Bereaved Young Piggy, New Friend Or Friends? Please Advise.

[Grace]

Hello Friends,
As some of you know I bought two baby piggies home and the vet gave them the wrong anibiotics, both orally and by injection. Cleopatra died a week later, even after I stopped the antibiotics after a few days of finding out online that they were the lethal ones. Bloody diarrhea. Zilly recovered, and after a week of healing she is on Baytril for a little sneezing. I found a great guinea pig vet, and everything else in Zilly is healthy. Now, finally we are looking for a companion for Zilly, who is a shy 14-16 week old. We saw several healthy guinea pigs that we can adopt (6 actually) and fell in love with two of them. The store is quarantining them till Friday. I am scared to bring two home because I don't want Zilly to be left out. Or will it be okay? I have the space and time, but I want everyone to get along too. Are the dynamics of three not so good? Are two better for bonding with each other? Will three not bond with humans? Are three a lot more work than two? I clean the cage out "topically" every day and fully every week or so. It is 28 inches by 42 inches, half fleece and half bedding, plus a 14x14 loft. So confused and torn,
Zohra

 

[piggyfan]

Hi there, your cage is too small for two guinea pigs. It needs to be a minimum of 120 by 60 cm and that would mean at least two hours of floor time a day. I recommend a c and c cage. They are fantastic as they can be made to any size. You can even make them big enough not to need floor time. Until you get a big enough cage I would not take on more piggies.

I do not know if your vet has told you this but when feeding baytril you will need to give a probiotic an hour after to help line the guinea pigs delicate stomach. Baytril is very harsh and causes small poops and reduces appetite. The probiotic really helps.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! I am very sorry for your loss!

There are several great guinea pig rescues in California that operate to a high standard of foster care and only rehome healthy (already quarantined and treated), properly sexed and handled/socialised piggies. Could you get in contact with one of these, which are your most local?
- Coastside Cavy (Pacifica, San Francisco Bay)
http://www.coastsidecavy.org/
https://www.facebook.com/coastsidecavy
- Cavy House Guinea Pig Rescue (La Honda, Bay Area)
http://cavyhouse.org/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cavy-House-Guinea-Pig-Rescue/119053254838088

Piggy trios are the most difficult constellation to get right, as they are most likely to end up with an outsider problem of some sort. They are great when they work. You need to keep that in mind. It all depends on the individual character combination, so you can never make any predictions - unless you have an idea of the piggies' characters. Generally, your little girl is young enough to be desperate for company and there shouldn't be any general problem with bonding at that age. A trio requires 2x5 ft (24x60 in or 60x150 cm) minimum ground space, as per ASPCA/RSPCA recommendation. Guinea pigs are ground roamers and will be quite a lot bigger when they stop growing at about 15 months old!

You may find this information thread here helpful, as it addresses several of questions. Guinea pigs living in groups tend to focus more on firstly being a group member - that is as it should be as they are wired to be group animals and are much happier with company of their own kind. You can still cuddle and interact with her and not lose that link, though!
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-companionship.37654/

PS: I would also second piggyfan's recommendation of giving a pinch of probiotics about an hour or two after the baytril to prop up the gut flora. You can get them in a pet shop or online.

 

[Elwickcavies]

It great that you are asking the right questions, and are clearly concerned about little Zilly's welfare. So sorry about the bad vet experience. Generally rescues are very good at getting the right combinations together, so I would echo Wiebka's suggestion about talking to your local ones and finding a pal or two for her from them. I have kept many trios of girls together over the years, and in my experience they usually get on fine unless there are two dominant sows. Personality is key and I do think your best bet would be to make use of the experience at a rescue. Please let us know how you get on!

 

[guineapig-al]

Hi, Grace, so very sorry about the passing of your piggy Cleopatra. Have you buried her?
Thanks,
Alexis

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I've had pairs before & this time I have 3 girls & the dynamics are very different as Wiebke says. Personally I would stick to pairs in the future, 3 is definitely sometimes a crowd