One gone to guinea pig heaven. How will his friend manage?

[millimat]

Dcs god - only 4months old but one had an infection and died today. I'm bothered about how the other gp will be on his own? Can I do anything to stop him fretting?

[millimat]

God? Meant guinea pigs!

[kahori]

Oh dear, sorry to hear that! We are new piggie owners and I do worry about how one of our pair would cope on their own .
How is the remaining one doing so far?

Hopefully 70 or Fernie who are a lot more experienced than I am will be along with some advice.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Oh , 4 months - poor baby.
Is your other pig the same age?

I've had two occasions in the last year where I've had a lone boar.
They both fretted, it's normal for them to feel bereft and bereaved, but I'll share with you what we id to make it (hopefully) easier all round.

First, now your pig has died, the remaining pig needs to be given time to grieve. He needs to know his cagemate has died , so don't sneak the body away, leave it with him, just tucked away in the bedding, and let them have some alone time.
Tomorrow you can remove him, before he gets stinky. If you bury him, seal him up well, (our GP2 was dug up by foxes, luckily he was in a sealed toiletry bag)
Give your remaining pig a few days to grieve, keep him indoors if you can (important to keep an eye on him if his cagemate had an infection, I'd take him to the vet as a precaution for a check up)

To find him a new mate, contact some Rescues, they will have a young boar piglet and will 'boar match' them.
If you want sows, you'll need to arrange to neuter your boy.
You need to make everything neutral and disinfect before your new pig comes home.
I used a brand new paddling pool to 'bond' ours, then they slept in my DD room in the cage before they went out to the Pighouse.


We had originally GP1 and GP2, two rescue brothers. GP2 died a year ago ( they can go downhill very quickly, he was fine, then doing that tucked up look). He went to his guinea-pig vet, nothing definitive wring, got antibiotics but died that night. GP1 was with him, DD and I were cuddling them.
We left him together with GP1, then we kept GP1 in DD room at night.
After 6 days, along came GP3, 6 week rescue boar.

GP3 is a big, cheeky Rex who quickly installed himself as Alpha Pig (GP1 was 'okay, you be in charge'
GP1 died about a month ago ,so we had GP3 (he weighs 3lb) who I didn't want to boarmatch because he used to bonk GP1 . (GP1 was ' ahem d'you MIND ' and walked away, but I didn't want to risk a piglet with this over enthuiastic boar )

So, (same Rescue as GP3) along came GP4 and GP5 - two 10 month old sows who had been pg and their piglets weaned.
GP3 has been neutered, just over a week till he's sterile. (Girls are separate but side-by-side to chat)
Then we need to boar-date them.

I use a steamer and vinegar to clean then sprayed with Vikron S to clean and disinfect. One of the saddest things is eradicating all the trace of your guinea-pig.

We gave lots of cuddles and human chat (Radio left on for him) while he was alone. But GP1 and GP3 were definately quieter alone. (He's found his squeak again )

Boar piglets are easier, I'm planning how I'm going to introduce my boar to the sows. They are skitty (I did ask for feisty, I got feisty ) not particularly well socialised but today I held GP5 and thought , she's made huge inroads in 3 weeks.

This is a bit of an essay, well done if you got this far - anything else, give a shout out.

for your piggie, , GP1 (The Mighty Chester) will guide him across The Rainbow Bridge.

[FernieB]

Sorry to hear about your piggie.

4 months is very young for a pig to be left on his own. I would definitely get him a friend as 70 said. In the meantime give him lots of interaction and cuddles. Given his age he could be neutered and given a girlfriend - you need to wait a few weeks after neutering to make sure he's sterile. Rescues usually have lots of pigs waiting for new homes and will happily match your boy up with a friend he likes.

[millimat]

How do they match up a new gp from a rescue? I was thinking that we'd get another one and had read how to introduce them slowly in 2 cages side by side?
GPs went to vets as 2 but only 1 came back, so afraid he can't mourn with the body there

[FernieB]

70's GP went along to the rescue to choose his friend. They don't all like each other and can have pigonality clashes

A rescue will help you get a friend they like. Some will also offer a bonding service where you leave your GP there for a few days whilst they get acquainted (can be useful if you are also going away - obviously a donation would be required).

[millimat]

So if you go to a rescue centre where they can match them up, you won't need a separate cage / hutch? Sounds a good idea, but not sure DD will like that because it was her gp and she'd want to choose another one in the colouring of her choice.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Hi - we phoned the Rescue where GP3 came from, they had taken in a huge consignment of boars (all ages, some adult, some still with their mums)
GP3 was weaned and ready to start his new life (though the piglets with mums were gorgeous )
They were introduced in a neutral plastic crate and GP1 took to his new boy straight away. So much so that on the way home, he was wheeking and vocal, which he hadn't been for the week since GP2 died.

