Death in the Guinea pig family

[iwillmakeit]

Can anyone advise me please. We lost a Guinea pig last week to a dog (they were out in the runs on the grass and a stray dog managed to wiggle in from the field behind, we found one piggy cowering in the broken run and the other at the bottom of the garden with teeth marks, think she died of fright pretty quickly as no blood despite puncture marks ) Now left with a dilemma, do I get a friend for the other piggy (at the moment I have 2 others in a separate hutch but only for the summer so she has someone to talk too if not cuddle). I think she must be about 4yrs old as was adopted with her sister a few yrs ago, and I don't want to get a youngster who may again be left lonely (how long do they live for?).
And don't worry no one is out on the grass until I've fixed the fence!

How horrible what a terrible thing to happen. Poor you and poor guinea...i can imagine she did die of fright bless her.

As a family you will have to decide whether you want more guinea girls for company like a young pair or whether she is to be a singleton. They do pine and she will be sad and lonely on her own. If yoy decide she is to be the last of your guinea family she will need lots of tlc and affection. They can live to a grand old age but 5 or 6 is about usual ... Keep an eye on her as she will be in shock.

That's awful! Poor guinea pig and poor you

I have to agree with guineapiglet that they do pine. We lost a pig recently and her little friend actually lost weight and started not coming out of her hidey hole much.

We got too more babies, and they are currently all bounding round like mad things. It made a huge difference to the older pig's behaviour.

That said though, some people say that their pigs are OK on their own. Perhaps you will have to watch her and see how she reacts...

Thank you for the replies, I put her out today and put the other two (my foster piggies) in with her, they had a lovely time squeaking away and skipping! I put them in their separate hutches at bedtime but will look in to finding a local rescue and get some friends for her as I think she is feeling quite sad and lonely.

Hope it goes well!

Good plan, she sounds like she is enjoying the company. Not sure how old she is but you could try a younger girly pair to integrate her with, or try local rescues for a lonely singleton who also needs company..... Integration can take time but it will be worth it!!!!

what a horrible experience for you all.
(We've got 6' fences so no dog worries but foxes are another matter. Those blighters can climb)

WRT to a cagemate- we got our little boy from Rescue to pair up with GP1 after GP2 died.
He has a new lease of life for sure and I'm always aware that the times we aren't here, he's got someone to chat to.
Even if most of the time in the run they sit in seperate houses. At night they share the haybox (a corner each)

GP3 is bonkers-conkers and I'm sure GP1 thinks "OMG, whatever he's eating take i away from him" but I 100% think he's secretly pleased with his new boy.

A couple of baby girl pigs would be lovely for her. Adult guineas can be very protective of the babies when they leave home.