Seeking guidance on introducing a new pig...

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jonny

New Born Pup
Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Selby
(Firstly: apologies if this thread is in the wrong place; it didn't seem to fit under any of the sub-headings in the "care" forum to me!)

We've just sadly lost Godzilla, one of our pair of male guinea pigs whom my girlfriend and I bought from a national pet shop chain around 2 and a half years ago.

He'd been off his food and had become really thin and lethargic; we had the vet check him over a couple of weeks back when we first noticed, and she prescribed Baytril (antibiotic) and Meloxicam (painkiller). After a week of medication and syringe-feeding the little chap had started to perk up and take small amounts of food of his own accord, and for the last few days we've been convinced that he was on the mend, but I came home today to find that poor Godzilla had squeaked his last.

To keep the remaining piggy (Cookie) happy and unstressed, we're now looking to find a new companion for him - the intention being to rehome another pig who also needs a new friend.

We'd like to maximise the chances that our Cookie and his new pal will get along, though, and so would be most grateful for any advice as to how to do this!

Presumably we'd be better off finding a piggy of a similar age to Cookie? Also, as guinea pigs go Cookie is rather large and can be a bit boisterous. Godzilla, despite being a fair bit smaller, had the measure of him as they'd grown up together, but I don't like the thought that he might try to bully an unfamiliar piggy. Is there anything we can do to help them get along and accept each other?

Thanks,
Jonny & Rach


(RIP Godzilla - keep on rockin', wee furry dude!)
 
jonny said:
(Firstly: apologies if this thread is in the wrong place; it didn't seem to fit under any of the sub-headings in the "care" forum to me!)

We've just sadly lost Godzilla, one of our pair of male guinea pigs whom my girlfriend and I bought from a national pet shop chain around 2 and a half years ago.

He'd been off his food and had become really thin and lethargic; we had the vet check him over a couple of weeks back when we first noticed, and she prescribed Baytril (antibiotic) and Meloxicam (painkiller). After a week of medication and syringe-feeding the little chap had started to perk up and take small amounts of food of his own accord, and for the last few days we've been convinced that he was on the mend, but I came home today to find that poor Godzilla had squeaked his last.

To keep the remaining piggy (Cookie) happy and unstressed, we're now looking to find a new companion for him - the intention being to rehome another pig who also needs a new friend.

We'd like to maximise the chances that our Cookie and his new pal will get along, though, and so would be most grateful for any advice as to how to do this!

Presumably we'd be better off finding a piggy of a similar age to Cookie? Also, as guinea pigs go Cookie is rather large and can be a bit boisterous. Godzilla, despite being a fair bit smaller, had the measure of him as they'd grown up together, but I don't like the thought that he might try to bully an unfamiliar piggy. Is there anything we can do to help them get along and accept each other?

Thanks,
Jonny & Rach


(RIP Godzilla - keep on rockin', wee furry dude!)
Click to expand...

How old is Cookie? I'm assuming he's a couple years old. If so, it's probably best you try and bond him with a baby boar/boy. The bigger the age difference the better, as you said cookie is quite boisterous so I'm assuming he'd be the more dominant piggy - so you would probably be best getting a young, submissive boar.
 
Hi Jonny,
Welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear about Godzilla - RIP little fella.

A lot of rescues do boar dating where you could take Cookie along and let him choose his new pal. Might be worth a try ?

If you let us know your location someone here could point you in the direction of your local rescue(s) hopefully,

xx
 
Hi Emiley and Candyfloss, thanks very much for your quick replies! :)

We think that our pigs are just over 2 and a half, we got them in October 2008 at which time they were pretty small - our best guess is that they were somewhere between 6 and 8 weeks old at the time.

We're pretty much equidistant between Doncaster, Selby and Goole - should have mentioned this in the first place, d'oh! - so if anyone has any recommendations for rescue centres locally that'd be magic :)

"Boar Dating" sounds like a good idea (not to mention oddly hilarious; might just be my warped mind but the name conjures up a mental image of something like Blind Date for guineas! :D ), if we can find somewhere that will do this then it could be the way forward - poor Cookie seems even more puzzled than usual, so he's currently getting lots of attention and bits of cucumber to cheer him up!