With GP3 (the one In Waiting ) he was a good age and weight (there is a minimum for the operation) . We went the roundabout way and got the ladies before his operation because I didn't want to put him through too many stresses and reckoned if he had new company , it would give him focus.
Girls are still in separate accomodation within the Pighouse.
So he's had supervised nose touching (and licked GP5 paw ) she was unimpressed


As your boy is still a youngster himself, the Rescue might have a older boar that would appreciate a friend - there's that option, but the bonding would need to be there and maybe they'd ask to keep him a few days.

Your boy will go through his Terrible Teens soon, but this would happen no matter who he's paired with.
Good Luck !

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

millimat - the GP gets the choice your DD can choose the name (I didn't even get that honour)
DD and I were looking at tri-colours and black/white ones.
GP3 is brown.
GP1 was brown.

They looked like Father/Son

Actually that's a disservice, GP1 was golden agouti GP3 is lemon agouti.

But DD decided he was called Dylan. My names were vetoed.
But his RL name is Dill.

[millimat]

Its typical because we're off on our hols next week so can't do anything about another one until we get back. At least we don't have the worry of a poorly one whilst we're away.
Going to try and convince dd that this makes sense.

[fortifiedwithtea]

When I went to the rescue for friends for Naughty Girl we gave the rescue lady some guidelines what we were looking for. I.e not pink eyes as I'm squeamish, sows approx. 2 years old no piglets please however cute, would prefer pink claws but not a deal breaker

In reality your boar will pick his friend but your DD can choose a selection he can pick from. Win, win situation.

Sorry for the loss of your piggy

[millimat]

Aww thank you everybody. DD likes the sound of the rescue centre as long as she can have some input into the choice. fortified glad its not just me about pink eyes!
In an ideal world how soon would you try and pair a lone one up after his buddy has died?

[millimat]

Oh and the rescue centre says a donation to adopt them. What is a realistic donation ?

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I paid roughly what I'd pay in a Petshop.
The Rescue I got GP1 / GP2 I paid £30 / pair (year old)

GP3 - £20 (he was a piglet and Rex )

GP4/GP5 £30/ pair (10 months)

(they ask for a £10 donation, but if I went to P@H, I'd be paying £22 for a piglet anyway)

(If you get a ready neutered boar, I think they ask £40 , but the surgery itself costs £50+ )

I get very soapboxy @ Gumtree . Lots of sellers want "A good home/ getting rid due to allergy/ kids CBA/ moving" but they still want to profit ( they claim it's so they won't be snakefood, but c'mon. They've spent money , got bored and want rid )
If they gave their piggies to a Rescue, there would be a surrender fee. I often wonder what happens to these poor creatures.
Yesterday there over 91 for sale/ rehome in one day

[FernieB]

Pair up ASAP as they are social creatures. The rescue may ask for a standard donation amount. If not, you could give the amount you would pay to buy one from a pet shop.

Children quite often want baby animals but I find that as soon as you tell them about homeless animals needing a family, they become very enthusiastic. It will still be your pig who chooses his friend. Tell your DD that he doesn't choose her friends because he wants her to choose the people she likes to play with. It's the same for pigs - she should let him choose his own playmate. She can choose the name.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Don't forget though you are giving the piggie a home.
I know the Rescues have overheads
You could donate hay/ food etc.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Just noticed that about pinkeyes .
My piggie GP5 is a lovely little pinkeyed Himmy ( ruby in some lights)
GP3 has dark red eyes

GP1 and GP3 had 6 days alone, time to grieve but , my goodness , they were a long six days . (We had to wait for the pigs to become available )

[millimat]

Didn't mean to sound horrible about red / pink eyes. I'm terrified of rats and not keen on mice, so getting GPs was a big hurdle tbh. But pink / red eyes are too rat like I'm afraid.
I've found one rescue centre pretty close and rspca centres but think the gp one will be better at pairing them up. There's not a national website that lists them all is there?

[fortifiedwithtea]

You could try //www.guineapigrehome.org.uk or Search on Rodents with Attitude website for rescues.

I went to Blackberry Patch in Chelmsford, got to hear of them by word of mouth. Do you know any piggy owners locally, they might have names of rescues.

[FernieB]

Smoothpig is pinkeyed and offended . It just means he can do evil eyes really well and scare me into fetching more parsley. I don't mind the pink eyes but then I loves mouses etc.

[millimat]

Ooh never tried giving them him parsley.

[millimat]

Found a centre in Winsford which isn't too far. Unfortunately we need to wait now till we're back off our holidays to find him a buddy. DD read about where some of the rescued gps are from and wants to help .

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Never given parsley

They eat most herbs (mine love curly parsley, flat leaf parsley,mint. But not basil. And I really limit coriander, it makes them narky)

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Some of the histories of Rescue Pigs would make a saint spit

[FernieB]

Winsford's not far from me either millimat. We must be neighbours . I didn't know there was a rescue there - I shall investigate.