Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities

[Wiebke]

Introduction
1 When is a 'single' really a single?
- Bought singles
- Fallen-out and aggressive piggies
- Bereaved guinea pigs
- No interest in other guinea pigs
- Disabled and special needs guinea pigs
2 Companionship options (with pros and cons)
- Dating
- De-sexing (neutering or spaying)
- Living alongside
- Buying a baby companion
3 Caring for single guinea pigs
- Stimulation and interaction
- When cavy and human expectations clash
- What are the signs that your guinea pig is feeling lonely?
- Picky eating and the treat trap
Conclusion

This guide is an article I have written for Guinea Pig Magazine issues 48 and 49 (January and March 2019).
It is the propriety of GPM and is being shared on here with the magazine's permission.
Guinea Pig Mag

Introduction
Guinea pigs are ground roaming prey animals that live in strictly hierarchical groups and that rely very much on the presence and interaction with others of their kind. The perception of guinea pigs as a species in their own right (and not just an easy and cheap cuddly ‘starter pet’) is sadly still spreading only slowly into wider consciousness. This also includes the vital need for companionship.
Switzerland with its direct democracy is still the only country where it is against the law to sell or own any group animals as single pets since 2004, and that includes specifically guinea pigs in their pioneering animal protection law, which has been brought by through public pressure and has passed the mandatory public vote, even though at the time the companion concept especially for guinea pigs was much ridiculed in the press. In all other countries pet shops and breeders can sadly still sell single guinea pigs.

While there are some true-blue single guinea pigs, the majority of what is deemed single guinea pigs has sadly been failed, some of them repeatedly, by humans and far too often by sheer ignorance or in some cases human needs taking precedence of cavy needs.

In the following I am going firstly to look at single guinea pigs in their various forms and situations and what can be done to improve them. In a second part I am exploring the various options of companionship and their pros and cons before I am looking at the challenges owners face when the full brunt of the round the clock social interaction is falling on them and what particular problems to be aware of in the last part of this article series.

More information on guinea pigs as a species in this link here: Guinea Pig Facts - An Overview

 

[Wiebke]

1 When is a ‘single’ really a single?

As I know from our first family guinea pig when I was a child nearly 50 years ago in very different and much less enlightened times, single guinea pigs are not necessarily sad creatures that spend their life sitting in a corner of a tiny cage – only if they are truly neglected and traumatized!
Above all, guinea pigs are pragmatists that are geared toward survival, so they will inevitably get on with life and enjoy the good parts of it; they still popcorn and run their ‘zoomies’, and they will transfer their social needs onto the humans they interact with. While companionship can be indeed life prolonging, it doesn’t mean that singles will die young. Our Wuschel lived to nearly 10 years old with plenty of daily cuddles and interaction from the whole family. He would always popcorn with joy when we were bringing him back home after a holiday absence.

Wuschel


But this didn’t take away from the fact that he was deliriously happy whenever he met a friend’s or acquaintance’s holiday boarding piggy and that he would achieve quite impressive athletic feats to get out of his crate and across to other piggies. Whenever he was allowed to have play time on the lawn with a bereaved (and rather neglected) neighbour’s boar they always ended up snuggled as closely as possible in the smallest hut. To my everlasting regret my mother wouldn’t allow me to ask the neighbour whether their boy could come to live with ours permanently. But it has woken my awareness of the importance of companionship at a very early time.
Especially when my sister and I were given a pair of piggies between us at the following Christmas, having faithfully looked after Wuschel all those years, the huge difference in the way the new piggies lived and interacted was striking indeed!


Bought singles
While the concept of companionship is generally becoming more widespread in the UK where guinea pigs are perceived to be more of a children’s pet and the concept of each child having a piggy for themselves is more often playing a role, single guinea pigs in a small cage that fits into a child’s bedroom are more typically a teenager’s pet in the US – sadly not quite rarely a guinea pig in their own cage in another bedroom for several siblings.

