Need to know ? One guinea pig or two

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murraythatsme

murraythatsme

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Hi, Just joined yout site as I am desperates for the CORRECT information! Forgive me for rattling on BUT this is our dilema....Found a lovely little guinea pig hiding in a mass of thick bushes in our garden ...approx 3 wks ago ! Unable to get anywhere near it ...we got quite worried to it's ability to be independent in the 'bush' ( so to speak)...bought it a little 'rodent house' , water bottle ( attatched it to a nearby tree) Lots of straw & a daily supply of greens. All was going fine...until out lovely WHIPPETT became quite interested in the guinea ( now called Murray ,,,,by our 4 year old)...tried to catch it ...NO CHANCE ...bought a humane rat trap .... hey presto! ...it's our new pet ! Bought it a 2 tier hutch ( it loves it ) with a 6x4 run ...lots of toys & he loves to be cuddled ....been in there 2 days & we thought he would like a friend ( definate MALE) ....NOW been to local pet shops they both advice us different ....WHAT SHOULD WE DO PLEASE ? ....one says ok & introduce them slowly ....the other said NO CHANCE ...not 2 males ...will want to defend their domain ...? Spent over £250 already ( not that this is an issue...lucky little fella obviously ran into the right garden!)....just don't want to upset him by introducing a new friend....& don't want him to be lonely? ANY ADVICE from the 'real' owners of Gunea pigs......PLEASE ....thanks for reading ...hope I havn't rattled on too much ....his happiness is in our best interest & our little girl LOVES him ...( so do we .he's such a comic)...THANKS xx
 
Hi. Thanks for taking in this guy - he certainly did choose the right garden !

In my experience, it's not really as simple as a yes or no - which may be why you are getting conflicting opinions. It depends on lots of things like age, temperment, past living arrangements, whether he's been used to breed from before, etc. You SHOULD be ok to introduce a baby boar to him (slowly) but that's a big SHOULD!

The absolute best thing to do is to find a local rescue. Hopefully they will have potential boars and their priority will be to ensure both boars are happy. They will hopefully try introducing him to one, and you can tell pretty quick whether he will tollerate another boar or not. Some rescues will even take your boar in and bond them for you.

If he will not tollerate another boar, then you could consider getting him neutered and he could have a girlie or 2 as company. Generally speaking, piggies like companionship, and if possible they should be kept in couple or groups.

Good Luck
Rach
 
There are only two "rules" to follow
1 Male and female will mate.
2 You just have to try and see what happens ie let him choose for himself.
I have never found putting Vick on the pigs, shampooing them, cleaning the hutch, introducing them on neutral territory and so on to be anything but a waste of time.
That should bring forth plenty of comments !
Take him to a rescue centre and "try him out" with a selection of other pigs, it will soon be apparent who he will be his friend.
 
Have a read at this page which will cover the basics of guinea pig care

http://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html

By nature guinea pigs are extremely social animals, so the one thing you shouldn't consider is one. The new boy, along with the expensive hutch and supplies, will appreciate a companion to live with. AP is right when he says that sometimes no matter what techniques you use to bond piggies, the entire thing is down to personalities. You can try your hardest and have a pairing fail, or by chance come across the perfect pairing.

Generally, if you want to avoid surgically neutering him which will be required to have him paired with a girl, you'll want to aim for a younger boy as a companion.

Here is a page that should help you decide what kind of pairing you would like to aim for:
http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm#Introductions

With all that in mind, I would second AP's recommendation that you should find a local shelter that will help you with the pairing process. Some rescues are more than happy to help support a new owner through the "dating game", it'll mean that you won't have to dedicate yourself to caring for more than one pairing of guinea pigs.

Welcome to the forum!

