Lone Boar - how do you know if he needs a friend?

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andic

andic

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We lost Winston about 10 days ago aged about 51/2 :( this leaves Beanie his cage mate all alone. beanie is 3 years old and he was the quieter of the two of them. Winston was the dominant piggie. he and Beanie went speed dating x>>when Beanie was 3 months old and had been friends ever since, so Beanie has always had company. So far Beanie seems to be happy in himself, he eeks for his food and is eating and pooing normal.
He comes to sit on my knee each night and purrs when you stroke him. As he is in the living room then he does get a lot of human company.

obviously it's early days for all of us coming to terms with the loss of our dear Winston. But I wondered does anyone know if there are tell tale signs whether Beanie is lonely?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks
Andrea
 
i can only really go by my own experience, we had two ,pepper and badger (rip) , from babies together, they were not brothers, but were great together, badger was pts at 3 yrs, due to a growth in his bladder, pepper seemed fine, like your boy seems to be, and was on his own for a year, because i wrongly believed he would nt accept a friend, until i found out it is possible to introduce another, well we got him a friend and he has been more vocal,, cuddles up with liqourice , and just is much more interested in what is going on,so give it some time to get over losing your other boy, and then try boar dating x it is not always obvious how they are feeling x
 
yeah you definatly need to give him some time. Theo changed when Alvin died and they were in a seperated c&c. He used to squeek less and even though now hes still technically alone have three beside him he's so much happier and wheeks all the time.
But I do think they need a little time to get used to their friend not being there.
 
Piggies don't mourn any less than humans, but usually shorter - they have to survive. Some take it harder than others, and a very few follow their best friends.

You can generally start looking for a mate after a few days. The difference is evident when you see them literally come to life again with a new partner.

The best way to find a congenial mate is by "boar dating" at a guinea pig rescue that offers this service, so your boy makes his own choice who he wants to be friends with.

I have piggy dated several bereaved mature piggies that way, always with great success.

This thread gives you an idea what is involved with careful boar dating: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=59233
 
Firstly, may I offer my deepest condolences for your loss!

However, do you want to add a new addition to your home?! I currently have a bonded pair of boars, which I have decided will be my last guinea pigs for the foreseeable future, if not my last guinea pigs!

Regardless of whether you decide to add another guinea pig to your home, ensure that Beanie continues to receive human companionship (Personally, I believe that it is beneficial to provide a little extra human companionship, but not so much that Beanie becomes dependent on human companionship), provide Beanie with extra enrichment activities, continue to weigh him weekly etc.
 
what if there is nowhere near you that has boar dating? that is my problem there is nowhere near me xx
 
Alberts_Mummy said:
what if there is nowhere near you that has boar dating? that is my problem there is nowhere near me xx
Click to expand...

You can either see whether you can arrange transport to and from a rescue with the voluntary help of forum members or you can look locally for a place that allows you to bring your lonely piggy. I agree that it is not easy or possible everywhere in the UK and or abroad, but it is certainly worth making the extra effort whenever it is option!
 
I'm very sorry that you lost Winston. *hugs*

I'd be pretty certain that Beanie would like a new friend. No amount of human company will make up for same-species company.

I've had recent experience --- our lovely piggie Bella passed away, and her daugher pined and lost weight. We adopted a new friend for her, and she started putting weight back on, and popcorning like nobody's business. She's a very happy piggie now.
 
Thank you so much for your replies. We are making sure that Beanie has as much attention as possible.
I think we will give him some time and then take him boar dating. Appreciate your advice.
A local rescue did boar dating for Winston and Beanie so when we're ready I will ask them if they have any suitable boars:)

Thanks
Andrea
x
 
We are in exactly the same situation. Our boys had been together since they were babies and we lost Licquorice just after Christmas.
Fernando has always been the quieter piggie and less social and we just don't know whether he would actually want and be better with a new friend or maybe he is enjoying the peace and quiet for a while.

I think he is lonely so I am posting to see if anyone can recommend a guinea pig dating rescue near to us. Maybe see what his reaction is and take it from there.

Am so sorry for your loss - horrible isn't it.
 
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. When we lost Nugget, Nibbles went downhill fast. Not eating or drinking. Just laying there looking miserable. I really thought we would lose him too.

I had no idea about boar dating and took Nibbles along to my nearest P@H where we helped him select a friend. Though sometimes he is irritable with naughty Nutty's antics I know he wouldn't be without him.

I would not recommend the way I did things. We were grieving and didn't really know what we were doing Much better to boar date through a reputable rescue who can advise and guide you through the process.

Hope things work out for you and once again I'm so sorry to hear about your loss.


Amy
x
 
Sorry for your lost,
i had the same problem i had my two little guineas that were sisters and did not leave each others side then very suddenly one died (buddy) rip :0.
having previous experience with this i thought i better get her another friend quite quickly and we found her a friend they got on very well they had their quarrels but did become friends and now and then they have a little fight but get over it quite quickly, she is the same age but i found out that it is best to get a young one because they can get the domiance thing over and done with quickly. but when guineas are by them selves they can get depressed very quickly and it is best to get them a new friend quite quickly. it takes a while for them to get used to each other but most of the time they become best of friends i know it will not feel the same with a different guinea but it does get the other guinea over the grieving stage. i hope this helps :)
 
Nemo who is about 6 years old, recently lost his cagemate Godzilla. It was quite a shock since Godzilla was young but unfortunately ha developed a condition which was inoperable and it was nicer to let him go. So I can understand this is a very difficult and upsetting time for both you and Beanie. Nemo has taken Godzilla's passing quite well, he still eats/drinks normally and bumbles around but I found when he was with Godzilla he had more of a zest for life. It seemed like he had peaked in happiness when he was with his little friend because they did everything together.

I felt because of this it was in his best interests for me to try and rebond him. So I recently got a new boar, Boris, who is about 12 weeks old now. They're not living together full time yet as I wanted to take things slowly but Nemo is very placid so it seems to be going okay so far. Some of my piggies love human companionship, one in particular Peanut is just with us 24/7 and he's horrible to other boars but the majority whilst they are very friendly prefer to not be handled so much and enjoy spending time with each other just doing pig things.

Hopefully when the time comes you will be able to successfully find Beanie a new friend!
 
Just to update you all - Beanie now has a lovely chatty new boyfriend called Bertiex)he's 6 weeks old and although he's tiny he certainly makes up for his lack of size in noise! I will post some photos once I have uploaded them. We went to Avalon rescue in Nottingham - thank you Shaz.

Thank you all for your advice.....it's lovely to have such support from other like minded piggie fans
x
 
xx>>> That is fantastic - hope the boys have lots of piggy fun together :))
Really pleased for you x>>
We demand pics of the happy couple rolleyes ;)
Boar/sow dating is brilliant - my 'greedy' girl chose two friends recently so another trio to love and treasure :)
 
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