He's definitely eating - hay, veggies, a hay cookie and a willow ball. I don't think guinea babies are an option!
I can't imagine having a replacement - well there can never be a replacement - I just want my piggie back
No new piggy is ever going to be a replacement; each bond is unique. But it is good that your surviving boar is not acutely pining, in which case immediate company is literally a life saving undertaking. In your case, it has helped that they have already been separated.
The problem is that guinea pigs and humans do not grieve any less than the other, but they grieve very differently. Guinea pigs need to get on with life much more quickly, and therefore need company much sooner than we humans are ready for.
Please regard a new companion strictly as something you do for your surviving boar, not for yourself. You are not required to love the new companion unless and until you yourself are ready for it. And you can be reassured that any new bond will be completely different to the one you have shared. Over time, it may not become less deep, but that is up to you and the new companion.
You may however find that seeing your surviving boy happy again will help you to concentrate on your own human grieving and actually help to alleviate it, knowing that despite your own needs, you have not failed any pet in your charge.
When my most special piggy died after a long and desparate battle for her help, I was literally not able to feel anything towards her companion's new mate for several weeks and I was rather angry that she should fall in love on first sniff with a piggy with similar colouring to my Minx (although not the same breed or gender).
But seeing Dizzy happily in love with her neutered "husboar" did allow me to get over Minx's death in my own good time. And in my own time have come to love Llewelyn very much indeed. In fact, he became the founder piggy of my big group adventure after his beloved Dizzy died, aged 5 years old two years later.
But my relationship with any of the many piggies that have followed since Minx has been different. Indeed, I have a unique bond with all my piggies. None has ever replaced her in my heart and none has ever replaced any of the others. The good thing about love is that as every bond is unique, there is no limit on how many or how often you can love. Love is a river that flows, it is not a well that dries up. You are currently going through a rough patch. Do what is right for a piggy in your care, and you will find that the river of love is going to find its own new way. It is never flowing backwards, so it can never take away from you the love that you have shared.
I feel for you, having been there myself more than once. it is never easy to see a way forward when your heart is bursting with pain. Give yourself a few days to settle down a bit more and to do your research. You will find that doing something constructive will help you to cope better in some ways even if it is not taking away the pain of the loss.
