guinea pig just died will his friend be lonely

[pramsgalore4]

my dd1 guinea pig has just died, the thing is we got two and my dd is now worried nugget will get lonely, nugget is a male, i have told her that if we got another one they may fight am i right, nugget is only about 1 years old. humbug was fine at about 2pm [i went out there and he was in his little spot he always is when my dd came home he had moved] but was dead at 3.30pm :( my dd is always with them and gives them loads of fuss but is this enough, she does not like rabbits.

I got two male guinea pigs, one got ill and died only 4 weeks after I got them
I couldn't leave the other to live alone so we got a new male. Apparently they can get lonely and depressed without a friend but I'm not sure how true that is.

I know that males can fight, but we introduced them on neutral ground (kitchen floor) and let them run around and sniff for a bit. We then put them in the cage together which we'd cleaned out to remove any of the previous guinea pig smells.

Now they're best friends!

I think you should get another one if nugget is only 1.

yes that is what i want to do, but i am worried they will fight and hurt each other. the poor little thing was running around humbug sqeaking :(

If you have decent rescue near you they should be able to pair Nugget up with a friend. You should definitely try. Piggies are very sociable creatures and love a friend, especially as yours is still so young. Avalon in Nottingham are great, and I've heard of others around.

We had two brothers, one of which died at a year. We were told that the best bet was to get an under 8 week old guinea pig. Found a lovely little 6 week old peruvian. They got on really well and Bruno was a really good dad/ to the baby. Unfortunately Bruno died last summer and we are left with Muffin who is now 3.
I really don't want to get into the cycle of buying another one. Feel guilty about Muffin being by himself but I don't want guinea pigs forever. If I could find a good home for him I would.

Another option might be to get him neutered and find him a lady friend? Although neutering can be risky, so worth researching properly first. Agree with Squiggle that going to a sympathetic rescue to take him "boar dating" would be a great idea as he can then pick his own friend :)

just an up date on lonely nugget, he was not happy at all, so got 3 new babies peanut, toffee and walnut and he is now very happy with his new friends, they all got on straight away :) no problems at all so far [fingers crossed]

many thanks for all the advise, all the babies are boys i made them double check

Pramsgalore that is such wonderful news. Piggies are just the best.

Guinea pigs need friends. They get very lonely, like being in solitary confinement fo them. Some pet shops only sell pairs because of this.

It's good that you have found companions for your remaining piggie. I've only ever managed to have 2 boars together, although I know of a few successful trios. Sows can be kept in larger groups, but boars tend to start fighting (sometimes very violently and have to be separated) around puberty if in larger groups. It may be that you could have 2 piggies together and 2 others in a separate enclosure with mesh between so they can communicate, but not get on each others' nerves. Best of luck.