Advice needed about finding Rufus a new friend

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happycath

happycath

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So it has now been 11 days since poor Rocky unexpectedly went to the Rainbow Bridge :( and Rufus is looking very lonely now. We try to give him a bit of stimulation & make a fuss of him - but it's obviously not the same. He's very quiet and spending a lot of time in his bed.

We've had some family stuff going on for the last couple of weeks (sadly my Grandad passed away, the funeral was yesterday) which has taken a lot of our attention and time over the past fortnight - but we are now ready to find Rufus a new friend. It so sad to see him so quiet.

So I need some advice please! I haven't adopted a piggie before as my boys were from P@H (I know, I've learnt the error of my ways!).

I've looked online and there are one or two rescues including an RSPCA centre locally who I am going to contact and ask about boar dating. If they don't offer this locally what can I do? I hate the idea of bringing a new friend home and they don't get along.

Rufus is 2 1/2 and intact so his new friend will have to be a young boar. I don't want to put him through neutering unneccessarily!

Any help/advice/general experiences gratefully received!

Thanks :)

Catherine x
 
Hi, I dont think the RSPCA offer boar dating as a rule but mine were very helpful in letting me take Lacey with me to meet a boar they had and let them out together in a room to see how they were with each other whilst being monitored, all went well and they have been inseperable ever since, its worth asking if you can do that.
 
I am sure there are some other rescues as well in your area who will do boar dating. I am investigating boar dating at the moment (but up north!) and different rescues seem to do slightly different things so you need to do a bit of website searching and phoning I think.
I am sure some more people will come along and post and may know about the local situation - I think Pebble is based nearish you? Just wanted to say goodluck though :)
 
Thanks for all the advice :)
I'll definitely get in contact with Jenny in Crawley, thank you for the link Wiebke. Am I right in thinking Suzygpr is in Cardiff? Might be possible with a piggy train but it would be approx 5-6 hours from here otherwise. Will have to do some calling and emailing - I feel more guilty each day Rufus is on his own.
Just had him out for an overdue nail trim - he was not pleased and casually wandered off his towel to do a huge wee all over the sofa! They're cleverer than we know!
Will let you know how I get on with the rescues :)
 
Try Jenny first before Suzy - both are very competent women! Jenny is so much closer to you and has single boars to try Rufus with. I usually start any of my dating with the nearest rescue that has suitable candidates. So far, I never needed to go further even though I sometimes had to go through three piggies before a potential mate was found to be acceptable.
 
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How exciting - I got my Womble from Jenny a few weeks ago, she has so many lovely pigs!
 
That is exciting! Hope Womble is settling in well :)
I'm looking forward to welcoming another piggie into our home - poor Rufus just isn't himself at all.
 
Update

Time for an update!

We took Rufus up to Jenny at Crawley GPR yesterday, for a little holiday to be bonded with a piggie of his own age. It was lovely to meet Jenny & Sharon and all their gorgeous piggies - some real stunners and they all pulled heart strings. They also had a good look at Rufus' recurring lump (which I was told was a sebaceous cyst but they weren't so sure, and possibly some mites which wouldn't be a surprise after the stress of losing Rocky. I felt awful that we turned up with a piggie with problems and added to their workload :...

Jenny is going to try Rufus with Buggs first - a lovely ginger piggie with a funky haristyle who has been overlooked due to his red eyes :( so sad. So fingers crossed for Rufus and Buggs - although to be honest I'd be happy with whoever he hopefully comes home with, he just needs a friend!

Will keep you updated - thanks all for taking the time to respond before.
 
Try not to worry too much. Unfortunatly sometimes things do get missed I always think that the main thing, is when any illness is noticed its fixed (or tried to be fixed) as quickly as possible. After all thats the best we can do. :)

I wish you the best of luck in finding a friend for rufus! :)
 
Aww thanks Connie, I do feel dreadful but you're right. I'm not hugely experienced but I try to find out as much as I can as I go along & do the best for my piggies!
Fingers crossed its nothing nasty & will clear up quickly.
Fingers also crossed that Rufus & nice and friendly to his new potential huspig!

