Do we need to get another guinea pig?

[Hesleepswiththefishes]

Unfortunately one of our pigs has passed away overnight despite pain relief/antibiotics/recovery food

Vets couldn’t find anything wrong with her, they were very thorough

other pig (girl) is ginormous and I’m concerned she would crush a baby companion

dd 13 is worried she will die of a broken heart (the pig)

they are/were 2.5 yrs old

any advice appreciated

So sorry to hear this. Can you speak to your pet shop for advice. We are new gp owners so new to this

We took our remaining pig to a rescue place. They matched him with a friend who needed a good home.

Sorry to hear you've lost your piggy.

2.5 is still quite young for the other & I'm sure she'd like a companion.
When similar happened to us we went to a local rescue to find another adult friend.

There was a bit of rumblestrutting etc but after a couple of weeks they got on fine, I think it's easier to introduce females to each other.

Hope it all goes well.

We introduced a baby male to our one-year old male, and they are the best of friends and never really had any dramas. I think they accept babies very readily.

GP need at least one other, they don't do well as single animals. You don't need to get a baby. Lots of adult giggly pigs are available for rehoming, so find one around the same age and make two GPs happy.

Check your local re homing centre, if you have one.

Thanks for replies everyone
will see if I can find one needing rehomed

We went through this but our boys were older-and the remaining one is a hulk.
We didn't get any other pig and our boy has been totally fine. But as I said he is older and did sort of bully the other pig.
He skits around around outside and is very sociable.
If they were younger I would have replaced the lost piggie

Yes, 100% your pig must have a new partner. Like all small pets (rats, mice, gerbils, degus, chinchillas, rabbits, guinea pigs) they are highly social and will become lonely and depressed (as we would) kept in isolation.

Speak to your local Rescue, who will help with matching and bonding. Good luck!

Excited! going for a bonding session on Thursday (after a suitable mourning period) with a rescue who’s mum passed away who she is 10 wks old…I love guinea pigs 😁

Oh that's good news. They really do die of broken hearts if kept alone.

They're typically better in pairs or larger groups, but not all guinea pigs follow the pattern - we had two sisters (rescued as young adults, estimated by the rescue at around 10 months to a year old) as our first Guinea pigs and the more dominant one died at around 5 years old, which is an okay age. We thought her sister would soon follow but she actually became far more confident, put on weight and lived another almost four years!

We have three unrelated rescue pigs now who were put together within a larger "herd" as adults by the rescue (one castrated male and two females). They are great together now but one of them was bitten quite badly early on. They certainly can bond as adults but it can be rough initially.

I hope she behaves at the bonding session, she’s lovely but who knows she might be a bossy madam

will give them time apart to and let knee one patrol around marking

Good luck! I hope it goes well.
I love guinea pigs too 💕

Good luck!

Late to party but if she doesn't gel with the new sow consider a neutered boar ?
The rescues often castrate the boars to make it easier to home them.

Our boars were all cuddlier than the sows .
Our last 2 piggies were a boar who previously had 2 wives and the surviving sow from a sow pair (who wouldn't bond with the boar/sow/sow)

He was side by side till the feisty sow died and we bonded the boar with the last sow . It was a bit heart-in-mouth as she'd never lived in the same cage as him. But they were lovely till his death . Then we kept her upstairs till she died (about 4 months later )

Very glad to say we have a beautiful rescue who has joined us and other girl has totally accepted her lots of bonding/separating and they seem okay she was s so sweet and adorable I love them!

Photo wouldn't go amiss

(Just sayin' )

It’s not great but she is so sweet

Oh she's lovely! Great news that you've found a new friend for your piggy.😍

Ahh she's lovely and unusual to see a lighter coated piggie with dark eyes - she looks like an ivory or cream coated ?

It is so rewarding to see them get their paws under the table , you get used to their funny little ways and try them out on different foods - and get either Oh this is nice nom nom or what's this filth are you trying to poison me ?

Ours wouldn't entertain lambs lettuse (in a mixed bag they hoovered up everything else) or carrot peelings . Normal carrots yes, peelings no.

Did you keep her original name or has she been re-branded

She is so beautiful with a little brown nose and dark rims around the eyes and her coat is so soft she hasn’t wheeked yet but still early days
so snuggly