Unfortunately the need for companionship is never greater than at the age baby guinea pigs are generally being sold.
It is during the formative pre-puberty months that youngsters develop their social and survival skills under the guidance of their elders who they closely observe and copy.
I have very much enjoyed watching the interaction between my ex-single boar Dylan and his chosen baby friend Llelo. It is really such a revelation to watch the little boy practice the same rumble-strutting hip swing when passing a sow cage during roaming time and then popcorning off with joy over his achievement!


A single baby at this age will pretty much accept any other guinea pig simply because of its overweening need to not be alone and lost.
It is decidedly not the time to wait and see how your first piggy settles in until you go and look for a potential mate some months or a year down the line!

By the time you may be willing to look for a companion, your guinea pig has missed out on learning and practicing crucial social skills and at the worst can become so human-orientated that they stop seeing themselves as a guinea pig or are too clueless to know how to interact with other guinea pigs. Bonding a teenager or an adult is generally much harder.

Beryn is an obviously once much loved very human orientated fully grown young adult sow before she was found dumped and wandering the grounds of cricket club alone. She did relate to other guinea pigs through the bars, but didn't have the first idea on how to deal with them when face to face.



It is however never too late to try and find a new friend for a single piggy. Dylan has been a single in a hamster cage for the first two years of his life before he ended up on the free-ads and was lucky to be picked up by a rescue where he was neutered.

The oldest piggy I know of was a 6 year old all-life single boy who was taken on a dating trip to Gold Coast Guinea Pig Rescue in Australia by his new owners to choose a friend for himself – and he did indeed come home with one!

How bought baby guinea pigs experience their first encounter with a pet home: Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs


Fallen-out and aggressive piggies
It is unfortunately a very widespread and deep-seated myth that brothers won’t fight or fall out – and that sows won’t fall out, either!

While teenage fall-outs in sows are rare, boars suffer from strong testosterone spikes once their testicles start descending around 4 months of age until they reach a generally more settled adulthood at around 15 months. That is the time when their mutual personality compatibility undergoes its real stress test. The majority of boars will make it, but the fall-out rate from fighting or bullying is still high, and especially distressingly high in baby trios or quartets.

Adult or different age pairs usually fall-out much more rarely; mostly over changes in territory, medical separation (keeping your piggies together as much as possible is strongly recommended) or over hormonal ovarian cyst trouble in sows.

In most cases, fear of other piggies is at the bottom of any over-the-top aggressive behaviour that is not motivated by sudden hormone spikes. That is why I usually talk about fear-aggression and not simply aggression. You see it in both genders. Guinea pigs with true aggression potential are comparatively rare.

My current headache Llawen - not coping with an unexpected bereavement earlier this year and now being summarily disavowed by her feuding sister's group for her major social and fear-aggression issues...



Key to any successful piggy bond is character compatibility and mutual liking, coming a long way before being related. A difference in age, even a large one, is generally not an issue provided that piggies like each other, first and foremost.
Sadly this crucial factor is not one that shops and for sale breeders can provide; they let their customers choose for looks or even actively encourage them to just buy a single boar if they are fed up with having mismatched teenage boars returned to them.
This is the main reason for the big boar tragedy and why so many of them end up as default singles!

If they are lucky, they are dropped into or picked up by a good rescue, but more often they end up back in the shop to be adopted as ‘unbondable’ singles, euthanized in killing shelters if they are labelled as ‘biters’ or as ‘aggressive’ because they won’t find a new home in the allotted often short time, or they litter the free-ads. Far too many are simply dumped in a park or some unused ground to fend for themselves until they die from illness or being predated by cats or dogs or wild predators, or they are bought by snake owners on the lookout for free live meat.
Many good rescues have generally switched to neutering/de-sexing single teenage boars to be bonded with sows for a stable relationship. While boar neutering will not change their behaviour or personality, it allows much more stable cross gender bondings and a safe future for them.

