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Small pets

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Original poster

Sad piggie

22 replies

orangepudding · 13/01/2016 17:07

A couple of days ago I noticed one of my guinea pigs was feeling a bit thinner, yesterday evening he passed away.Sad
I brought his buddy inside but he has just stayed hidden under a blanket and has only had a couple of nibbles of some apple. I feel so sorry for him, he is obviously feeling depressed. Is he likely to feel better with time?

OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 13/01/2016 18:31

Aww poor piggie Sad

They are such social little animals that they do grieve when their cagemates die (even though boars can be bickery little snippy blighters)

How old is your remaining boar?
Are you considering a new mate ?
He needs to eat , get his favourite foods to tempt him, get him out to chat in the evening and tempt him with treats. fresh cut grass, dandelions if you can find them.

We boar matched our GP1 when his brother died (piglet GP3) then got the sows when GP3 was alone (had him neutered)

They don't like being alone but lots of owners keep a lone pig and say they're happy enough.

Another little Super Furry to The Rainbow Bridge Sad

BertrandRussell · 13/01/2016 18:34

When one of ours died, his brother grieved (I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes) for two weeks. Then he perked up, and was absolutely fine and back to normal.

We just kept him warm, tempted him with delicious food and gave him lots of company.

BertrandRussell · 13/01/2016 18:36

But also bear in mind (sorry) that if they are litter mates your other one might go quite soon too- they tend to live about the same time.

FernieB · 13/01/2016 18:41

Poor little orangepuddingpigThanks. Sorry to hear he's grieving. I'd keep him in with you where he's got company and the noise of his human family about him. Tempt him with lots of his favourite treats and take him to watch TV with you - they all seem to love TVConfused.

My Scruffypig was alone for about 4 weeks after losing his friend. He was nearly 4 at the time, so we ummed and ahhed about getting him a new pal. As he was an unneutered boar we could only really match with a baby boar and I was lucky enough to find one via a rescue who were brilliant at matching them to make sure they could tolerate each other. That 4 weeks alone was horrible for me to watch so must have felt awful for Scruffy. When Gingerpig arrived he was so excited and it totally lifted his depression (he probably looks back fondly on those quiet days now). It's now nearly a year since we adopted Ginger and it was definitely the right thing to do for Scruffy. We have neutered Ginger so that we can get older ladies for him eventually. If Scruffy had been a year older, we probably would have kept him as a pampered only pig though. My pigs live indoors so it's easy to pamper them.

If your pig is young I would look at finding a friend via a rescue (who will match them for you).

Original poster
orangepudding · 13/01/2016 19:02

Thanks for the replies. They were only 2 so remaining pig hopefully has a few more years left. I will see how he goes for the next few days and then I think I will get a baby boar to keep him company.

OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 13/01/2016 19:50

2 is very young , a baby boar piglet would be a good choice (unless you wanted to have him neutered and get him PigWives.)

We had GP3 neutered a few days after we got our sows (kept in a seperate cage from him to quarentine until he was sterile but they could chat)
When GP3 died , our sows were very quiet so we got neutered GP6 (again quarentined to let him go sterile)

Advantages of boar piglet (apart from them being so cute) is you don't need to wait/
Advantage of females is less boar hormones but females can be snippy in season.

For now though, you want to cuddle and comfort your boy and decide what to do with his brother. If you bury him, guard against foxes, they will dig him up Angry
We wrap them well and put a heavy stone ove the grave. If you have DC, they can do without seeing the mess the foxes create.

fortifiedwithtea · 14/01/2016 11:44

I've only had one set of litter mates, our first guinea pigs. We went to a hobby breeder of dutch guinea pigs. And we didn't intend to buy that day. The plan was to reserve babies for Easter but Old Boy massive personality caught the eye of DD1 and that was it.