Also: Make sure you're giving him an unlimited supply of hay to keep his teeth well worn down. :)
 
THANK YOU so muck xx

Hi, ( forgive me if I am writing this at the wrong place here ... never used a forum style chat board before !) just to say THANK YOU to the lovely folk who have given us this information.....NO idea how to find a rescue ? not sure there is one around here ....you kind folk may put me in the right direction.....We live in Conisbrough ....situated between Doncaster & Rotherham ...south Yorkshire ....Not sure how old he is ? .....when I went to the pet shop the ones they had in were 8wks old....& Murray looks a tad slightly bigger than them ?
He has straw & his run is on a 'natural kind of ground' ( kept outside)....lots of green grass & toys ramps etc...was a little undecided about the 'hutch' as AFTR we bought it, read that Guinea Pigs don't like climbing & that ramps etc can be dangerous.....H'e quite the opposite ....HE ADORES it !....So , will wait for anymore info PLEASE....would you buy one from a pet shop ?...what should be my first steps at introducing them....do they stay together first night etc..Complete novices regarding Guinea Pigs & want our little fella to be as happy as possible ( Getting this Guinea Pig 'Thing' quite bad now...used to be E.bay & now it's Guinea pig forums !) xx
 
Firstly, remove the straw, it can pokes piggies in the eyes. For bedding you can use a wide range of things such as vetbed/fleece, megazorb, hay on top of newspaper etc. Give the piggie an unlimited supply of hay, water and dried food (pellets) and feed veggies once or twice a day.
With regards to getting a friend for him, look in the rescue pages on here (2 threads underneath this one) or have a look on here

www.guineapigrehome.org.uk

Dont buy from a petshop, there are always piggies available in rescue and if you take yours along with you they can try him with a few to find one that he gets on with.
As for the hutch, some piggies like ramps and some dont. 3 of mine use a ramp but the other 7 wont go near it. If yours is happy using the ramp then leave it in there.

Good luck
 
Hi!
Welcome to this board! What a story! Have you decided on a name for your little "Moses" yet?

Specialist guinea pig rescues have the advantage that most will be prepared to bond your guinea pig for you, so you can be sure that it will settle with its new friend. If you are new to guinea pigs, a rescue will also take care to see that any new friend is used to being handled and healthy. Most shop or breeder bought piggies are hardly handled and often very nervous!

Usually, you want an older boy with a young one, but ideally they should be compatible in temperament as well (for a dominant character you want a more laid back companion, for instance...) And with the age difference they won't hit the hormones at the same time (age 5-12 months), which is the biggest cause for fall-out between two males.

You could also put a thread in the "looking for a guinea pig" section. Some rescues are prepared to organise a "piggie train", a transport over a longer distance. Just make sure that it IS a rescue, and not a breeder you're dealing with, please, as a lot of us are people either doing the rescuing, fostering newly rescued pigies or taking on guinea pigs from a rescue - looks like you're fitting in!
 
Hi, THANKS once again...for all this advice ! SORRY I did mean HAY & not STRAW .....As for a name ...MURRAY My Daughter (4 year old) loves the Wiggles ( 4 chaps from Australia who do a huge childrens show) & her fav one is MURRAY ....so i'm sure the next one will be either Anthony, Geoff or Sam.....HEY if it goes well....we may have our own set of 'Wiggles' & have 4 pigs ! ( Watch this space)....RIGHT need to know if there is a rescue in South Yorks anywhere please ? Think that is our best bet ....
 
Hi, I also live in Conisbrough and rescued 2 boars from the Barnsley Animal Rescue about 3 weeks ago. The 2 ladies that run the rabbit and guinea pig rescue from their own homes are great and were about 30 minutes away from here on the Kilnhurst Road. I'm not sure that they have many piggies in at the moment but I think they might be expecting some babies soon! Here's the website with the contact details on http://www.barnsleyanimalrescue.org.uk/barc/rabbits

Hope this helps.

Helen
 
Just wanted to say welcome to the Forum - I can't add to the advice you've already been given, except to re-iterate, please rescue and don't buy from a pet shop. But your Murray is a lucky little chap - a super story with a very happy ending. He and his friend(s) will be spoiled rotten I can tell .... and please, we insist on photographs!
 
I have always found that rex pigs are very laid back and have never had any trouble pairing one with either another rex or a different breed.
 
