Info On Pets At Home, Help With Age Of Piggy And Finding A Friend For Him To Bond With

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Namaah

Namaah

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Not sure which forum to post this in as it's really a few different questions in one post, apologies if this is the wrong place
I recently adopted a pet from the pets at home adoption center, He had a sign next to him saying he had been in the store a while and needed a loving home. I was under the impression that I was adopting a pet that had been surrendered for whatever reason an no one was adopting him. I read somewhere today that the majority of the pets in the adoption center aren't actually rescue animals but animals that are past the age the shop will sell them at. It also said that all the pets that say something like "I've been in this store for a while...." are always shop stock that are too old for normal selling as pet shops wont sell piggies over 12 weeks old. It also said that after 15 weeks they remove them from the adoption center. Does anyone have any more info on this?

If this is true then my piggy should be between 15 - 18 weeks old at most so still has the hormonal teen thing to go through. I've tried to work out what age he is but I'm really not sure, I know you cant tell exactly what age they are especially when they are older but I would like to know if he is over 1 year or under. I read something about the nails being different when they get older but I cant find any pictures to compare them to. I weighed him today and he is 790g , I've found info that says adult males should be between 900g and 1100g but nothing about what weight younger guinea pigs should be. Does this mean that he is still under a year old or just a small adult? Does anyone have any other tips for working out age?

If he is under year old what is the best option for getting a friend for him. Unfortunately there is no rescue centers near me to take him piggy dating and I would really like to avoid having to house piggies separately as I don't have the space for 2 cages. The two options I've been thinking about based on what I've read are either getting him neutered and getting a female piggy companion or getting an older boar (about 3 years+) as he would have more chance of bonding if they weren't going through the teen stage together. Which option do you think has the most chance of success or is there a third option I'm not thinking about.
 
I don't have enough experience to be terrifically helpful, the others here will have ideas though. What will help them is if you can add whereabouts (roughly) you are as they might know local options that haven't popped up on your radar in terms of rescues/fosters etc.
 
I know that younger guinea pigs have what I call "baby nails" on their front feet & that once you start cutting them they will grow more. The back toe nails can be a bette indication of younger ages as usually they start needing to be cut at about 3 months plus from my limited experiece. I now run a rescue & I'm learning quickly now.

Did you ask his age, they should be able to narrow it down to at least the month he was born x
 
You're really thinking this through - which is fantastic - it shows how much you care about this.

It's probably best not to dwell on what happens to the guinea pigs that are not adopted from the adoption Centre.

If you are seriously considering having your boar neutered - you need to find a vet who is experienced in neutering guinea pigs . I love having a neutered boar and sow - but have learnt the hard way the pitfalls of not using a piggy savvy vet.
 
I'm in falkirk and unfortunately the nearest rescue I've found that does boar dating is in Newcastle. My husband has some time off in May so I could possible travel down there for a few days then but I don't know what to do with my piggy while I'm down their as I a really doubt any hotel would allow me to keep one in my room. I'm keeping it in mind as a back up option if I don't find an alternative before then
I asked about his age at the time I bought him and she said she wasn't sure so she would find out and get back to me, She never got back to me so I went back to the store and apparently there is no record of where he came from or what age he is which seems really strange.
I've tried to get some pics of his nails but i couldn't hold him in a good position and take a picture at the same time, I'll get my husband to help when he gets home. I've go a few pics of them when he is standing but don't know if they will be any good. If anyone knows anything about nails could you tell me if these look like baby nails or not. first 2 are back nails and third one is front nails. Also added a full pic as I've seen lots of images of guinea pigs bits etc on the internet and always wondered what the full piggy looked like lol
back nails.webp back nails2.webp front nails.webpfull pic.webp
I've been feeling pretty guilty about just adopting a piggy without reading anything first (tiny recommended pet shop cage, recommended to keep alone, told he doesn't need veg etc) but things have been vastly improving for him at last in the 3 weeks I've had him and he seems really happy(lots of purring, popcorning and pancaking lol). I don't want too make any more stupid mistakes so really want to make sure I'm doing this properly.
I was looking at vets for him and the 2 I spoke too didn't seem like they do much to do with guinea pigs, one was supposed to phone me but didn't and when I looked at their website at the guinea pig section it is full of wrong and bad advice. The other vet told me they can neuter guinea pig but it is not something they normally do so wont go with them. I've read lots of good things about apex vets in Denny though (didn't even know they existed) so will phone them on Monday. I want to get him registered at a vet whither I decide to get him neutered or not.
 
