Best Companion For A Young Female?

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Flower's Mom

Flower's Mom

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Hello! I got a 1 month old female approximately 2 weeks ago, named Flower. She was the only female there, and I thought that I'd be able to get her a friend quickly. I'm actually really struggling to find an appropriate buddy for her. I live in the US, and I feel like I've looked everywhere. The humane society has had either young males or older females, the pet stores currently only have males in stock (some of our pet stores only sell one sex at a time, and right now, there are only males), I've looked at local ads and only found males within the area. The only females I found were in a pet store, and one of the girls was hunched and scratching herself a lot on two different occasions when I went into the store, so I'm afraid of mites.

I finally thought I had found the right girl, and got kind of attached to the photo I saw on my local humane society's website, so I called them. Turns out that the female they had listed as 1 month old is actually 1 year old- they had a typo. I was told that a young female would be the best mate for Flower, my little girl. Any thoughts? I know that I can't get one of the males, of course, but I'm still wondering about this 1 year old female. My car is having trouble, so I can't get to the humane society until the end of the week anyways. They did tell me that I could bring Flower to meet another pig to see how they reacted to each other. The other pig has been vet checked, and they are quarantined before being put up for adoption, so I hope it would be safe to just let them sniff each other at first? I just don't know what's best for Flower at this point. I don't want her to be bullied or subordinated by an older pig when she was here first, but maybe she'd like to have an older friend?

Thankfully, in the meantime, she does seem quite happy here. She gets lots of love and attention, and lots of floor time in a playpen almost the size of my living room. She popcorns frequently, runs laps, and she chirps contentedly in her cage, on the floor, or in my lap all the time. She's also bonded with my cat, strangely, although they are never alone together. They'll still cuddle in my lap together and bathe each other... In any case, she does seem content at the moment. So please, no rude comments about my not having another pig yet. I'm working on it. (I asked a question about something else on a different forum, and got attacked by several people for only having 1 pig, although they didn't know the situation. So please, no condescending remarks!)

Anyways, sorry for the long post, but any thoughts on what I should do for her? Should I hold out and wait for a younger friend, or see if she gets along with the 1 year old I like at the humane society? Thanks very much for reading, and any advice you can offer!
 
I would try her with the 1 year old.I bonded two six weeks old girls with my one year old and they are great together.Also put 6week old in with my 8 month old after losing her cage master and that works as well.Worth a try
 
Great- thanks. I'll go check out the 1 year old, if they still have her, on Friday when I get my car back! :)
 
It is great that you are looking for a friend for your girl!

With sows, mutual liking is more important than age; it is the key to a successful guinea pig bond. Ideally, you let the piggies meet at the shelter - provided that they allow it.

You may find these threads here helpful for bonding and judging behaviour. If the shelter sow hasn't undergone a 2-3 weeks quaratine, you will best have to at home. This will also help to settle in the older girl, so she will be less stressed out when you start introductions. Many piggies react aggressively out of fear rather than for any other reason, so you want to minimise as many potential stress factors (like hideys with only one exit.

During the introduction, you will see inevitably dominance behaviours which will look quite mean and rough to you, but are normal and par for the course. Guinea pigs need to spell everything out in bold capitals where we humans can get by with a wink. Unlike you, they have got an instinctive manual. Please do not interfere unless you see highly aggressive behaviours. Make sure that you have everything in twos - hideys, bowls etc. as the dominant sow will push the undersow out and off in the course of establishing a working hierarchy. The undersow will squeak very loudly, not in pain but in submission; this translates as "don't be mean to me, I am not a rival!" It is actually usually very effective in stopping the other piggy!
In an introduction on neutral ground, you should ideally see a relatively short acceptance phase (about 5-20 minutes after first interaction) which then moves straight into the dominance phase. This can last from a few days to a few weeks until the new top sow is feeling secure in her new home and position. The dominance phase only determines the shape of their relationship, not how good friends they will become afterwards.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sow-behaviour.38561/
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-introducing-and-reintroducing-guinea-pigs.38562/
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
 
Thank you very much for your help and all the info! I called the shelter again- they changed their minds once again, and are now saying that she's 1 month old... I give up. I'll be able to tell when I go to see her on Friday, assuming she's still there. Keep your fingers crossed/say a prayer for me! I so hope she's still there! I ordered a bigger cage and a giant pigloo, plus I have an extra hidey. Here's hoping it works out! And I talked to the shelter again- they are happy to have Flower come with me for a meet and greet with the other pig(s). Thanks again! :)
 
Oh shes beyond beautiful!

A good way to tell the age of a piggie is elder piggies usually have thicker nails. Young guinea pigs, as young as a month have much smaller tiny nails. My 3 year old boar has nails 3x the thickness of my 7 month old boar. =)

Of course this doesn't always prove age but its a good indicator.
 
She's very pretty. Age is definitely not that important with sows. Last year my Rosie (rip) who was 6 at the time was bonded with Ruby who was about 6 months maybe a little older and they got along very well. Went back to the rescue a few weeks later and came back with Rub's rescue cage mates, Esme rip (2 at the time) and her daughter Tia (9 weeks) and they all got along fine. In fact Rosie and Tia the two with the largest age gap were best friends and adored each other. After losing both Rosie and Esme within 3 weeks of each other we have recently got a little neutered boar, Edward who is 5 months is living next to my two girls until he is safe to join them and they both seem to like him. Ruby is now about 2 and Tia (18months). I really hope flower likes who you have chosen for her to meet
 
Good luck in getting her friend sorted! Don't worry about her not having a friend right this minute as you are doing all you can and she will be fine in the meantime! It's the best feeling once you find that match as you usually get a thank you of popcorns or sometimes even chirping if your lucky! You can really tell the difference in them once they have a friend. Good Luck xx
 
Thanks for all the advice and encouragement, everyone! I can't wait to get her- I do so hope she's still there!
 
Got her! She is an adult. She was found with 4 other guinea pigs outside the shelter on November 15- they were just dumped there. She's very shy- she was screeching when the shelter volunteer picked her up, but quieted down in my arms. She was just shaking in my arms, though. Broke my heart. Because she was both vet checked and quarantined for 3 weeks at the shelter, I introduced her to Flower already. They're getting along wonderfully. Some dome wasn't even mine yet...inance behavior going on, but nothing major. They're both chirping happily and popcorning. Enili, the new girl, is still very shy around me, of course, but she's perfectly comfortable with Flower, and they're sweet as can be.
smile.png
Thanks for your advice, everyone! Here's her first photo with me; I took it while I was waiting for the paperwork on her. So she wasn't even mine yet...Enili pig.webp
 
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