Should I Get A New Pal For My Guinea Pig?

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I had two gorgeous male guinea pigs but unfortunately one died in April leaving Murran on his own. I bought them when they were babies & although they weren't brothers they had been together all their lives so were company for each other even though they didn't snuggle up together or anything like that they were still company for each other.
Now i really don't know what to do so i thought i would ask advice from you guys on here. I have looked into introducing another piggie so i know if i get another he has to be a young baby. I have the spare cage & all the bits to start with if i do go down this route. Thing is i really can't tell if Murran would like a pal or not? He isn't off his food at all & seems happy, i am trying
to give him extra attention but he isn't a pig who likes to be cuddled that much! Also i haven't had luck in the past when i tried to introduce another chinchilla to our existing family of 3. Had no luck with introducing another degus to our Toby when his brother died, but at least with the degus they come out to play together & their cages are next to each other & they chat through the bars.
If we get another piggie we really need it to work as can't keep a separate cage there too long as lack of room! Murran will be 4yrs old in July & he's a Rex. Frank (who died was an Abyssinian the same age).
Any advice will be appreciated from anyone who has had this same dilemma.
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hi if you get him one i think you should get a younger one, i dont think they fight as much then.

i would love to see a pigture of him :smitten:
 
You could try with a young male, or a spayed female. I got a spayed female for my un-neutered male recently and they get on great. Rugby Rabbit and Guinea Pig Welfare spay all their females.
My guinea was too old to be neutered and i though he wouldn't get on with a male, so i was told on here of the rescue that spays their females, which has worked out great for him :) We did drive for ages but it was well worth it!

Good luck in finding a friend for your guinea  :)
 
A pal for him is such a good idea :) Either a very young boar or speyed female :) All depends on which you would liike to have :)
 
Yes, I agree with Guinea-Tia-Flossie, a spayed female would be ideal. Your Murran is too old to get neutered now. A baby boar could work out well but it is a chance as when he gets to piggie teenage years (actually 3 months or so), he may try to fight for dominance. This is what happened with two of mine and they now live separately. You also have to think if you do get him a friend, when it is murrans time to go to rainbow bridge, the other one will be left alone. Murran is getting on a bit in terms of piggie years, so weigh up the options carefully. If you have the room, 2 spayed younger females could work? Imagine how chuffed he would be to get 2 girlfriends ;D
 
Thank you all for your good advice. :) I did wonder if a baby boar may be a problem when he reaches his teens so it looks like my best option is to go for the spayed female or even a couple of females! I shall contact the rescue centers near me to see if they spay the females as I'm in Portsmouth so the Rugby rescue center as mentioned by Guinea-Tia-Flossie is rather far.
Is it a dead cert that Murran & a female (or females) will get along no problems?
 
It is more likely than a boar. You will probably find that Murran will try to hump them and the girlies will rumble and get a bit annoyed but when they have had enough of his unwanted attention, they will let him know! As with introducing any new piggies, always do it on neutral territory..(i.e the run in the garden, the sofa etc) It is a good idea if possible to bring Murran with you and let him choose the girls, rescues are very up for this also.
 
Could you not neuter him and get him a girlfriend or two (sorry if I missed something) ::) ;D

It can be hard to come across rescues that have neutered females, and even if there are some, there may not be much of a choice.

It would be best (i think) to get him neutered, then go to a rescue and let him have a bum sniff around some ladies and see which he likes! :smitten:
 
PerfectPiggies said:
Could you not neuter him and get him a girlfriend or two (sorry if I missed something) ::) ;D

It can be hard to come across rescues that have neutered females, and even if there are some, there may not be much of a choice.

It would be best (i think) to get him neutered, then go to a rescue and let him have a bum sniff around some ladies and see which he likes! :smitten:
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He is four years old, which is too old I think to get him neutered?
 
Hmm well he could be neutered, there is not any age 'limit' we have just had a 3ish (guessing his age) year old boy done to go to his new home...although older guineas shouldnt be put through too much stress, if he hasnt had any health problems and is a good weight, I personally would probably still get home done to be honest. Providing I had a vet doing it that has a brilliant success rate! ;D

Then again its down to you and your piggie! Some resuces will obviously neuter on your request, but then you dont get the option of seeing which he gets on with (for obv reasons) which can be a good thing (try before you buy kind of idea ;D )

There are risks but it something that needs to be considered I guess! :-\
 
I definitely won't be getting him neutered as one of my chinchillas died under anesthetic while being neutered. It was a shock to the vet aswell. He was an experienced vet & had done our other male chinchilla with no problems but because of this bad experience it has put me off.
I shall ask some rescue centers in my area if they have spayed sows & see how i get on there.
 
I would def get your piggy a friend. Our Molly was bereaved when Mitzi died and when we got Smudge she seemed so much happier. (3 more since then and they all get on fine)

Good luck in your search for the right piggy :)
 
I can understand why you dont want to get him neutered :) Sorry to hear about your chinny :'(

I dont think one bad, unlucky experiene should put you off, but I can definatly understand why you dont want to do it! O0
 
Thank you all for your advice. :)
I contacted rescues in my area & explain my situation. None of them spay the sows & some of them didn't have any boars or the ones they had are already paired. The rescues were very helpful though & i was given other numbers of people who have guinea pigs for re homing. One of them has four boars living alone so we are going to take our Murran along on Monday to see if he gets on with one of them.
I have read other post on here from people who have recently lost a pig saying their other pig is depressed & i must admit Murran doesn't seem to be any different. Infact the only difference i have noticed with him is he wheeks loader & more them he did when he was with Frank. Frank was always the vocal one Bless Him. :'(
Anyway, we shall see on Monday what happens. I didn't for the life of me think i would be facing this situation for a good couple of years yet. :'(
I shall let you all know how things go on Monday.
 
Hi there and welcome to the forum from OZ :)

RIP Frank, run free at the bridge :'( :'( :'(

awwww your little boy sounds lovely, Murran what a lovely name :smitten: Mmmmm you've done the right thing by looking into it and talking to the rescues etc... oh i do hope he finds a friend on Monday :) :)

Sorry you've had to go thru all this, and i see you also lost a chinnie tooo RIP :'( :'( Not surprised you're not going to get Murran neutered i'd feel the same way too.
 
Glynis & Clowny thank you for your good wishes for Monday. :)

I posted my message on a chinchilla site aswell in their section for other animals & one of the people on there insist that trying to pair up two adult boars is a mistake! The Barnyforboars site give me faith that it can work though. :) I shall just have to see what happens on Monday.
 
Sian said:
one of the people on there insist that trying to pair up two adult boars is a mistake! The Barnyforboars site give me faith that it can work though. :) I shall just have to see what happens on Monday.
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I was told the same when Sammy's brother Snug died last summer. Sam was then 4 years old. After reading the Barmy4Boars website we decided to get him a new adult friend (Rupert, who was then aged about 1 1/2). We introduced them VERY SLOWLY and carefully, following the suggestions on the Barmy4Boars website. It took about 3 weeks, during which time we needed 2 cages so they could be housed side-by-side. They have been living together full-time for nearly a year now - see them together in the little icon under my name - and are definitely best buddies.
 
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