other guinea pigs. A male guinea pig may react towards other male companions in an aggressive manner or may increasingly annoy their other male friend by constantly trying to dominate them. Guinea pigs can develop these behaviors as a way of expressing and venting their frustrations.

4: Types of male Behavior/Personality Traits. Their is ONE MAIN FACTOR that you need to consider in order for introductions to be a complete success. There are DOMINANT and there are SUBMISSIVE boars just as there are in all animal species.

Dominant Aggressive Boars
You can tell straight away if your boar is dominant or not as soon as you place your boars together. If you have two Dominant males they will tend to hiss at each other, arch their backs in dominance, and make " teeth chattering " noises at each other. Within 5-10 minutes you will know if two Dominant boars will get along with each other as they will settle down and work out who's boss. If the boars become aggressive towards each other and chase or try to bite or attack each other AFTER the 20 minutes or so then you definitely have two very dominant boars on your hands and they probably won't be able to be housed with each other as they both want to be boss and you don't want to risk injury by leaving them together on their own.

Dominant Behavior

Dominant Behavior can been seen in boars which like to dominate in other ways other than being aggressive towards other males. These males instead may try to continuously ' hump ' with other males similar as they would try to mate with a female if they were placed with a female. This in itself is not a problem although if the other male doesn't like this overly friendly behavior then they may react and fight back to ward the other male away. Their are different levels of this type of dominant behavior some boars will only do this dominant ' friendliness ' to other boars on the odd occasion where as others may constantly do it and this is where problems can result in a negative reaction from the boar they are doing it to.

Submissive Boars
When two submissive boars are placed with each other you will know that they are submissive straight away as they will literally be best mates with each other with no teeth chattering or other signs of dominance. They simply accept each other as they are. Submissive boars will sniff each other under the chin and at the rear and meet and greet in a normal fashion and they may even make a small purring noise towards each other and then they will settle with each other and will go and munch on their food.

When a submissive boar is placed with a dominant boar usually the dominant boar will make the purring he makes when a female would usually be introduced. He will most likely wiggle his bottom and even chase the other boar around while purring for a few minutes. The submissive male will make grunts and little noises but know that he is not in any danger. Usually this can go on for around 15 minutes until the dominant boar has made himself known and the two boys will then settle and go on to be great mates.

5: Placing an adult male with a baby male
Generally if an adult male is placed with a young male aged between 4-8 weeks old then these two will sort out who is the leader pretty quickly. The adult boar will usually " purr " around the baby boar for a little while to get to know him. Now if the young baby is a dominant male you will know this as he will try to snap back at the adult while the adult is purring at him. This is usually rare although the boys should sort themselves out within a short hour or so nonetheless. Placing an adult male with a baby male in most cases leads to a successful pairing.

6: When housing males together KEEP THEM AWAY FROM THE SCENT OF SOWS.
This is something that cannot be stressed enough. Some people house their boars near sows and have no problems but as a precaution it is best to keep males completely out of visual view of females. If there comes a time when the boars can smell the scent of a sow nearby then they may have small tiffs and fight to constantly decide who is top pig over the females as they all want to be the boss due to the females being around them. If boars cannot SEE a sow then there should be no problems. It is also advised to never use bedding/towels/toys/housing etc that were placed in your female guinea pigs cage and to then place these items in a males cage. Naturally they will pick up the scent of a female somewhere on these items.

If you have both male and female guinea pigs and wish to hold both throughout the day it is advised to wash your hands between holding your males and females so that again the males do not pick up the scent of the females on your hands.

7: Housing more than two males together.
You can successfully house more than two males together but as always you will need to be their watching and be the referee when introducing them together and you need to carefully watch for their personality type e.g. dominant/submissive. You can house submissive males together no problems. If you wish to house 3-4 males together then it is best to introduce each male at a different time, one by one letting each boar introduce himself to the group don't just put all boars together straight away it needs to be done gradually say over a span of a few hours one at a time. Place your first two males together and if all looks good then add the third and so on...

8: Switching male groups around.

This is something that should NEVER be done. If you have a number of male guinea pigs that have settled in their set pairs/trios then they need to stay in these set groups at all times. It is not advised to mix the groups of males around with each other even if it is only for a play on the lawn together during the day or to meet and greet your other males for a short time. When a male group is formed the males will have worked out their placing in their set group and by disrupting the group as it stands it is disrupting the group and will cause confusion and will cause the males to naturally want to re-set their stance with other males.

9: Don't tolerate bullying!
If your boars are clearly not going to get along with each other then please do not attempt to keep them together as they will continue to have small tiffs with each other or larger tiffs resulting in injury. In cases where boars are housed together long term and the dominant boar constantly bullies the other boar then the other boar can suffer enormous weight loss due to not being allowed to eat food, injuries and sometimes even death.

10: Keeping males on their own.
It is not recommended to keep guinea pigs on their own they are herd animals and really need to have a companion. In saying this, this doesn't mean to go out and house a boar with a sow if you are not prepared to be responsible for and keep/responsibly re-home the resulting litters. Males will get along well with each other in the MAJORITY of cases if chosen/grouped appropriately. There are very rare occasions where some males just simply won't get along with ANY other males. In these cases it is suggested to either neuter your male so that he could have a female companion. Another method is housing a longhair male with a shorthair male can also solve the problem instead of two males of the same breed. I'm unsure why this method works but it has had success in the past. A final method is to try and house the adult male with a young baby male.

11: Boar and sow temperaments/personality/scent does not differ from each other.
Some people ask whether there is a difference in temperament/scent/personality between boars and sows and which to recommend purchasing. In answer to this question, boars and sows do not differ. In both sexes there can be those that are aggressive in nature, skittish around people, boring, beautiful, ugly, calm natured, submissive, dominant and so on...
Some sows cannot be housed with other sows and sows can be hard to house together it is more common to hear the " myth " about boars causing problems.

12: Boars cannot be housed together after being with sows.
This is a complete myth. Dominant and submissive personality will need to be considered the same way as a boar that has not been with sows. The personality of the boar won't change whether he has been with a sow or not.

When looking to purchase a guinea pig, personality and temperament can vary greatly in both male and female guinea pigs. It is best to take your time when looking for your pair of piggies and to sus out their individual temperaments and personalities and to take your time choosing the guinea pigs that suit best to you and your family.

IN CONCLUSION...
BOARS AND SOWS ARE BOTH BEAUTIFUL AND CAN BOTH BE HOUSED WITH SAME SEX COMPANIONS. IT IS SUGGESTED TO TAKE YOUR TIME IN CHOOSING YOUR PIGGY FAMILY AND TO STUDY INDIVIDUAL GUINEA PIGS PERSONALITIES AND TEMPERAMENTS BEFORE DECIDING TO PURCHASE SO THAT YOU AND YOUR GUINEA PIGS WILL LIVE PEACEFUL, LONG AND HAPPY LIVES TOGETHER.