A new friend for our young sow

[Bebimbars]

Hello everyone,

Back in september, our old neutered guinea pig Grumpy lost his companion. Seeing he was quite lethargic and sad, we decided to adopt a baby sow. The bonding was a real success and Lima, who was very fearful at the time, found comfort and protection with Grumpy by her side. Lima is now 7 months old, quite shy but she is slowly becoming more and more comfortable around us. Grumpy sadly passed away at almost 6 years old.

I am now wondering what would be our best bet to introduce a new guinea pig to Lima. We have very little experience with sows as, in the past, we only had males.

We were thinking of possibly getting a baby sow, but from what I have read online, bonding two sows can sometimes be difficult. I also realise that there is no magic formula and that each pig will have his own temperament. Any advice or recommendation would be greatly appreciated to help us find the best companion for Lima !

 

[Spoink]

Hello everyone,

Back in september, our old neutered guinea pig Grumpy lost his companion. Seeing he was quite lethargic and sad, we decided to adopt a baby sow. The bonding was a real success and Lima, who was very fearful at the time, found comfort and protection with Grumpy by her side. Lima is now 7 months old, quite shy but she is slowly becoming more and more comfortable around us. Grumpy sadly passed away at almost 6 years old.

I am now wondering what would be our best bet to introduce a new guinea pig to Lima. We have very little experience with sows as, in the past, we only had males.

We were thinking of possibly getting a baby sow, but from what I have read online, bonding two sows can sometimes be difficult. I also realise that there is no magic formula and that each pig will have his own temperament. Any advice or recommendation would be greatly appreciated to help us find the best companion for Lima !

Hi hun, I have absolute zero experience with boars as I've only had girls.
But, quite similar situation to you, my old girl Biscuit was a single piggy, I got her a baby sow Piglet and they immediately bonded - I'm guessing she just took her under her wing as she is no threat to hierarchy as a baby really.

Sadly, I lost my sweet girl Biscuit - leaving Piglet a single piggy. Piglet quickly declined into pining and loneliness so I had no choice but to bond her ASAP. I bonded her with another baby sow, Hazel.
I am very lucky in the fact that they just bonded immediately, Piglet has asserted herself as the dominant Piggy and Hazel is just fine with that. I think, again, this could be a slight age thing or perhaps that Piglet knew she was boss lady as she was there first. She did try to assert dominance onto Biscuit when she was poorly, which they can when they see weakness in the top pig.

If you have more time than I did, if you check with your local rescue's she may be able to attend a speed dating session to help her find her own companion that she clicks with. What better way to find a bond than to let her do it herself?

Good luck, anyway, I hope that was at least a tiny bit of help. Let us know how you get on, sweet.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone,

Back in september, our old neutered guinea pig Grumpy lost his companion. Seeing he was quite lethargic and sad, we decided to adopt a baby sow. The bonding was a real success and Lima, who was very fearful at the time, found comfort and protection with Grumpy by her side. Lima is now 7 months old, quite shy but she is slowly becoming more and more comfortable around us. Grumpy sadly passed away at almost 6 years old.

I am now wondering what would be our best bet to introduce a new guinea pig to Lima. We have very little experience with sows as, in the past, we only had males.

We were thinking of possibly getting a baby sow, but from what I have read online, bonding two sows can sometimes be difficult. I also realise that there is no magic formula and that each pig will have his own temperament. Any advice or recommendation would be greatly appreciated to help us find the best companion for Lima !

Hi!

I am very sorry for your loss. Sadly there a few rescues in France; and none that offer rescue dating from what little I know.

You can also look at neutered boars. Key is mutual liking and character compatibility long before age or gender.
If you can find a piggy that you can date with Lima before bringing them home, then this would be ideal. Otherwise you will have to have a plan B in reserve in case things don't go to plan.

Fear-aggression/insecurity with other piggies can make bonding more difficult but that applies to any piggy. Look for more submissive piggies if you can.

New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

 

[Merab]

Sorry that you lost Grumpy.
You’ve had good advice already.

When my Merab lost her original cagemate I opted for 2 baby sows on the basis that they could still live together with Merab in a cage next to them if bonding didn’t work.

I was lucky that everything did work.
Hope you do find a suitable companion for Lima

 

[Bebimbars]

Thank you everyone for your replies and recommendations !
I think we will try to find a young sow in a rescue near us (neutered boars seem very hard to find sadly) and hope for the best. Lima is shy but pretty easy going as well so I hope it won't be too difficult to find a good match !