Suitable age for rehoming?

[Swiss GP]

Hi,
We (8 & 11 year old kids and me their Mum) are about to get our first guinea pigs.
I have seen advertised online (we have very few rescue centers in Switzerland), a litter of Guinea Pigs and the lady has said we can take them next weekend.
The babies will only be 3 weeks old - is this too young for them to be rehomed?
We will be getting 2 boars from a litter of 3 males and female.
Thanks for your advise.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
We (8 & 11 year old kids and me their Mum) are about to get our first guinea pigs.
I have seen advertised online (we have very few rescue centers in Switzerland), a litter of Guinea Pigs and the lady has said we can take them next weekend.
The babies will only be 3 weeks old - is this too young for them to be rehomed?
We will be getting 2 boars from a litter of 3 males and female.
Thanks for your advise.

Hi!

3 weeks is the age when boars need to be separated from their mothers and sisters to avoid pregnancies, but we generally recommend to wait a bit longer with any babies of your own to ensure that the immune system and the weight is higher and they can cope better with the change to a new home.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sexing-separating-baby-boars-and-rehoming-babies.109391/

 

[Hetja]

Hi, nice to meet some more people from Switzerland.
Three weeks is quite young but as long as they aren’t extremely small they should be fine with that. If you have the space, you could eventually think about getting one or two a bit older piggies, so they can learn about social rules. This would make it easier later, if you would get more piggies, as piggies, which grow up with adults are generally more sociable.

 

[Wiebke]

PS: If this is not a certified breeder, then please do the usual checks we recommend for owners getting shop and breeders from other countries: What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)