Rehome or adoption advice

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GuineaGang96

Junior Guinea Pig
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Yesterday evening, we sadly last one of our guinea pigs. It was particularly heartbreaking with her being last of the original two we bought in 2020.

This has left us with Rita who is 3 and a half years old, and we always planned to take a break from having guinea pigs after this. This has not been an easy decision at all as we adore them, but due to travelling often, and financial constraints, we just felt it was best we ended the cycle after our current group, however the unexpected loss of Peggy earlier this year, who was similar age to Rita has messed up the timings a bit.

We are having a really hard deciding whether to rehome Rita (which would be completely heartbreaking), or adopting her a new companion, of a similar age.

We’re nearly 100% set on getting a new companion asap, however our only reservations is the closest age we can find from a local shelter is a 5 year old boy who isn’t available for just over a week, and if we have two older guinea pigs, who would be able to look after them should they need urgent attention (syringe feeding etc.) if they fell ill while we were away.

My main question is whether it is cruel on Rita to give ourselves a few days to think about our decision before acting? She seems to be coping really well, full of life, eating, pop corning etc. but I know this will likely wear off the longer she is alone, so I am sitting with her frequently throughout the day and keeping a close eye on eating/drinking.

I just can’t stand the idea of her being alone in a shelter waiting for a home for months, and it would almost be easier to get two younger guinea pigs to be with Rita till she passes, and then rehome them as they would have each other, however I fear two bonded guineas would be unlikely to accept Rita.

I have also asked local breeders whether they would have capacity to give her a forever home with lots of other guinea pigs, as although this would be devastating for us, she is very social so I think she would be very happy.

Sorry for the long message, I have been going back and forth on this all day and am really struggling/feeling the pressure of acting fast for Rita’s benefit.
 
Sorry I’m not sure I am able to delete this post. But after another discussion, we are just going to get Rita another cage mate. We’re not ready for the guinea pig-less life!
 
I am sorry you have lost one of your girls but pleased to hear you are going to find Rita a friend. Have you tried Maria's Animal Shelter in Probus, they have lots of guinea pigs there after taking in a hoarding case.
There is no need for you to delete your post it's often helpful to share your thoughts with other people when trying to make a decision. Even though you got no replies before you made the decision I'm sure getting your thoughts down helped.
You can't delete or alter posts after the edit time is up but if you ever need to you can use the report button to ask a moderator to do so.
 
piggieminder said:
I am sorry you have lost one of your girls but pleased to hear you are going to find Rita a friend. Have you tried Maria's Animal Shelter in Probus, they have lots of guinea pigs there after taking in a hoarding case.
There is no need for you to delete your post it's often helpful to share your thoughts with other people when trying to make a decision. Even though you got no replies before you made the decision I'm sure getting your thoughts down helped.
You can't delete or alter posts after the edit time is up but if you ever need to you can use the report button to ask a moderator to do so.
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Thank you for your reply. You’re definitely right that putting my thoughts down instantly made me feel better and less muddled.

I emailed Maria’s animal shelter yesterday and I am going to call them today to just talk about possible options. I saw a lone 5 year old boy on there, however my only concern is it seems impossible to insure a guinea pig over 5, and I don’t want to adopt and not be able to pay for any expensive vet treatments for him.

Will give a call and hopefully find a good match for Rita!
 
Good luck! I hope you find a friend for Rita too. Rescues often have a lot more piggies for adoption than they put on their websites.
 
piggieminder said:
Good luck! I hope you find a friend for Rita too. Rescues often have a lot more piggies for adoption than they put on their websites.
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Thank you for the suggestion! I have spoken to Maria and she has a 3 year old boy available. I originally thought he was a perfect choice, but he was showing as reserved on the website.

Application all accepted, and I will be picking him up tomorrow morning so Rita only has one more night alone!
 
I went through this a few years back. In the end I took my last remaining guinea pig, Rosie to a local rescue where she was able to live out the rest of her life bonded to a neutered boar.

Since then I have moved house and now have two young sows to keep my busy.

Hope the boding goes well once they have had some side by side time to get used to each other. I found this made such a positive difference in bonding as I gradually grew my herd from 2 to 7.
 
flowerfairy said:
I went through this a few years back. In the end I took my last remaining guinea pig, Rosie to a local rescue where she was able to live out the rest of her life bonded to a neutered boar.

