Jerrybelly
Senior Guinea Pig
1 Quarantining measures and hygiene
2 Joint quarantine
- Babies under 4 months
- Acute bereavement pining
- No quarantine needed
- Infectious outbreak in groups
While it is certainly exciting when we bring home new piggies, and many of us want to immediately start introducing them to the rest of the family and our other piggies, it is essential that proper quarantine measures are followed in order to protect our resident animals. This is paramount if the piggies have come from pet shops, or anywhere other than a reputable rescue (where the piggies would already have undergone quarantine before being rehomed, and usually also treated for lice/mites).
Effective quarantine can prevent the spread of parasites and illness.
Quarantining measures and hygiene
Joint quarantine
Babies under 4 months of age
Babies and youngsters are not wired to be on their own and can really struggle being away from any other guinea pig.
Companionship needs outweigh quarantining needs in guinea pigs under 4 months.
Acute bereavement pining
The other case where companionship needs outweigh a quarantine before introduction are newly bereavement guinea pig who cannot cope with being alone. True acute pining (giving up on life) is thankfully extremely rare.
These guinea pigs should be seen by a vet for a potential underlying health problem and you need to step in with feeding support asap before you bring a new mate home.
If the deceased piggy was suffering from an infectious health issues, then please wait for 2-3 weeks before bringing a new friend home and allow the companion to ideally have their own quarantining period first.
How to handle a joint quarantine with your own guinea pig(s):
Quarantine not needed
Guinea pigs from good standard rescue with a mandatory quarantine, a pregnancy watch for sows and a clean bill of health before they are put up for adoption do not need a quarantine and can be introduced straight away.
All of our recommended rescues do fill this requirement. With any other rescues you have to enquire before adoption, including whether they have a separate quarantining room for new intakes or not. If you have any concerns, please opt for a quarantine of your own.
Infectious outbreak in groups
Transmission of infectious diseases, ringworm or parasites may have already happened, but please separate any noticeably ill piggies from a group asap; this doesn't apply to pairs. Ideally you have a spare hospital cage at the ready that you can set up quickly in another room.
Please discuss how the illness is transmitted and any necessary measures with your vet. If you are unlucky to have contracted one of the killing nasties, then it can swipe through the whole group despite your measures because there is always the gap between infection and acute outbreak but if you are lucky, the infection has not yet reached all of your piggies.
Quarantining ringworm piggies from a larger group is strongly recommend because the gap between infection and outbreak is 10-14 days so you have time to treat your acutely infected piggies with visible ringworm separately but have time to interrupt the infection in the other piggies before more outbreaks and any shedding of more highly infectious long lived spores.
The quaranting means that you have to deep clean and treat your group and group premises only once instead of twice.
I hope that this guide will help you to balance safety concerns with companionship needs and practicalities.
2 Joint quarantine
- Babies under 4 months
- Acute bereavement pining
- No quarantine needed
- Infectious outbreak in groups
While it is certainly exciting when we bring home new piggies, and many of us want to immediately start introducing them to the rest of the family and our other piggies, it is essential that proper quarantine measures are followed in order to protect our resident animals. This is paramount if the piggies have come from pet shops, or anywhere other than a reputable rescue (where the piggies would already have undergone quarantine before being rehomed, and usually also treated for lice/mites).
Effective quarantine can prevent the spread of parasites and illness.
Quarantining measures and hygiene
- Quarantine a new guinea pig for 2-3 weeks, ideally behind a closed door and in another room from any existing guinea pigs.
- Always wash your hands and change your clothes between handling the new pig and your existing ones (parasites, e.cuniculi and fungal/ringworm spores can be passed to piggies from our clothes as well).
- Handle, feed and clean out your own piggies before you deal with the newbie, so you are much less likely to carry something across.
- Wash any fabrics in contact with a quarantine piggy at least at 60 C; that includes your own clothing.
- A vet check-up is recommended as soon as possible to rule out illness
Joint quarantine
Babies under 4 months of age
Babies and youngsters are not wired to be on their own and can really struggle being away from any other guinea pig.
Companionship needs outweigh quarantining needs in guinea pigs under 4 months.
Acute bereavement pining
The other case where companionship needs outweigh a quarantine before introduction are newly bereavement guinea pig who cannot cope with being alone. True acute pining (giving up on life) is thankfully extremely rare.
These guinea pigs should be seen by a vet for a potential underlying health problem and you need to step in with feeding support asap before you bring a new mate home.
If the deceased piggy was suffering from an infectious health issues, then please wait for 2-3 weeks before bringing a new friend home and allow the companion to ideally have their own quarantining period first.
How to handle a joint quarantine with your own guinea pig(s):
- Home with only one guinea pig cage
If the new baby is to join your single bereaved guinea pig, bonded pair or group, then just introduce on neutral ground (never just stick a new guinea pig into the cage of another one!) and if necessary have them all vet treated.
- Home with several cages or large group
If a new baby from an unquarantined background arrives in a home with several guinea pig cages or a large group, then please consider quarantining with a properly introduced companion piggy of yours in a separate room, so you can both address the problem of companionship but limit the number of guinea pigs that could be affected.
Quarantine not needed
Guinea pigs from good standard rescue with a mandatory quarantine, a pregnancy watch for sows and a clean bill of health before they are put up for adoption do not need a quarantine and can be introduced straight away.
All of our recommended rescues do fill this requirement. With any other rescues you have to enquire before adoption, including whether they have a separate quarantining room for new intakes or not. If you have any concerns, please opt for a quarantine of your own.
Infectious outbreak in groups
Transmission of infectious diseases, ringworm or parasites may have already happened, but please separate any noticeably ill piggies from a group asap; this doesn't apply to pairs. Ideally you have a spare hospital cage at the ready that you can set up quickly in another room.
Please discuss how the illness is transmitted and any necessary measures with your vet. If you are unlucky to have contracted one of the killing nasties, then it can swipe through the whole group despite your measures because there is always the gap between infection and acute outbreak but if you are lucky, the infection has not yet reached all of your piggies.
Quarantining ringworm piggies from a larger group is strongly recommend because the gap between infection and outbreak is 10-14 days so you have time to treat your acutely infected piggies with visible ringworm separately but have time to interrupt the infection in the other piggies before more outbreaks and any shedding of more highly infectious long lived spores.
The quaranting means that you have to deep clean and treat your group and group premises only once instead of twice.
I hope that this guide will help you to balance safety concerns with companionship needs and practicalities.
