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Advice please-may have to rehome my boars :-(

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kayemerton

kayemerton

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all

I was an avid reader on this forum for many months before I got my two boys last April and have always valued people's advice and opinions on here and have since. I was wondering if you could help me make what may well be a difficult decision.
My two satin boars (one red, one golden) have been living in a nice double hutch outside since I got them and then moved into our outhouse once the weather got cold so they are warm and under cover. However, since I have had them I have had little chance to really interact with them and give them the love and attention they deserve, made even harder by the fact that they are outdoors. Now I never went into keeping guinea pigs with rose tinted glasses, like any animal I got them knowing full well what they needed and how they and we could fit into each other's lives. But since then my partner has had to take work away after he was made redundant which has meant I am pretty much a single parent in the week to my 2 year old and our dog! I also work as a teacher part time. I thought of keeping them indoors but we have just not got the space. Many people would probably say that I should have thought about all this before and the time they would take and the attention they need etc. Well I did but things change and I did not know that my OH would lose his job nor that I would be running the house single handed (my family such as mum etc live in Italy).
So...am I wrong to want to rehome them to someone that could give that indoor lifestyle and love and handle them everyday like I should be doing? What do you all think? I dont want to be one of those people that gets a pet for Christmas and then doesnt want it when it gets difficult as that is not what I am like at all. All my pets ranging from cats to a horse that I have owned over the years have all stayed with me until they have died of old age! But these lovely two need more love than I can give and they are not even 1 year olds yet. HELP?! :0
 
Can you not find a space for them indoors. I have all my piggies indoors and interaction with them is so much easier, and less demanding.

Pigs don't need handling as they will happily entertain one another, what they do need though is food, warmth and a health check every other week or so.
 
No there is definately no space indoors, we are packed in as it is already sadly. But thanks for the advice
 
It must be very sad for you to have to be thinking about rehoming your piggies.

I do have to agree with Flintstones- although those of us who are able to have our piggies indoors and/ or spend a lot of time with them get a lot out of this, you don't HAVE to be able to give your piggies lots of cuddles for them to be happy.

As long as you are providing for their needs- and they have eachother for company- as Flintstones has said, they will be fine.

I know it's not ideal but I say this because I know most rescues are really full up with piggies who are living in much worse conditions than yours and are genuinely in need of being rescued. Do you really want to add to this and possibly stop them being able to take in REALLY needy piggies?

You are obviously a caring owner and I think you can still give them a good home with you. I would think very carefully about whether you want to give them up- this should be the very last resort, if their welfare is genuinely suffering.

I hope your home situation improves and your OH is able to find work closer to home.
 
Yes, I had the feeling this would probably be the reaction- that other guinea pigs are worse off than mine and therefore need priority.
Thanks for your opinions I shall continue to do what I am doing and see what happens
 
Only you know the right answer, really, as you know how much care they are getting. If they are clean, fed and watered and checked regularly, the lack of cuddles is not really an issue. But if they are outside and not given much attention then they would be better off elsewhere.

Yes, most rescues are pretty full at the moment but you could try rehoming them yourself (preferably to someone you know!) before resorting to that

Sophie
x
 
i think you should do what you think is best, BUT i will say i have 23 guinea pigs, my hubby works away i have 2 dogs one which is a 16wk old pup, a hamster and 4 rabbits, and 4 children aged 9yrs, 6yrs, 4yrs who is disabled, and 19mths old, i dont work but lead a hectic life, i dont handle my guineas a lot but they all live in groups of neutered boars and their sows and sow to sow pairings, they are cleaned out every 3 days and some have cuddles then i do health checks on them via looking every day, and physical checks every 1-2 wks, they are fed everyday, either when my son is asleep or he comes out with me as my guineas live in a heated outhouse, or i do the cleaning when hubby is home which is 7pm, so every 3 days i clean until 10pm at night, i do have to say x2 guineas really shouldn't be that hard to look after as i once had in 52 guineas at once (rescue guineas)... 19 of these 23 guineas i have now are my own and the others are rescue( foster)..

If they are getting fed guinea food and veg , watered and hay everyday and cleaned every 4 days to a week then cuddles is not that important as they do have each other....
 
Does your outhouse have lighting/windows or are your guinea pigs spending a lot of time in there in the dark? x
 
A couple of years ago, due to circumstances I couldn't change, I had to rehome my three guinea pigs. It was a very very hard decision as I loved them dearly, and had them living indoors with me so there was a lot of inter-action. But I was fortunate enough to find wonderful homes for them myself, and so they didn't need to go into a Rescue. If you do feel you must rehome them, presumably there's no rush, so it would give you time to find that right home.
 
