Hi! This is just a random question I was thinking about today. Are my guinea pigs REALLY connected with each other?
They are not sisters, but they do not fight. They do not sleep in the same hidey houses, and they don't really play with each other. They still communicate and talk with each other, but they are not best friends. So this is my question, if one of them passed, would the other one grieve? And if they did, would I have to get another guinea pig? Or would the other one be okay with it? They so not seem to have a strong connection together. Again, this is just a question. Thanks!
Yes, your girls are stably bonded and there is nothing wrong with them!
The problem is not so much with your piggies, but our human expectation that is nurtured by lots of online videos showing off snuggling guinea pigs - which is very much the minority.
You see very few videos that show off a more casual relationship, even though they make a much larger proportion of normal piggy bonds! They just don't make good video fodder and lack the 'cute' appeal. It is important that you are aware that online pet videos cater to a human audience and their human preferences (cute, funny, heart-warming etc.); they are not a proper representation of natural pet behaviour and of reality.
Most guinea pigs live alongside each other, doing their own stuff as adults. Even the most closely bonded piggies tend to spend part of the time away from each other if they are given the option.
Like with human partnerships, you get a minority of hand-holding close couples that do everything together and then you get the more independent ones where the partners have their own interests and friends, but still have a good relationship and still do some things together. You have long distance partnerships that work for the people involved.
When it comes to grieving, the same goes, too. It is thankfully only a very small minority of piggies that will grieve acutely (stop eating and drinking and giving up on life). Some will mourn more obviously while - like humans - others will carry on seemingly unaffected. But do not make the mistake that the latter are necessarily happy on their own and don't need the ongoing stimulation a companion; nearly all piggies actually do need at least next door company through the bars ideally within 1-4 weeks; more obvious cases where piggies can't handle being alone or struggle with their loss need company sooner.
My Calli can serve as an example that a guinea pig is never too old for company - it really makes a huge difference!
When Calli lost the last of her life-long companions aged 7, she was seemingly unaffected but gradually became more clingy and depressed. That was when her owner contacted me and took up my offer to give her a retirement home.
Calli made friends through the grids with a bereaved single diva of mine and eventually moved in with her new friend. Both the owner and I are absolutely sure that she would not have lived to celebrate her 9th birthday had she not had company.
Right now, my 8 year old Ffwlbri is still enjoying her life despite the odd balance problem when scratching. She is living with a 3 year old boar and a 7 months old sow, who joined at 5 weeks old. They are a really harmonious group, and the arrival of young Carys (a lookalike of Calli) has given Ffwlbri a renewed interest in live and keeps her going.
I have just spent the last few weeks finding a new solution for two neutered boars of mine that have each lost their partner unexpectedly within 3 weeks of each other.
I hope that helps you?