But the usually best option for many owners is to keep your fallen-out boars in adjoining cages as next door neighbours with round the clock interaction through the grids.
Sadly too many people think that just hearing but not seeing each other is enough, but it is frankly not the case. A lot of guinea pig interaction happens via body language, not just by vocalisation and pheromone output. If your piggies have to live on top of each other, then re-bonding with another piggy is much better for their long term wellbeing.

More information on troubled relationships, how to evaluate them and how to go from there: Bonds In Trouble
Teenage and boar bond issues, what you can do stabilise the bond and how to proceed after a fight/fall-out: Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Aggression, stress and fear (the latter which is often at the core of over the top reactions, including aggression): Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour

 

[Wiebke]

Bereaved guinea pigs
Any guinea pig that is not coping at all with the loss of their companion and stops eating and drinking needs to see a vet promptly first to exclude any health problems and then needs a new companion quickly. Offer syringe feed and water in the meantime, but ‘acute pining’ is not something that can wait!
In very close bonds and long partnerships the bereaved party can follow their mate within days or weeks. While this is thankfully rare, it is always extra hard on their owner.

“Is my bereaved guinea pig too old for a new mate?” I often get asked. The answer is simple: “Never!”
As my seven year old Calli’s story in issue 45 is showing, companionship, even if it is just living-alongside with their own territory but interaction through grids or bonded with a new friend, can really help to prolong life.

This applies also to those cases where a guinea pig is seemingly unaffected by the death of their mate and is living on normally. If your guinea pig is showing signs of depression like withdrawing/becoming quiet or becoming clingy, you should look for new company sooner rather than later.

Even seemingly unaffected guinea pig will still miss the stimulation from regular interaction.
Calli took 10 months of next door friendship to move in with equally bereaved sneaky bully Tegan (who none of her old mates wanted back on their doorstep!), but she lived another 1 ½ years until after her 9th birthday and left a heart-broken Tegan in her wake. Both Calli’s owner and I are fully convinced that she would have never lived as long without having that crucial companionship that grew into a great friendship.

Calli and Tegan - first as neighbours and eventually becoming best of friends!


If you cannot date your guinea pig at a rescue that allows you to bring your single for bonding, putting your cage next to another guinea pig cage can go a long way.
If your guinea pig turns out to rather prefer to have their own space, as older sows not rarely do, then accept that. They will still enjoy their neighbourhood watch and interacting with other piggies!

Generally, mutual liking comes long before any other consideration. The biggest age gap I have dealt with is 4 ½ years – and that was a love match between 5 year old Tesni and her adoring 5 months old neutered ‘toy boy’ Gethin, which lasted for two years until Tesni’s death at 7 years of age.
Please note that while single boars can live alongside sows, boars or mixed pairs, you cannot keep a sow next to a bonded boar pair that is not used to living around sows right from the start!

More information on what you can do for a bereaved companion immediately and in the longer term: Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
Information and resources for grieving owners: Human Bereavement - Grieving, coping tips and support links for guinea pig owners and their children


No interest in other guinea pigs
These guinea pigs are true singles – they aren’t afraid of other guinea pigs, they simply do not recognise them as something they can relate to, but they are in pretty all cases totally human orientated and see themselves as part of a human group or pair and not as a guinea pig anymore.

@Sue G 's Oscar with my rather confused spayed Hafren, after he failed to show the least interest in her!


They are thankfully pretty rare, but if ever you want a single human orientated all day companion piggy, these are the ones that really fit the bill!


Disabled and special needs guinea pigs
Guinea pigs that do not have behavioural problems are usually tolerated well, whether that is in a group or a pair. A socially minded piggy (often a litter mate) will take on a carer role.
This group includes guinea pigs with malformed or missing limbs, head tilts as a result of blindness or an ear infection as well as missing senses (blindness, deafness, lethals).