Another option would be to get in touch with your local rescue and ask if you could foster your piggies whilst under the umbrella of the rescue.
So..... the rescue could advertise and do the homecheck whilst you still look after them. That way, a really good home could be found for them and you wouldnt have the awkwardness of doing a homecheck.
 
awww you poor thing, personally i would keep them, like others have said, they handling isnt as necessary as somewhere warm to live and food and water...as long as you can give them some time....hope you get throught it x
 
Hi:))

If it is just a feeling of guilt that you haven't the time to interact with them but they are fed, watered and cleaned out properly then I would say you don't need to rehome them if you don't want to as the others have said they like guinea pig company and some shyer piggies find handling stressful.

If it's a case of not having the time to clean them out etc then that is different, or to feed them veg everyday, food and water then it would be wise to rehomex
 
I would say, to wait a few weeks, and see how it is then. You never know, once they are out of the outhouse, and if you have grass then once you can start putting them on a run on the grass, then you might feel better about it. I know it can be especially hard looking after outdoor pets in the winter.

They don't really need cuddles or interaction. I actually never cuddle my girl pigs cos they don't like it, I kinda just sit by their cage and watch them and feed them some treats or whatever. But not for a very long time.

But you know yourself if you feel they could have a better home, and if you're not really getting much from them either, then you could try to find a home for them yourself, through this forum and maybe with the help of a rescue.

I would give it a few weeks though to make sure you don't regret it, and because things might seem better in the spring, because guinea pigs are more fun in the spring I think! :)
 
I think as others have said, if they're not neglected then they're not necessarily unhappy, I'm at home with the kids at the moment and in the day fold out a pen in the lounge or hall so the piggies have a change of scene and get plenty of company



I then fold it up somewhere between tea time and the kids bedtime and they go back in there cage, but might come out again for laptime when the kids are asleep.

I know when I go back to work full time they won't get as much attention, but I'll still be able to let them out for a play in the evening and to have more time at the weekends, my OH isn't here much (works full time and is doing a degree and a professional course so spends weekends and evenings at uni) but I really make the piggies part of the kids routine, they love feeding them and cuddling them and helping to clean them out although it does take 3 times as long and make loads of mess with a 1 year old and a 3 year old
 
I think that if your guineas are indoors, ie in the house, then meeting basic needs is fine, as they will still have you chatting as you go by, they will have the titbits of food, they will be kept clean etc., and handling, cuddles and floor time are not so important, if you are going through a really busy phase in your life. However, I do feel for the guinea pigs who are kept out in the shed, garage with not much, if any natural light this time of year. If it is just for a short period, maybe a couple of weeks or so, then ok, but if this goes on longer and the only time they see you is 2 minutes in a morning to top up food, water and give veggies, then the same 2 minutes again at night, I really don't think this is the best for them, and they would be better where someone has more time. I also think it is a question of priorities. People often don't think of getting rid of the dog or the cat, but little pigs shut away somewhere just seem the easy option to fall into neglect and subsequently rehomed.
Please, please don't take this as any sort of judgement on your situation as I'm sure you are thinking hard about it, but this has always been a concern of mine, as anyone who has adopted from me will verify, as it is always a conversation I have with them. xx
 
Hi all, thanks for all the replies. I think that maybe I wasnt very clear when i meant rehoming. I didnt mean to send them to a rehoming/rescue place as this would indeed be a waste of resources and time. I meant that by chatting on here maybe someone would want them and offer them a home. The problem is that I guess, I feel bad I give them so little time. They do get light in the outhouse it has a window and also we have a light on in there. But I do very little with them and this is where I think they would be better with someone else because of that reason. I just dont see how me feeding and cleaning them is really any benefit for me or them if we dont interact much more than that. I most certainly wouldnt neglect them with the basics, but it is the quality of life that I would like to improve for them and not sure I give them that. Having said that as the weather (IF the weather!) gets better then they will be out in their run etc and handled much more.
Hellsbells82 I do like your set up, does anyone have a portable pop up kind of cage they could reccomend as that may be the answer to getting them indoors especially if they are easy to then empty out and tidy away.
Thanks again for the advice everyone
X
 
kayemerton said:
be out in their run etc and handled much more.
Hellsbells82 I do like your set up, does anyone have a portable pop up kind of cage they could reccomend as that may be the answer to getting them indoors especially if they are easy to then empty out and tidy away.
Thanks again for the advice everyone
X
Click to expand...

that one just folds down flat, it takes me 5 mins to get out and put away, it's this one http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/runs_fencing/pens_with_racks/184159
 
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