guinea pig passed away.

guineapogmum

guineapogmum

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hi all,
3ish years ago i bought 3 guinea pigs (Shaun, Patches and Silky, right to left in photo below) but recently Shaun has passed away reasons unknown. so now i only have the two and was wondering what to do when either of these two pass away and if i should let the last one live his senior years single or if I should find another guinea pig to give him some company?
IMG_20200820_082836.webp
 
I’m sorry for your loss.

I'm assuming these are all boys - you are very lucky to have a functioning boar trio.

As you are in Switzerland, it is illegal in that country to have a single piggy, but I’m not sure how it works when you are left with a bereaved single and what the law in your country says about that situation.

A piggy should not be alone and leaving one to live out the remainder its life alone could mean a considerable time feeling lonely. It is going to come that you may wish to end the piggy cycle and we would suggest you contact a rescue centre when you are left with a single piggy to get their advice - it may be that they have a piggy who you can adopt to see out the life of your piggy, and then return the rescue piggy passes away thereby ending your cycle.
 
I'm very sorry for your loss! As was writen above, guinea pigs have to have a partner in Switzerland. It's the same in Austria. (Well, it should be everywhere really, but it's not the law everywhere.)
I have heard that early neutering is common practice in Switzerland. Were your boys neutered early as well?
This should make bonding a bit easier. I would try to find a baby boar that was neutered early.
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
I'm very sorry for your loss! As was writen above, guinea pigs have to have a partner in Switzerland. It's the same in Austria. (Well, it should be everywhere really, but it's not the law everywhere.)
I have heard that early neutering is common practice in Switzerland. Were your boys neutered early as well?
This should make bonding a bit easier. I would try to find a baby boar that was neutered early.
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Ooh, yes, I forgot about the early neutering given it isn’t something that happens in most countries.

It is a shame single piggies (or any social animal) are still allowed to be kept single in other countries.
 
Have I seen correctly that you also have a herd of girls?
If so, the other option is to neuter both your boys now and then when one passes, the other boy could be bonded in with the girls
 
guineapogmum said:
ok thank you so much
i will post a photo when they are hopefully bonded.
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While they are both alive you cannot add any other piggies in with them.
How old are they? Hopefully they both have long lives ahead of them so you don’t need to worry about any of this at this point
 
I’m so sorry you lost Shaun :hug:
It’s always a dialema, you can find your remaining boy a friend via a rescue boar date perhaps
 
Piggies&buns said:
Have I seen correctly that you also have a herd of girls?
If so, the other option is to neuter both your boys now and then when one passes, the other boy could be bonded in with the girls
Click to expand...
that is an option but my Susan can be a bit nippy to other guinea pigs even other females that i looked after once.
 
Piggies&buns said:
While they are both alive you cannot add any other piggies in with them.
How old are they? Hopefully they both have long lives ahead of them so you don’t need to worry about any of this at this point
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both turned three two months ago
Piggies&buns said:
You definitely are so lucky! Enjoy them!
Most boar trios (even those who are biological brothers) fail so we rarely see good stories about them!
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yeah thank you i believe they have been together since birth.
the two on the right hand side are both brothers but the other one is a half brother. (same dad different Mum)
 
I’m so sorry you lost Shaun. They are beautiful. I hope the other two live long and happy lives together ❤️
 
guineapogmum said:
how many do you think could be added?
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I can’t answer that without knowing your cage size.

One neutered boar can live with as many sows as there is space in the cage for.
Don’t forget it all comes down to compatibility though so you would also need to have a plan to split them all up into separate cages if any bonding didn’t work out.
 
Piggies&buns said:
I can’t answer that without knowing your cage size.

One neutered boar can live with as many sows as there is space in the cage for.
Don’t forget it all comes down to compatibility though so you would also need to have a plan to split them all up into separate cages if any bonding didn’t work out.
Click to expand...
the cage is about 4-5square metres so quite large.
 
guineapogmum said:
the cage is about 4-5square metres so quite large.
Click to expand...

So 4 square metres converts to 43 square feet.
Going on the guide of 10 square feet for two piggies and then two square feet per additional piggy - you would be looking at that cage holding around 14 piggies if I’ve done my maths right
(10 sq ft - 2 piggies
12 sq ft - 3 piggies
14 sq ft - 4 piggies
16 sq ft - 5 piggies
Etc)

However you are better off to put less piggies in a larger space ie don’t fill an enclosure just because it can hold that many.
You’ve also got to have a plan to be able to split them all up if a herd of that size failed.

Personally, as you have a larger space, i think it would be nice to give them a square metre of territory each - so to have 4-5 piggies in a cage of that size. It would give them a lovely amount of territory each and plenty of enrichment.
It would also be easier to split up if bondings failed

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
 
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