Taking guinea pig to "pick" a companion

[Flower_Girl]

I was just wondering if anyone had done this (taken their guinea pig to a rescue to choose a new companion), and give me an idea of how it works/what to expect! My beautiful Flower passed away a few weeks ago so I'm now looking to adopt another guinea pig to come and live with Indy. I'll hopefully be taking her to a local(ish) rescue soon to meet some of the gps. I'm worried she won't like any of them!

 

[Joey&Gizmo]

Ive not done this but I did look into it and spoke to my local rescue and she said that she will put my piggy with one of theirs and give it time to see if they get on and if they don't they will try another as sometimes piggy can bond right away and you know that they are the one. She also said that she would keep my pig for about a week to see if the bonding was successful and then give them both back. She also said to take the cage etc so they don't get put into different cages.
I was going to go through with it but another rescue had a pig in and i bonded them myself but she talked me through it and was always on the phone when i had lots of questions.I did have a few sleepless nights but they bonded and are happy together.

 

[Wiebke]

I have done it successfully twice.

Once I took my bereft lonely girl (just turning 3) to look at neutered boys and came back with a girl of the same age, who had decided to adopt US! Dizzy and Minx were like widowed sisters moving back in together. They went through bonding in the quickest time possible.

The second time I took Dizzy to look at three neutered boars (no girls available locally). There was instant interest with one of them. We had a quick test there to see whether there was some aggression, but as there wasn't any, Llewelyn came home with us and had a very loving relationship until Dizzy died this summer. He was 2 1/2 years younger than her. If the lady at the rescue hadn't been absolutely sure that I knew what I was doing, Dizzy would have stayed with her for at least 2 days for bonding.

Just be prepared that you probably won't come home with YOUR choice, but with your piggy's choice. On the other hand, you know that they like each other! Keeping an open mind, is all you need.

 

[clairelove]

in my own rescue i always ask the new owner if they already have a guinea they want to pair up with a same sex to bring it along to me at the rescue i introduce one guinea first and see how they seem to be getting along i normally notice pretty soon if they are not happy and then introduce them to another one if they seem ok then i put them in to a run and the new adopter will stay with me for around 1 hour before feeling happy to have the guinea pig i always say if they have any problems that i will be more than happy to have the guinea back off them and try another guinea but i have never had any problems with people bring them back regardless of the guineas age and who they have paired up with..boys well this is a different situation altogether if they are 2 older boars i advise they have 2 different cages and introduce them slowly in a divider run for how ever long this may take but i always say be prepared that they may never take to each other so in this case a hutch/cage needs to have a mesh divider in it so they can still talk to each other with out the fights babies i never really have a problem that seems to start at around 5 months if they are from different litters some times they are ok and some times dominance issues occur..but i have found if there is a lot of space then these problems can be easily avoidable..i always keep intouch with the new family and do follow up visits and ring every 2 days and try to help with any problems they may have..

 

[Lisajazz]

The thing I always wonder about is does going somewhere strange and often after a transport journey unsettle the guinea pig so they may not be the same kind of pig as they are in their own environment?

Could they be stressed out and less accepting?

Having never done anything like this I really am clueless but it's something i've wondered.

 

[clairelove]

Ive have re homed 21 guineas now in 10 wks all except 3 were paired into same sexes and i always keep in touch with the new owner and have not as yet had any problems with pairing up here or at there new home i just advise the new owner to disinfect the hutch before putting them both in together but to be honest i do all the pairing in my rescue with rescue pigs then re home them together.i wouldn't even attempt to pair up older boars over a short amount of time as this takes weeks and can take months or even never.
the other 3 were re homed at 5 mths separate as they were paired up but started to fight so these went to homes where hopefully there new owners will get them neutered then they can have a girlfriend has i advised them to do this.

 

[Flower_Girl]

Sorry for the late reply, thanks everyone!

Wiebke, it sounds like you were lucky to find those perfect matches with your piggies. I'm really hoping Indy will find her perfect companion, too. I'm aware that I probably won't have much of a say in the matter when choosing! I'd just love for her to find a friend she's really happy with.

Claire, it's great to hear about it from a rescue's point of view. How you do the introductions is pretty much how I imaged, and it would be great to have the continued support of the rescue after adoption. I'd be very reluctant to leave Indy to be bonded by the rescue, but I have plenty of space and time (and treats!) so hopefully whoever I adopt from will trust me to bring them home after an initial good meeting. It's a pity you aren't closer, you sound wonderful!

Joey&Gizmo, glad to hear that your bonding turned out well! At the moment I think I'm rather hoping for a "love at first sight" scenario, involving minimal stress for me and the guinea pigs! But I did have to re-bond my two girls after they'd been separated for over a month, so hopefully I'll manage if there is some disagreement to start with.

Lisa, that's a good point. I suppose that's why some rescues advise leaving your piggie for a few days to help them settle into a more natural state? ?/

 

[venice]

sounds a sensible idea
thats what I did when I got my rescue rab a pal took her there
the AWL will only rehome a second dog if you take your existing dog to see if they get on


venice