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Namaah said:
I've been feeling pretty guilty about just adopting a piggy without reading anything first
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Don't feel guilty.

Most of us were in the same boat when we 1st got Guinea Pigs. Put that all behind you.

If you are prepared to travel to Newcastle for boar dating - this would be a very good option .

If I were you , I would contact the resuces early as there is a lot to discuss and arrange.

NEGPR are a very good rescue - I don't think they have much presence on here so I advise you contact by phone/email/website .

Tees Valley is run by @Stewybus so I suggest you pm him to discuss further.
 
I already emailed NEGPR on Thursday night asking if the would consider rehoming with me. Not heard back yet but it did say it could take a few days and it's not an urgent request so happy to wait. I'll try contacting tees valley as well. I'm still not sure about travelling with my guinea pig though regarding the where to house it. I'll also need to see what money we can spare to book a hotel and travel costs as i've just spent about £250 on guinea pig stuff :O. I also have my husbands, one of my kids, my sister, my mother and my mother in laws birthday in May (very expensive month :( )
 
Namaah said:
I already emailed NEGPR on Thursday night asking if the would consider rehoming with me. Not heard back yet but it did say it could take a few days and it's not an urgent request so happy to wait. I'll try contacting tees valley as well. I'm still not sure about travelling with my guinea pig though regarding the where to house it. I'll also need to see what money we can spare to book a hotel and travel costs as i've just spent about £250 on guinea pig stuff :O. I also have my husbands, one of my kids, my sister, my mother and my mother in laws birthday in May (very expensive month :( )
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I understand. It's just nice to look at all the options.
 
Namaah said:
does anyone know how long boar dating usually takes?
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Rescues do this differently. The 1st thing to find out is the rescue has any suitable boars available. If things go well, it can sometimes be done in a day .
 
We do boar dating at Tees Valley Guinea Pig Rescue near Middlesbrough. Sometimes they get on great & after 90 minutes I do the pet carrier test where you put them both in for 15 minutes. If they pass this tes then they can go with new owner straightaway as separating & putting back together later from experience can sometimes have different results. Sometimes they don't hit it off straightaway so then it's probably a no no. I will also keep the boar looking for a friend here for 1 to 3 nights to get them fully bonded. I find it's best to either bond 2 under 3 or 4 month olds or a piggy under 18 months with one over 2 years old & have had great success with the latter. If we had suitable candidates for your boy you'd be welcome to leave himwith us for a few days. If you need more info you can email us at [email protected] :) x
 
That sounds fantastic Stewybus , My main concern was what to do with my guinea pig while I was away. I was expecting it to take a lot longer as well, if it will only be a couple of days it shouldn't be too bad. Do you know if you would consider rehoming so far away as obviously it would be impractical for you to do a home check. I can take as many pictures or video's of my cage and guinea pig as needed. If it's something you would consider I'll write up some more info and email pics etc to that email once his new cage is finished (it's still a pile of wood and a little bit of frame atm)
 
We could look after him for a few days. I can tell how passionate you are about guinea pigs. I have several friends up your way who I could ask to homecheck but I really don't think there will be a problem on that side. We are on the forum rescue locator & we have a facebook page & a facebook group :) x
 
That's a possibility @lisaali. I know that Suzanne is also coming down here in April. So that's a couple of options :) x
 
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