Gentle neutered Terfel with his harem of formidable 'unbondable' cataract sows adopted from various rescues, who made friends over their shared problem and became a very closely bonded group


Very rare guinea pigs who have lost their sense of smell/taste can struggle with the feeding/appetite, but with your support in that area, they can still profit from companionship, but finding the best setting for them is very much a matter of your individual options and possibilities as acceptance into a group or with a new dominant companion is not always a given.

Guinea pigs whose social interaction is impaired may do well with a gentle carer piggy but can struggle with a group. They may also struggle with bonding if they have formed close human bonds. It is very much a trial process if you come across or are left with a disabled guinea pig.

 

[Wiebke]

2 Companionship options

Far too many guinea pigs, especially boars, are sadly labelled ‘unbondable’ because of human ignorance and lack of resources. But how do you work out whether your piggy is really unable to live with another?
There is a huge spectrum from guinea pigs that refuse to interact and then overreact because they feel insecure or stressed in a new situation to the thankfully rare guinea pig that will attack any other on sight.

There are several possibilities. What you can realistically do depends very much on which options are within a reasonable reach of where you live and how far you are willing or able to travel or you how much can afford to spend.

However, before you try and find a suitable companion, please double-check the gender of your own guinea pig and that of any new arrival(s) before they meet!
Sexing Guide


Dating
The best option is to date your single at a good standard rescue that offers dating or meet & greet adoptions for single or bereaved guinea pigs at their rescue. There is no age limit for dating your guinea pigs!

Bryn Oscar - the 5 year old no longer wanted widower, who cut a swathe through my old ladies


This ensures that encounters happen under expert supervision and that you come home with a new companion only if acceptance has happened. In good standard rescues you can also be assured that your newly adopted guinea pig is healthy/fully quarantined and treated, properly sexed and not pregnant. You also have the rescue to help you if the bond is running into problems for the length of their adopted piggy’s life.

Dating can be considered with either a same sex companion or a de-sexed rescue piggy of the opposite gender. In the UK, there is currently no rescue with a spaying policy, but there are some rescues in the US, Canada. The only guinea pig rescue in New Zealand (where breeding is very wide-spread) rehomes only de-sexed guinea pigs as a matter of policy.

Tegyd, a cataract sow with fear-aggression issues, and her fellow cataract friend Taffy fell in love with gentle and very happy Terfel straight away. The shy boy finally found his voice when he met the ladies who would become the focus of his life during speed dating at a local rescue.


The Rolls Royce variant of rescue dating is ‘full’ or ‘residential’ bonding, where your guinea pig is staying at the rescue for a number of days where it is introduced to and fully bonded with a new mate, provided acceptance with any of the introduced candidates happens (see the Matchpig article in issue 47).

Because this is a very time and labour intensive process, only a minority of rescues can offer this version and there are often waiting lists; but if you have the option, please take it!

More practical information in this link here: Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs

Recommended vetted good standard UK rescues we can vouch for: Recommended Guinea Pig Rescues
Recommended vetted good standard rescues in some other countries: Guinea Lynx :: Rescue Organizations


De-sexing (neutering boars or spaying sows)
Guinea pigs even at the most difficult age (teenage boars or older sows) often bond much easier with a member of the opposite sex. You will need either a good general vet with lots of practice in neutering (ideally one that neuters for a rescue) or an exotics vet with experience in small furries operations to keep the risk of post-op complications minimal.
Neutering incoming single boars or the boars that cannot be paired up with another boar is also becoming more a widespread in guinea pig rescues.

Hywel - from fallen-out unbondable bully boy to Lord of the Bums after neutering.
He truly lived the ultimate boar dream!


Boar neutering is generally considered a less invasive and less expensive operation compared to but the cost can vary enormously. While in the UK neutering can cost as little as around £50 to £300, you might have to budget up from $150 by a no frills general vet to $1000 or more for the same operation at an exotics vet with full post-op care in New York City!