All his brothers fine strapping dutch guineas. All looked pretty much the same so chose the first one that came to hand. That was Smartie, the irony, thickest guinea pig ever. He developed cancer at 3 but an operation to remove the lump enabled him to carry on to just past his 4th birthday.

By contrast Todd aka Old Boy was a little runt and made it a month past his 6th birthday. Given a new lease of life by the addition of guinea girl friends after his brother past.

OP sorry to hear of your loss and your remaining piggy is lonely. In your shoes I'd do as Fernie did.

Original poster
orangepudding · 03/02/2016 17:34

A little update.
Fat piggie continued feeling sad do we bought a baby boar and hoped for the best. Thankfully it has worked and the pair have bonded, it's lovely to see fat piggie and baby so happy together.

OP posts:
EastMidsGPs · 03/02/2016 18:28

Yeah .... a good news story!!
When old Sophie died, Mollie lost all her joy .. so we took a risk with a baby. She just about tolerated Sadie to begin with. Almost 'sigh, my i?' Looks at us when we tried to coax her to accept the baby. Now they are the best of friends, M is like a youngster again ... and S gets away with murder ..first to the parsley, juiciest bits of cucumber..you get the ideaSmile

FernieB · 03/02/2016 20:20

That's lovely Orange. Uncle fat piggie will love having his new nephew to teach the ways of the world and show him how to train the humans. My Scruffy really perked up when Ginger arrived. Given the age difference though (4 years) I did have Ginger neutered as soon as he reached the right weight, just so he has the option of having a wife (or two) in the future.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 04/02/2016 22:02

Ah, lovely update Smile

Our GP1 was thrilled when we got his piglet. (Teeny 6 week old GP3)

Watch their relationship develop and I can pretty much lay money on your new boy blossoming and taking the reins as Alpha Pig. And if he;s anything like our older boar he'll say "Your turn now son"

We didn't have any scrapping beyond "shift your bum" but our younger boar did try to dominance bonk his stepdad. (Who just muttered darkly and stomped off)

Pigtures of the piggies are compulsory Wink

millimat · 04/02/2016 22:24

Great news. Our boar accepted a baby happily and I would have recommended it for you x

Original poster
orangepudding · 05/02/2016 10:15

Thanks all for the advice. Here they are having a cuddle together -

Sad piggie
OP posts:
FernieB · 05/02/2016 12:36

So cute! Uncle fat piggie looks very protective of his new nephew.

EastMidsGPs · 05/02/2016 14:47

Oh my goodness how cute are they?

millimat · 05/02/2016 16:35

Gorgeous. What are they lying on?

Original poster
orangepudding · 05/02/2016 17:04

Thanks, they are very cute! They are on a cat basket covered with a fleece blanket. They have daytime naps in it, slightly spoilt piggies!

OP posts:
FernieB · 05/02/2016 17:30

Not showing my pigs that - they'll want one. Mine have to have their afternoon naps on an old towel on the kitchen floor, sometimes with a shoebox to hide in.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 05/02/2016 17:49

Grin they are gorgeous , look very happily snuggly together .

Ours lard about on a fleece in the indoor cage (on a wedge of paper shreddings to make it cushiony.)

They claim that daytime is for eating (but so is dusk/dawn as they're crepuscular) and night time is for keeping me awake with their whittering.

Hmm, when do they sleep?

EastMidsGPs · 05/02/2016 21:13

Never had Boars ... suddenly seeing them and reading about everyone's here .. i am greatly tempted 😊
Have tonight asked OH in a musing sort of way ..what he thinks of the name Issac.
Have been told a resounding NO 😕 t'is a pity he isn't easily bribed with parsley and cucumber ..

millimat · 05/02/2016 22:20

Fernie - same here. If they had a lovely cat basket and fleecy blanket it would be soggy and smelly in no time at all!!

clippityclop · 17/02/2016 22:23

Gorgeous piggies, so glad all's well. Our girlies love their fleece pouches for naps in their pen. Isaac is a very fine name!

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