PS - Rufus is the piggie in my avatar <------
 
Very glad you are having a go at boar dating - Come on Rufus and Buggs! Hope they are bonding well - let us know what happens:)
 
So they had their first bonding session yesterday and apparently everything went fantastically! Jenny was aiming for 10-15 mins together but she emailed me to say they were still happy after an hour together! So they stayed together! She said there's a bit of chattering from Rufie today though, but hopefully he'll settle & overall its 'so far so good'. Jenny was kind enough to send some fab photos of their bonding session yesterday & I thought you'd like to see a few, what do you think?

Rufusandbuggsie3.jpg


Buggsbeinggentle.jpg


Rufusandbuggs1.jpg


Wequitelikeeachother.jpg

(I knew Rufus was podgy but this pic just proves it!)

Theboys5.jpg


BuggsdominatingRufus.jpg


Rufusandbuggs2.jpg
 
AWWW - it is great that Rufus seems to have found a new best friend straight away; and what a cute one!

PS: You are not a bad owner at all; like with everything else, it is a life long learning curve! Nobody can know it all right from the beginning - or is expected to.
 
Thank you Wiebke - that is reassuring! We live and we learn eh?
I know isn't he a handsome boy! Lucky Rufie :(|)
Trying not to get too attached (or excited!) in case things don't work out but he is just lovely :)
 
I'm so sorry about Rocky and hope the bonding is still going well. I'm just about to start the same process as Frankie lost his cage mate on Monday. It's a hard time isn't it. Balancing grieving for your lost piggy with the best interests of your surviving baby.
 
Have just found this thread! lol.

Sorry about the poor photographic quality to the pictures! I will try harder.

Rufus is a lovely piggie and is fairly well behaved, Buggs is trying his hardest to be friends, Ruffie sometimes tells him off and they have a chase around the cage, its not a 100% ok relationship, Rufus spends alot of his time just sitting. He is a little portly so perhaps he needs to have a bit of exercise! I will try them tomorrow back out in the pen in the kitchen and then some time on my lap and see what happens.

If Buggs doesn't work and I'm not entirely happy I will try someone else.
Time for bed!
 
Suggestion

Hello,

I know that at our local SPCA you can foster a pet, which would be like trying him out. Perhaps you could call your local shelter and explain what you are trying to do, and they will foster a piggie for you to find the perfect match?

Jessica in Kelowna
 
hiya justagirl, Rufus is currently here at Crawley Guinea Pig Rescue to be bonded with a piggie from the rescue, I do the bondings here. I'm going to try someone else with Rufus, he has looked across the sitting room to see a piggie called 'Bob'. I am going to try him tonight and see if they can share veggie time.
 
:)) fingers crossed.
I think 'portly' is a very nice way of putting it! Rufus has always been at the lazier end of the scale and after Rocky's death he did a lot of sitting still, even during floor time, which I suspect hasn't helped his 'portly-ness'. Hopefully having a new piggie in his life will liven him up again :)
 
Update

Time for another update!
Rufus and Bob are now home with us, and seem very settled and happy :)
They've been out for floor time a few times, and Bob even seems to be giving Rufus confidence as Rufus wouldn't walk on the laminate floor before & is starting to now! Bob seemed to especially enjoy doing a huge puddle of wee and several poos under the nest of tables... {:| ..... making himself at home!
They wheek for veggies every time they see us walk into the kitchen in the evening, even after we've fed them their dinner! Greedy boys lol.

I must get some pigtures up here!

Thanks for all your support lovelies, and thanks to Jenny for making Rufie happy again!
 
Really pleased that Rufus and Bob are getting on well - you must be so pleased Rufus has some company again and I am sure Bob will love his new home:)
 
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