Cheers,
Jonny & Rach
 
Hi Jonny

Sorry to hear one of your Piggies have gone to the Bridge :(

And I think you are right to try and find Cookie a friend. :)

I myself Foster Piggies for Barnsley Animal Rescue (BARC) and I firmly beileve that piggies get on because of their personalities - not necessary their age.

Boar dating is great I always think this is the best way to go with boars to 'click' with a friend.

The thing is about baby Guinea Pigs is that they will go through the 'hormonal stage' between 4 to 14 months, and again I think if your piggies continue to get along through this then great, but it's not always the case. Either the young hormonal pig gets too big for his boot, the older boar looses his patience or they find a happy medium and all works out fine.
:)
I personally would quarantine Cookie for a few weeks if you wern't sure why Godzilla past away, then if all is well find a good rescue that are willing to boar date.
Rescues will give 100 per cent by helping with any problems for life, your new piggie would have been vet checked and known personality.

I live in Doncaster, and I have a quite a submissive boar in waiting for his forever home. He is about 18 months old.
We do have a rehoming policy and home checks.

If I can help any further please do not hesitate to get in touch

Paula
 
Hi Paula,

Many thanks for your reply! :)

You've reminded me of another question that I wanted to ask: now that Cookie has no non-human companions, is it better to get him a new friend as soon as poss, or can guinea pigs usually cope on their own for a while?

Assuming being an only piggie won't cause him problems then a few weeks' quarantine sounds highly sensible. Fortunately, Cookie has remained happy and healthy since we noticed Godzilla was unwell a couple of weeks ago (trouble here is that 'Zilla could have been starting to struggle long before anything was noticeable, as I understand it guinea pigs are adept at hiding signs of illness until things are really bad :( ) so hopefully - touch wood - Cookie will remain healthy.

Your boar might just be an ideal companion for our Cookie - so long as Cookie stays in good health, would you be happy for Cookie to come and meet him to see if they get along? If so, could you also let me know the conditions that I'd need to meet to satisfy the policy and checks? That way I can make any adjustments that may be needed before taking up anyone's time :)

(Sorry to keep bombarding you with questions, until now it's all been plain sailing with our wee piggies and we've suddenly found ourselves deep in the unknown! :( )

Thanks again,
Jonny & Rach
 
Guinea Pigs can get very lonely when living on their own and can battle to thrive after loosing a life long companion. Some changes to be worried about would be they are eating less, quieter, seemingly depressed.



With regards boar dating and adopting a friend for Cookie - the process would be a home check - just to make sure any piggies that are rehomed through the rescue are going off to a better life than they had before they came in - very informal - and to check the piggies housing.
Normally we would be looking for a cage/hutch over 4ft by 2ft for 2 piggies to live. However this is the minimum size so above this size would be great as boars cohabiting really do need more space as to avoid squabbles over territory. With regards to housing indoors/outdoor, my little man has always lived indoors as he came from an indoor home, since being with me he does have outdoor grass time in fine warm weather (which has been daily for the last few weeks) so for him I feel I need to find him an indoor home where outdoor/indoor playtime can be provided.



I only have the one Male piggie to 'boar date' with Cookie at this present time. I know other rescues who have many piggies would speed date several potential friends to let Cookie choose his own friend.
Though it is slightly more difficult to pair up adult boars in the first place, compatible personalities, experience and time can lead to a sustained friendship. If the initial meeting went well Cookie would have an holiday with me in my home for a week or so to monitor the pairs behaviour and friendship.

Hope that answers any queries for now. :)

Many thanks
Paula
 
Thanks again Paula - your help is much appreciated! :)

Just measured the current cage up, it's only 980mm x 400mm so looks like I'll need to upgrade it; we don't take the pigs outdoors either, what with living in a fairly crappy area surrounded by stray cats and dogs, as well as local yoofs driving clapped-out old wrecks with noisy exhausts that would upset the poor wee guineas! We've got a good-sized indoor run instead so that the pigs can stretch their legs.

Guinea pig speed dating sounds most amusing, might look into that at the weekend when I've some time spare.

Thanks again,
Jonny (+ Rach + Cookie)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top