Hi, Helen ...THANKS for that ! Will contact them tomorrow...We have 'Murray' running around the kitchen! He is loving it , we are 'hooked' now & I'm sure he would love a friend .....will let you know how we get on ...Kind Regards TRISH x
 
Haha ! Guinea pigs are very addictive, don't you know !

Good luck with the rescue. I have had guinea pigs most of my life and have always bought them from pet shops - to be honest i did not even realise there was a need to 'rescue' piggies! Then i found this forum and am completely converted now! I have recently taken 3 more piggies in from rescues ... and am working on making my cage bigger ........

Rach x
 
Hi, Rach....My 4 year old just can't get enough of him & he loves her too....bought the shampoo ready to bath him....she decide she would sit him in her BARBIE bath for size ....we have a gorgeous pic...will add it when I find out how to do it ...THANKS for all your helpl TRISH x
 
murraythatsme said:
Hi, Rach....My 4 year old just can't get enough of him & he loves her too....bought the shampoo ready to bath him....she decide she would sit him in her BARBIE bath for size ....we have a gorgeous pic...will add it when I find out how to do it ...THANKS for all your helpl TRISH x
Click to expand...

Looking forward to seeing Murray in a barbie-bath :))
 
'MURRAY' The stray Guinea...from BUSH-TO-BATH

Hi, To everyone who have kindly taken the time to advice us on 'MURRAY'....
Here is a pic of him in my Daughters Barbie bath......Unable to catch him for over 3 wks, he was surviving 'under a bush' in our garden....we improvised buying him a 'rodent house with hay' & a water bottle attatched to a tree, fed him daily, util out Whippet wanted to be 'in on the scence' , He was captured in a Humane rat trap , & He is now our 4 year old Daughters Beloved 'MURRAY'
Thinks he likes a 'bit of bling' & is ruined already with a run & hutch fit for a Royal Guinea Pig !
We have been in touch with our local Rescue & are hoping to find him a friend , very soon !
TRISH x
 
BB15 said:
Hi, I also live in Conisbrough and rescued 2 boars from the Barnsley Animal Rescue about 3 weeks ago. The 2 ladies that run the rabbit and guinea pig rescue from their own homes are great and were about 30 minutes away from here on the Kilnhurst Road. I'm not sure that they have many piggies in at the moment but I think they might be expecting some babies soon! Here's the website with the contact details on http://www.barnsleyanimalrescue.org.uk/barc/rabbits

Hope this helps.

Helen
Click to expand...
Hi, Helen ...Been in touch with the Barnsley Rescue Centre ....We are now in the process of sorting out a friend for Murray ...THANKS TRISH x
 
Good on you and what great news for Murray!

Sorry, I can't see a picture!
 
That is sooo cute! No wonder you love him so much!
 
Murray is in love !

Hi, just to let everone know ....Murray has found his sole mate ! BARNEY !
We adopted him from Barnsley Pet Rescue ....Took along Murray & they hit it off straight away ! THEY love each other dearly....will add some pics later this week ....THANKS again to everyone who took the time to advise us xx TRISH
 
Oh what a super story - I'm so pleased Murry has found a friend.

As everyone else has said welcome to the forum, everyone is really nice and you will get loads of advice and I'm sure by the end of the year you will have all four wiggles, theres not many people on here who can just stick to the two!
 
First welcome!
It seems youve already gotten alot of good and helpful information.
All I wanted to say, was thank you for taking care of him and doing your "research" before just adopting him into your life. :))
I'm sure you will soon find yourself with more than 2 guineapiggies. ^_^ :p
 
I'm so tickled for Murray that he found such a lovely friend! He must be in piggie Heaven right now! As must you - in piggie slave Heaven, that is!

Can't wait for pics!
 
aww.. just seen this thread.. how lucky was murray to find himself in YOUR garden!
Glad you have a new friend for him too.. cant wait to see the pics..
I paired one of my single boys last night and so far so good.. he looks so much happier again..
They ARE addictive though! Since march 28th we have added 10 rabbits (ok 8 were surprise babies lol) and now 5 piggies! lmao xx
Tori
 
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