Here is our detailed and comprehensive neutering information: Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths And Facts


Living alongside
There are some guinea pigs that are so traumatised or frightened that they will attack any other guinea pig within reach; some just do not want to share their space with other guinea pigs but will interact and socialise with them through the bars.
But unless these extreme piggies are very human orientated, they will still profit from piggy company through the bars. Even hurling abuse across the grids is stimulation and interaction – and it proves that you guinea pig is still seeing itself as a guinea pig!

Neutered Nosgan lived as a next door companion to spayed Nesta after a failed bonding


Living alongside another single guinea pig is also generally your safest option if you are living in an area where rescues and neutering operations are not available.
You can look at any gender and age, as long as different genders never meet in the flesh. If you have children or rely on not piggy savvy people to look after your pets in your absence, I would most strongly recommend choosing a same sex neighbouring piggy, though!


Buying a baby companion
Before you go out and buy a little baby, you should ideally consider if you can afford to keep both piggies side by side and if you can afford to find a companion for the second guinea pig as a plan B in case an introduction with your single fails.

By far not all babies will be accepted. Even here, personality matches are crucial!

After a parting of ways with teenage Llelo and failing to find favour with any of my sows, I got Dylan a tiny baby sow-wife from the same rescue I adopted Dylan from. They are still happily together!


While older sows are generally more likely to accept a couple of young sows than a single one, you run into trouble once your two baby boy companions to your single boar reach the teenage months and the trio (so acceptance has happened in the first place) is very likely to fall apart.
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

And with sows you can simply never tell, especially older and bereaved ones…
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

Here is our comprehensive illustrated bonding guide, which takes you in detail through every stage of the several weeks process with the attendant behaviours and dynamics and with chapters on the particulars of various bonding constellations: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

 

[Wiebke]

3 Caring for single guinea pigs

Because of their social orientation and needs, there some challenges for human owners of single piggies.


Stimulation and interaction
Since guinea pigs are wired for round the clock companionship, they will look for the same in you.

Ideally they are looking for an owner who is at home most of the time and can give them the constant ongoing interaction throughout the day; at the worst several hours every single day of their lives, irrespective of your own human social life.

Before getting a single piggy, this is something you will have to consider seriously – can you guarantee that you are around and committed for the next 5-7 years of a healthy average life span?

Just leaving a shop toy in the cage is not a lot of stimulation for a guinea pig.
What guinea pigs are reacting much more to, is social interaction; i.e. you sharing their discoveries, playing tug-of-war, urging them on, praising them for finding hidden food, laughing at their mischief, teaching them tricks etc. Cuddles and shared sofa time are just a small part of a much wider interaction.

The more you can stimulate and challenge your guinea pig, the more you get back; especially if you have a clever piggy that positively thrives on you encouraging it to do things - even if it is indulging their destructive side by supplying a cardboard box with a treat inside they have to work their way in or by playing with soiled bedding!

Blind Mischief is checking out what I am doing on the floor


Ideas for enrichment on many levels and for all the senses in this link here: Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs


When cavy and human expectations clash
We humans tend to have certain rather fixed expectations of a guinea pig, namely a cuddly pet that we can love unconditionally, spoil to death and that is always there to soak up our moods and tears.

But what about your guinea pig’s expectations of you?

Guinea pigs live in a hierarchical society. Belonging to a group and having a firm rank in it is at the very core of guinea pig life. Interacting with others and exploring the boundaries of your relationship and authority is a normal part of guinea pig interaction, especially during the teenage months.

The lack of a clear hierarchy and clear boundaries creates a vacuum and leads to more and more demanding and naughty behaviour; especially tweaking/biting and other increasingly unappropriate behaviours as your guinea pig will push their boundaries against you.

