Advice for bereaved guinea pig

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foxyandsky

New Born Pup
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Hi all!

Sorry if this is not the right place to ask about this.

My sweet little boy, Winston, died over the weekend. His brother, Willoughby, (3 years and 3/4) is now left on his own so we are planning on getting him some piggie friends to play with (although, he has been loving having the hutch all to himself).

Willoughby had an injury a few months back so he can’t use one of his hind legs- he has just started to use the ramp again but he’s not very quick.

Our issue is whether to get one new pig for him or two?

We would be getting the pigs from our local pet store so they would be little- our worry is that if we get one little one, will they be sad due to the age gap/the fact that Willoughby can’t properly play with them? Plus, Willoughby is heading towards being elderly so that is also something to consider.

I have been researching and have seen the issues surrounding 3 males together so that might be a problem too.

Anyone have any advice? Planning on getting the new little one next week so Willoughby has two weeks to mourn.

For context, we have a Pets at Home Foxglove two story hutch. The boys have a run in the garden attached to the hutch which is quite long + wide- they have unlimited access to this during the day (provided the weather isn’t horrific!). If getting 2 extra pigs is the answer, would it be better to get a new hutch alongside the og?

Any advice/suggestions are more than welcomed- thanks for reading and sorry for the long post!
 
I will leave other advice to some others but 1 do not put more than two boys together they should only be in pairs and 2 don't you have any rescues close by to adopt from? This way you could find an older boy for your guy who has already gone through all his hormone spikes 💐
 
I'm so sorry for your loss.

Please get just one male piggy to bond with him. Do not attempt to bond three boars together - it will fail and you will be left in a situation with a pair and a single or even three single piggies if they all fight.

Any bond comes down to character compatibility so it is advisable where possible to get the help of a rescue centre to find a friend for him.

If you are not able to get to a rescue, then you must have a plan in mind for if the bonding fails and the two piggies cannot share a cage - that is two separate cages which must be side by side (so hutches one up/ one down won’t work).

A bonding is a specific process where the piggies are put on neutral territory (you cannot just add a new piggy directly into the hutch as it will cause territorial problems) to see if they like each other.

If you decide to get two more piggies and keep them as a pair and then keep willoughby on his own then this could pose problems with side by side interaction given they are in hutches which have solid sides - willoughby would not be able to have that constant side by side interaction so would get lonely.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
 
With boars it is best to go to a rescue who will give you bonding advice and back up even i they don't actually do bonding's themselves.
Maria's Animal Sanctuary in Probus always has lots of guinea pigs looking for good homes.
 
CTWC said:
I will leave other advice to some others but 1 do not put more than two boys together they should only be in pairs and 2 don't you have any rescues close by to adopt from? This way you could find an older boy for your guy who has already gone through all his hormone spikes 💐
Click to expand...
Hiya, thanks for your comment!

I’ve checked a lot of the local shelters but a lot of them are either in pairs already or want a female to pair with :(. We live quite out in the sticks so finding nearby shelters is tricky!
 
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