Newbie looking for advice :)

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rotts05

Hello, I had a quick look for an introduction section but didn't spot one.

Anyway, I found this forum while looking for some advice regarding my (well my daughters) piggie.

I am from the ** of England and have a Rottweiler, a Ragdoll, a Lionhead and a guinea whose breed I am unsure of. Rabbit and guinea are both about 4 months old, both female and we were told by the pet shop they were fine together. To be fair they get on great but I have decided to separate them as I have seen the rabbit being a bit pushy with the pig.
Penny (the pig.. daughters decision) has been really quite nervy since we got her at 8 weeks old, she is fine to be handled but would rather not be. She also only comes out into the main part of the hutch for food or water then runs back into the bed. When in the run she will usually just stand with her head poking out eating grass and doesn't actually 'run' whilst in there.

Anyway, I will get on with it lol! As I am going to split them up I will be getting another female guinea for Penny. Now, here's my question, would I be better getting a confident adult or another youngster? If I get another young one will Penny be likely to 'teach' this one to be nervous (I know dog behaviour, not guinea pig behaviour lol).

Any advice would be great, thanks! Off to look at everyones pictures :)
 
Hi and welcome! :)

You are doing the right thing, guineas and rabbits shouldn't be housed together. Most petshops won't agree but the general rule now is they are different species, need different requirements like pigs need vit c rabbits need vit d and bigger housing.

Penny sounds very scared at the mo, guineas are prey animals so will naturally run at hide. I would probably go for a guinea pig around the same age as Penny. That way they can grow up together, I've a trio of sows, 2 are around the same age and get on great.

What will happy with bunny will he/she get a friend too?

Good luck with it and look forward to chatting,

Louise
:)
 
Hi!
Welcome to the forum! I am glad that you have decided to split Penny and your rabbit!

Penny should be fine with either a neutered boar or a sow of any age. It's down to personalities! Since your region hasn't translated in your post, I can only give you general recommendations.

This forum is attached to a rescue website http://www.guineapigrehome.org.uk where you can find your nearest rescues.

It's always worked best for me to contact one or more local rescues, and then take my lonely piggie to the one with the most candidates to try her out on. I've never come back with the piggie I expected, but that is the fun of letting your piggie do the choosing! Some rescues will even offer to bond your piggie for you. All my bondings that way have been great and enduring friendships.

Once Penny has a new friend, I'm sure she'll feel much happier and safer, and will come out more than when she was bullied by the rabbit!
 
Thanks for the speedy replies. I am in Bolton and will check out the rehoming forum.

I probably will end up getting a pal for Rosie (rabbit...) but seeing her be a bit naughty with Penny has made me wonder if she would rather be alone? I have had lots of rabbits before, at one point I had a big dog kennel and run converted into a huge bunny enclosure with about 6 bunnies in (all neutered), only one of them wasn't happy and he really was only happy by himself so I am still debating.
 
Most guinea pig rescues have rabbits. Perhaps you want to start a thread about Rosie's problems in your "other pets" section?

As you are in Bolton, sokel guinea pig rescue have had a huge influx of rescues lately, so you might like to contact them as well. They operate from Gretna, but rehome further afield. http://www.sokelguineapigrescue.com
 
The best pairings for bunnies is neutered buck to spayed doe. I would be inclined to get her spayed to cut the risk of cancer of the womb when she is older. I got my neutered buck from the RSPCA they were wonderful.

Yep Sokel rescue have had loads of pigs in lately! You can drop a message to Graham who runs the rescue his username is Sokel on the forum.

There are rescues in Greater Manchester too, think there is one just outside of Trafford at the top of my head. If you goto Guinea Pig Rehome at the bottom, you can search out rescues.

Best of luck! :)
 
Rabbits are social animals, like guinea pigs. Rabbits are also territorial animals and so tend to do better when paired if they are spayed and neutered. I've personally not had a problem pairing bunnies of either gender but I could have had more success with my pairings because I was pairing a younger animal into an older group.

Roughly my pairings were
Mouse - paired with two younger bunnies (then all spayed and neutered)
Mouse + two younger bunnies paired with young boy
Boy neutered when he caused problems

None of these pairings were done on neutral territory because Mouse and my 3-bunny group had full run of the house and so there was no neutral territory to use, but they were given a lot of space.
 
Just an update for you all, I have now separated Rosie rabbit and Penny pig. I have rehomed 2 female guineas (Peppa pig and Panda pig) who are 12 months old and a bonded pair who's family had to rehome. The first night was unbelievable, I obviously took the intros slowly but as soon as Penny met the other 2 she snuggled right up and ended up eating from our hands and climbing on our knees to follow the others which she has never done!

The 3 of them now are living happily together but when the family came round with the new arrivals they mentioned that Peppa sometimes 'picks' on Panda, I have witnessed this and it is usually around food. She basically chases anyone away if she doesn't want to share her veg and the other 2 run off squeaking. Does anyone have any ways of sorting this?

Apart from this the 2 new pigs have made a big difference to Penny's confidence which I am thrilled about :)
 
Vickyt said:
Most guinea pig rescues have rabbits. Perhaps you want to start a thread about Rosie's problems in your "other pets" section?

As you are in Bolton, sokel guinea pig rescue have had a huge influx of rescues lately, so you might like to contact them as well. They operate from Gretna, but rehome further afield. http://www.sokelguineapigrescue.com
Click to expand...

We have quite a lot of girly piggies in at the moment at Sokel, I am only in Warrington and foster for Sokel, so about 30 minutes away from you.
Good luck with finding a new pal for your piggy. x
 
rotts05 said:
The 3 of them now are living happily together but when the family came round with the new arrivals they mentioned that Peppa sometimes 'picks' on Panda, I have witnessed this and it is usually around food. She basically chases anyone away if she doesn't want to share her veg and the other 2 run off squeaking. Does anyone have any ways of sorting this?

Apart from this the 2 new pigs have made a big difference to Penny's confidence which I am thrilled about :)
Click to expand...


How many food dishes do you have?

Glad she's become more confident! :(|) It does make a difference!
 
Thanks for the replies, I have 3 food dishes, 2 with their food and 1 for veg. I have noticed her doing it when the 3 of them are in the run as well, she almost tried to keep them in the inside part a couple of days ago so she could eat all the grass :...
 
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