Like with dogs, it is crucial for a happy long term relationship that you invite your guinea pig into the group that you are leading. Gently fondle its ears (“I am the boss, but I want you to be part of the group I am leading”) and stroke around the eyes (“I love you”).
Shouting at a naughty piggy doesn’t work, so push the chin up to establish your authority. Any tell-offs you precede and close with eye stroking to make sure that your piggy feels still loved and accepted.
This is how the clever guinea pigs deal with their naughty mates, and it is surprisingly effective. You will find that your misbehaving piggy is quickly becoming a lot better behaved but also a lot more affectionate towards you, giving you in turn plenty of reassurance that it wants to be in your group!

More information on 'guinea pig whispering' and its many applications in these links here:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Who is the boss - your guinea pig or you?


What are signs that your guinea pig is feeling lonely?
Guinea pigs are incredibly good at figuring out where they can get a reaction from you when they feel attention starved. For them it is not so important whether that is a positive or a negative reaction, what they are desperate for is your attention whichever way they can get it!
Bottle banging, cage gnawing, hidey overturning – anything that makes a noise to bring you to them will do at any time of the day or night.

Guinea pigs are most active during dawn and dusk, but they only sleep intermittently during the rest of the time and usually browse and interact quietly during their waking spells in the night as well as during the day.

If your piggy is sharing your bedroom, then you have to brace for at least one attempt of nightly shenanigans. But instead of racing across, you have to stay firm, tell them off in piggy language and ignore them afterwards, even at the cost of a bad few nights. The alternative is having an ongoing nightly war because your guinea pig will not understand that we humans have a different sleeping pattern…
If you are already dealing with this scenario, then the only way is to stay firm, even if it is at the cost of a number of very disrupted nights. Best do this during a holiday or long weekend and use the piggy whispering to tell your piggy that this is no longer acceptable.

Clinginess or withdrawal can not only be signs of illness but they can also be clear signs that you are not spending as much time with your single piggy as they need.
A stuffed toddler-safe piggy sized toy may give snuggle comfort and be a much loved pretend companions, but it cannot substitute for interactive companionship.

Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour


Picky eating and the treat trap
Sharing the exposing twice daily browsing trek at dawn and dusk with other groups settled close by in a kind of colony goes way back to the wild ancestor species our own domesticated piggies have been bred out from thousands of years ago.
But our pet piggies still share this strong instinct of “I want to eat what you have”. Young guinea pigs learn what is safe to eat by snatching food from their elders’ mouths.

Baby Sugar snatching dandelions from her mother's mouth


When this very strong incentive is lacking, single piggies can easily become very picky eaters. If you combine this with lots of treats (which is in the eyes of a piggy you sharing your food with them), you have to be very careful and considerate what you feed and how much. Never mind unhealthy treats like sugar (including honey and molasses), dairy (yoghurt!) and fruit laden or fattening foods like carrots or corn treats, even too much freeze dried rich readigrass or dried forage in comparison to the rest of the diet can take a long term toll on your guinea pig’s waistline, calcium intake, long term health and life expectancy.

Please make sure that you count any treats into the overall daily allowance and rather build in playtime with their vegetable allowance or
speciality hays or fresh grass grown in seed trays on a window sill.
If you want to introduce new foods, get the smell on yourself and mimic the “this food is safe to eat” scenario.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Weight - Monitoring and Management (includes a chapter on healthy treats and pester power)

 

[Wiebke]

Conclusion
There will always be single guinea pigs, but I sincerely hope that we can all work towards a future in which there are fewer guinea pigs that have been –often repeatedly – failed by human ignorance and human desires taking precedence over their own equally valid ones.

Figuring out what makes singles happiest and trying our best to work out their individual needs for companionship depending on their own situation is a challenge and can sometimes be a long process, but if we can give our singles not just a good human pet life but also a happy cavy life, then that must be a most rewarding task!

PS: It may have taken one and half years and a fair number of failed bonding attempts with all kinds of piggies, but even Beryn has found a gentle mate she would not be frightened by!