Guinea pig new home

[GinPink]

So awful, we had 4 guinea pigs. Last night they were attacked. I'm devastated. Only 1 survived. What should I do now? I know they don't like to be alone, I love her so much but I don't want her to be lonely. I don't want to get new baby piggies. She's about 3 years old. Should I try to adopt older piggies her age or try to re home my piggy? Would both these options be the responsible thing to do, under the circumstances?

I'm just wondering if a new pig might clash with her. We'd have no way of knowing. If we keep her we'd invest in a better home

So sorry to hear what’s happened

If you don’t want to get babies I would either contact a rescue to see if they have one or two older girls or a neutered boy they could rehome to you or whether they have someone looking for a single piggy. It’s really up to you whether you want to keep her but I’ve got 5 in a huge indoor cage, different ages and situations and they generally mix well - it’s generally just the younger unneutered boys that fight. The main thing to do is make sure they have enough space - c and c cages are ideal - and a hideaway / food bowl etc each.

(I mean someone looking for a single piggy to rehome with another).

I'm so sorry, that's awful! I would contact local rescues to see if they had anything suitable. When we had a lone piggy we were able to take her with us to the rescue and "test out" different pigs to see who she got on with. And when we chose one we were also told we could bring her back if they didn't get on at home. Whereabouts are you based? Someone here might be able to recommend a rescue.

Thanks all our Guinea pigs were all rescues anyway, though we got them all s babies. I could contact the centre again to see if they have any older ones. Should I leave a bit of time? She's probably in shock so a new friend could be quite a change?

If we decide to re home her, how do you go about that?

Taking her back to the e rescue would be the best thing

If you do decide to rehome do it through a rescue. Don’t go through personal ads or Facebook.

Thanks all. Does this happen a lot? I feel like the worst person in the world. They had a cage but must have been able to open the door to it somehow

If you get her another friend (or 2) your best to get babies or much younger ones as they take to each other better. Girls are much easier to pair/group back up than boys so you shouldn’t have much issue doing this if this is what you want. You may find a local rescue that will do this for you. If you want to rehome the one that’s left then either contact the recuse you got her from or other rescues close to you. They will happily take her. Do not advertise her on any Facebook groups or gum tree type websites.

In answer to your question about the cage; yes unfortunately it can happen. If the fox wants the pigs, they will stop at nothing to get them. What cage have you got? We double meshed ours, added some fort knoxs style locks and we had a cover as well.
Please don’t feel bad, it’s not your fault

We didn't fox proof enough, but we don't really have many foxes around here at all. We'd just ordered an eglu think, is being delivered today!

Thanks all, I would never ever advertise on a random site, please don't worry. Will call the rescue where we got them from today

As guineas only live for about 4 to 8 years, it is very common to have to get new pairings. Definitely contact a rescue and they will help you match. We did this several times until we finally rehomed the survivor. We knew a dedicated one woman guinea rescue who never let us down and was an expert matchmaker (Herts).

How desperately sad OP, please don't blame yourself, foxes will do whatever it takes to get in to the cage. We were left with one piggie after her two sisters died within weeks of each other. We faced the same decision as you OP and decided to move her inside and made sure she had loads of attention. She seemed to be happy alone and lived for a further year, we all miss her but won't be getting any more.

Oh goodness, how awful, I'm so sorry.
Won't dpig be bonded to you though? It may be a bit much for her to lose you and her friends all at once. If you could bring her indoors and give her lots of cuddles she may cope well until you find her a friend.

Thanks all. I contacted the rescue. She is a very stressed guinea pig and the lady said we may still loose her. It's awful. I don't think I could bear losing her, so when she is less stressed we will go back to the rescue and try her with other piggy's and take one that she's happy with, hopefully of a similar age. It's sunk in now and I can't stop ugly crying 😢

Your poor piggies and poor you

Oh very

Foxes are a huge threat to guinea-pigs they are relentless ( I won't use the vermin word , I've been told off before )
But they are brave and have cubs to feed. My NDN got used to me roaring down the garden clanging metal plates together to scare them
Badgers can be predators but less likely .

Your guinea-pig will be in shock yes they are very vunerable little prey animals . Keep her indoors for now to keep an eye out .

Regarding cages etc there's lots of advice on rabbit and chicken sites for protection. The Eglu run was originally designed to keep chickens safe then branched out to rabbit/piggie . They're quite small inside (and ££) but easy to clean, keep and optimum temperature and you can get security items like a 'digging skirt' ( extra mesh round the perimeter)
The locks lift&twist .
I put a padocl on our guinea pigshed and a bucket full of cement (weighed a ton) in front of the door . It was on a solid base too.

With our runs we pegged them with heavy duty tent pegs (they have a steel peg at each corner but it wasn't enough IMO )

If you do offer her back to rescue she'll have the company of other guinea-pigs . The Rescue I got GP7/GP8 from had a big shed of sows in groups .
Or if you want a cagemate I can recommend a lardy middle aged neutered boar . There will be boars that have been boar pairs that had to split up . Or lost a sow .

Boar/sow pairings work well - personally I found it easier than sows .

Some rescues will do a loan of a piggie to bond which might work for you (but you;ll fall in love with it )

Give her lots of cuddles and see how she goes but ,yes,prepare yourself

How is the little poppet OP?

Hi all thanks again so much for the feedback and advice. We kept the surviving piggy inside in a dark room with loads of hay and in a cage with lots of places to hide. This seemed to work to calm her down. When she was calmer we gave her lots of hugs and said our goodbyes before taking her back to the rescue. She has been paired up with a baby who no other Guinea pigs liked. So although very sad, we are comforted that she's happy and in a really good place for her and that she has become a mother figure ti another pig in need. We gave the rescue a very generous donation.

I loved them dearly but honestly don't think I will ever have guinea pigs again, it was just too sad to lose them.

Without your input I don't think we would have taken her back to the rescue. It was 100% the right decision, she's so so happy there so thank you all for replying!