New Guinea pig?!

[PiggieBoo]

Hey everyone! As most of you know, my little piggie Toffee passed away a few days ago. I have my little boy Oreo left so after reading the replies on my recent post, I decided I’m going to get another piggie this upcoming weekend.

I have a few questions for owners who have been in this situation before. So I already have a cage (they’re stacked separate cages) and I also have a big play pen I used to put both piggies in at the same time for a few hours daily (didn’t want my girl piggie to get pregnant so they were separated when alone)

Will my current piggie be okay for the next week without a cage mate until I go buy/rescue a new one?

What gender should I get? Does it matter?

Do I get an older one or a younger one?

Any extra advice would be great. Never had this happen before. I don’t want Oreos quality of life to decrease because of a mistake I could have prevented

If you need pictures of the current cage lmk, the photo is outdated by a year.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry for your loss.

He will be ok while you sort things out provided he is eating, maintaining his weight each day and otherwise happy.

Female and unneutered male piggies should never be together at all, not even supervised. You were taking a huge risk allowing them in a playpen together.

As a presumably unneutered male, he can only have a male cagemate. However if you have been allowing your unneutered male to be with a female (when supervised) then he may not accept another male piggy. Boars who have been around sows don’t always take too kindly to being back in the presence of boars as it is seen as a demotion in status. With that said a boar may be happy to take on an uncle role to a baby boar. All you can do is try.
You may find you need to get him neutered and then after the six week post surgery wait to become infertile, then attempt to bond him with another female.

Age is not entirely relevant when it comes to a new friend. It’s all about character compatibility first and foremost - two piggies need to like each other and want to be together to be able to form a bond. However, a baby piggy can often be well accepted as they can’t challenge the hierarchy.

From what I can see you have a couple of options.

Adopt another male and attempt a bonding. If they don’t get on and bonding fails then they will need to be kept side by side from then on (piggies who can’t/don’t share a cage cannot be in stacked cages as it removes all ability to interact). A failed bonding means they can never have physical time together.
If they do bond then that is great.
Just ensure a cage for a boar pair measures 180x60cm as they require a lot more room. All hides must have two exits and there needs to be multiple of everything in the cage.
Or
Get him neutered and once he is six weeks post op safe, then find him a female companion.

Either way, finding a new friend is best done with the help of a rescue centre if possible as they can help check compatibility and also provide support if a bonding fails and you need to return a piggy and try another one.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

 

[Bill & Ted]

Good luck, I hope you can find a little friend for Oreo Definitely seek out a good rescue that offers boar dating if you can. That way Oreo gets to choose a friend which is always better for a good bond

 

[PiggieBoo]

I’m sorry for your loss.

He will be ok while you sort things out provided he is eating, maintaining his weight each day and otherwise happy.

Female and unneutered male piggies should never be together at all, not even supervised. You were taking a huge risk allowing them in a playpen together.

As a presumably unneutered male, he can only have a male cagemate. However if you have been allowing your unneutered male to be with a female (when supervised) then he may not accept another male piggy. Boars who have been around sows don’t always take too kindly to being back in the presence of boars as it is seen as a demotion in status. With that said a boar may be happy to take on an uncle role to a baby boar. All you can do is try.
You may find you need to get him neutered and then after the six week post surgery wait to become infertile, then attempt to bond him with another female.

Age is not entirely relevant when it comes to a new friend. It’s all about character compatibility first and foremost - two piggies need to like each other and want to be together to be able to form a bond. However, a baby piggy can often be well accepted as they can’t challenge the hierarchy.

From what I can see you have a couple of options.

Adopt another male and attempt a bonding. If they don’t get on and bonding fails then they will need to be kept side by side from then on (piggies who can’t/don’t share a cage cannot be in stacked cages as it removes all ability to interact). A failed bonding means they can never have physical time together.
If they do bond then that is great.
Just ensure a cage for a boar pair measures 180x60cm as they require a lot more room. All hides must have two exits and there needs to be multiple of everything in the cage.
Or
Get him neutered and once he is six weeks post op safe, then find him a female companion.

Either way, finding a new friend is best done with the help of a rescue centre if possible as they can help check compatibility and also provide support if a bonding fails and you need to return a piggy and try another one.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Thanks for the detailed response

I do recognize that he should’ve been neutered when I got him, it’s good to know that I shouldn’t have an unneutered male with a female. They snuggled and played so that’s why I let them do that, I definitely won’t do that again.

What’ll probably do is get a baby boar and see if I can bond them. If not then I’ll do what you advised (keep them separate)

We don’t really know Oreos actual age. When I took him to the vet he said that he’s definitely 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 years old. Hopefully not too old for a bigger change like this.

Thank you again for helping me out, this is the first time I’ve had one pass away in a while and have never really had to bond one because Toffee and Oreo always got along and we’re similar in age.

 

[PiggieBoo]

Good luck, I hope you can find a little friend for Oreo Definitely seek out a good rescue that offers boar dating if you can. That way Oreo gets to choose a friend which is always better for a good bond

Thank you so much I basically live in the middle of nowhere so hopefully I can find a rescue opposed to a pet store. That’s why Toffee couldn’t get the quick help she needed, by the time I found a small animal vet willing to take her late at night it was too late. I finally got my current one to agree to it but on the car ride there she didn’t make it Hopefully I can find a good match for my little dude

 

[fluffysal]

His age should work in his favour as boars mellow when they get older so he should be tolerant of a younger boys shenanigans ( hopefully)

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thanks for the detailed response

I do recognize that he should’ve been neutered when I got him, it’s good to know that I shouldn’t have an unneutered male with a female. They snuggled and played so that’s why I let them do that, I definitely won’t do that again.

What’ll probably do is get a baby boar and see if I can bond them. If not then I’ll do what you advised (keep them separate)

We don’t really know Oreos actual age. When I took him to the vet he said that he’s definitely 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 years old. Hopefully not too old for a bigger change like this.

Thank you again for helping me out, this is the first time I’ve had one pass away in a while and have never really had to bond one because Toffee and Oreo always got along and we’re similar in age.

His age is not a factor in his ability to have another friend. Boars tend to mellow with age so it can make things easier.

Make sure you bond them in entirely neutral territory as per the guide I linked in

 

[PiggieBoo]

This is the problem with getting animals at a pet store I never got his correct age (they were going to euthanize him because he had been there for months) but Toffee came with paperwork I had to sign and I got all of her info as well as a list of things she needed. She was there for a while as well

Makes me sad how people could do such a horrible thing to animals.

 

[PiggieBoo]

His age is not a factor in his ability to have another friend. Boars tend to mellow with age so it can make things easier.

Make sure you bond them in entirely neutral territory as per the guide I linked in

I’ll make sure I thoroughly read it a few times this week. I wish I found this forum earlier

 

[Merab]

Hope all goes well for you