Since then I have moved house and now have two young sows to keep my busy.

Hope the boding goes well once they have had some side by side time to get used to each other. I found this made such a positive difference in bonding as I gradually grew my herd from 2 to 7.
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I think this is what we may have to do eventually, but was just not ready for what would feel like an empty house without them at the moment.

I’ve got a temporary bonding space for them set up to spend some side by side time, and then I will remove the divider to let them get used to each other in there before moving them to the main living space. I may still leave the divider up at night for first few nights. Rita would follow her own shadow if she could though so hopes are high that they will get on well.
 
GuineaGang96 said:
I think this is what we may have to do eventually, but was just not ready for what would feel like an empty house without them at the moment.

I’ve got a temporary bonding space for them set up to spend some side by side time, and then I will remove the divider to let them get used to each other in there before moving them to the main living space. I may still leave the divider up at night for first few nights. Rita would follow her own shadow if she could though so hopes are high that they will get on well.
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I hope Rita falls head over heels for this boar, but please read the bonding procedure advice in this link, as having them separate then just removing the divider could cause problems if there are any tensions between them https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...rated-bonding-dynamics-and-behaviours.167042/
 
Fingers crossed for the bonding.

Please do read the bonding guide as the way you are planning on doing it is not the correct way and risks problems.

You must not just remove a divider in a pen. Allowing each piggy to wander into each half (as those halves will have become their own territory) will be seen as a territory invasion. It can cause a fight and a bonding fail before you have even started. They must go into the neutral space together in one go.
You can have them in a divided pen for a few days before bonding day, but you will then need a totally new neutral space to carry out the bonding

You also cannot put a divider back up at night once you have introduced them. Once they are together in a cage they must remain together at all times.
Reintroducing and separating will stop the bonding every time you put a divider back in; It will mean they have to start all over again from the beginning every time you remove the divider which consequently means they never get fed which into the process before being separated again (it takes two weeks of being together for a bond to be finalised). Repeated introspection and separation causes stresses and can cause the bonding to fail.
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
I hope Rita falls head over heels for this boar, but please read the bonding procedure advice in this link, as having them separate then just removing the divider could cause problems if there are any tensions between them https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...rated-bonding-dynamics-and-behaviours.167042/
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Piggies&buns said:
Fingers crossed for the bonding.

Please do read the bonding guide as the way you are planning on doing it is not the correct way and risks problems.

You must not just remove a divider in a pen. Allowing each piggy to wander into each half (as those halves will have become their own territory) will be seen as a territory invasion. It can cause a fight and a bonding fail before you have even started. They must go into the neutral space together in one go.
You can have them in a divided pen for a few days before bonding day, but you will then need a totally new neutral space to carry out the bonding

You also cannot put a divider back up at night once you have introduced them. Once they are together in a cage they must remain together at all times.
Reintroducing and separating will stop the bonding every time you put a divider back in; It will mean they have to start all over again from the beginning every time you remove the divider which consequently means they never get fed which into the process before being separated again (it takes two weeks of being together for a bond to be finalised). Repeated introspection and separation causes stresses and can cause the bonding to fail.
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Thank you both for the heads up! I did actually end up watching a video and realised I should not be putting the divider up for the reasons stated.

I will monitor them in the bonding space, then move them into their hutch. I work from home so will be able to closely monitor over the next few days to make sure there is no fighting, and just the usual establishing of hierarchy between the two.

I’m not sure why I suggested the divider as I haven’t done this when introducing any of my previous pigs. I have always done a neutral space meet and greet before moving and never had any issues so fingers crossed.
 
Merab said:
Hope the bonding goes well
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Not going great atm unfortunately. Lots of teeth chattering from both and very much avoiding each other. Seen them jab at each other a couple of times, but want to do everything to avoid separating them.

Considering moving to a larger neutral area but don’t know if that would do more harm than good.

Really concerned it may not work as the New Guinea just seems lovely, but just both very on edge around each other.
 
Have you literally just got hay and water in with them , no hideys? 🤔
 
CTWC said:
Have you literally just got hay and water in with them , no hideys? 🤔
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2 hay trays, 2 water bowls, 4 hideys all with two exits. Rita seems terrified of the new boy now, despite him not really showing signs of aggression except the occasional teeth chattering
 
Opened the space a lot more, both are exploring/ignoring each other, but less panic noise and no teeth chattering.

Rita is back to eating and exploring rather than just hiding away which is good, but still very wary and making squeaking noises when Ralph comes near.

She is resting with Ralph in sight, so assume these are more positive signs, but am worried having seen no positive interactions between the two that they may not be compatible :(
 
How long did they live side by side before being introduced? I found this side by side time really helped with bonding. I once introduced a sow almost immediately and that was the most tense of all my bonds.
 
flowerfairy said:
How long did they live side by side before being introduced? I found this side by side time really helped with bonding. I once introduced a sow almost immediately and that was the most tense of all my bonds.
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I feel terrible but I didn’t do this and now realise what a mistake it was. I did ask the shelter when I picked him up to make sure a neutral space meeting was sufficient, but should have stuck with the guide.

For all my previous bonds, I have just moved them all to a neutral space, and never had any issues.

I realise how naive that is and won’t make the same mistake again, but unsure if it’s not too late to try this method.

They were eating side by side recently. Ralph is leaving Rita alone. If he’s ever near by she runs away, or starts squeaking and he goes in the opposite direction with a short teeth chatter. So it seems hierarchy has been established. I just hope Rita can relax around him soon as he is showing no signs of aggression and is just interested in exploring
 
My two, Shimmer and Saffron were real drama queens when they came to me. They were in the cage together at their previous home but they were full of rumbles and teeth chattering once they moved to mine for at least two weeks.

Hopefully Ralph and Rita will gradually settle. Don't be in a hurry to move them again. Sounds like you are reading them well so you will hopefully know when the time is right to put them in their enclosure together. Good luck!
 
You should never have hides in the neutral area. Doing so can create territories within those hides and then set off on a bad foot if the other tries to cross a territory (go into a hide).
There should only ever just be hay and water in the bonding pen.
 
flowerfairy said:
My two, Shimmer and Saffron were real drama queens when they came to me. They were in the cage together at their previous home but they were full of rumbles and teeth chattering once they moved to mine for at least two weeks.

Hopefully Ralph and Rita will gradually settle. Don't be in a hurry to move them again. Sounds like you are reading them well so you will hopefully know when the time is right to put them in their enclosure together. Good luck!
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Thank you so much for this. I think I am overreacting a bit because I never saw any signs of aggression with my previous 5 guineas (all boars), and it’s been hard to watch any bickering.

There were a couple of attempted nips earlier (from Rita to Ralph who was being inquisitive).

Both eating, resting, exploring, with a few signs of minor aggression now, so going to try relax and just keep a close eye on them. Their neutral space is actually in my bedroom so I will be able to keep an eye on them overnight.
 
Piggies&buns said:
You should never have hides in the neutral area. Doing so can create territories within those hides and then set off on a bad foot if the other tries to cross a territory (go into a hide).
There should only ever just be hay and water in the bonding pen.
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Oh no I hadn’t realised! I thought I was meant to have hides with 2 exits in there.

Would it be a bad idea to remove the hides now?

Alternatively, I could move them into the kitchen as a new neutral area without hideys. It’s much bigger aswell however I avoided putting them in there as I put my previous guineas (including Rita) in here a lot so thought she may be territorial.
 
Piggies&buns said:
You should never have hides in the neutral area. Doing so can create territories within those hides and then set off on a bad foot if the other tries to cross a territory (go into a hide).
There should only ever just be hay and water in the bonding pen.
Click to expand...

Decided to try this briefly and it has helped massively. Both now spending time eating next to the hay tray with no teeth chattering or any signs of aggression at all. Both happy in each others company. Huge improvement
 
CTWC said:
Morning how did it go once the hideys were removed? 💐
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Lots of mounting from Ralph which Rita just accepted. Things had really calmed down by night so put them both in the hutch and made it through the night without any fights.

Both quite vocal this morning but no signs of aggression from either 🤞
 
Glad things are settling.
Bonding can be stressful for the humans as piggies can be soooooooo dramatic
I recommend coffee & chocolate to help ( you, not the piggies )

Glad it’s calmer now
 
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