Finding A New Cage Mate

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Nibbles'Mummy

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We sadly lost one of our little girls just before Christmas. My 7 year old daughter is devastated, and we briefly considered rehoming our remaining one because none of us were sure my daughter could cope with losing another pet. But after considering it for a day, she's now adamant she wants to keep Nibbles, and get her a new friend.

Nibbles is about 10/11 months old. I've been told that we should try to find a companion that is roughly the same age (I was told 3/4 months either way), but then also I've seen others have said that personality is more important.

I've got 3 local-ish rescue centres I can phone next week, but I'm not sure what the chances are of them having a female of the "right" age. What would your advice be? If there isn't one of a similar age, is Nibbles likely to be happier with a much younger baby girl, or an older lady?

Also, since Twitch died, Nibbles has seemed OK. She's eating plenty, and chutting happily when she's being cuddled. The biggest difference in her behaviour is that she no longer runs away when I go to pick her up! She used to be fine once caught, but really difficult to pick up in the first place. But now she will just sit still and let me pick her up. Is this a worrying sign of lethargy/depression, or just a sign that she wants to be held and cuddled now that she's alone?

Sorry for such a long post!
 
Welcome to the forum, sorry for the loss of Twitch. It is always sad to lose a much loved family member :( Your poor daughter must have took it quite hard bless her. Some rescues will indeed offer piggy dating so Nibbles could pick their perfect new friend. Where are you based? Here is a link to our recommended rescue locator Guinea Pig Rescue Centre Locator

We have bonded baby piggies no problem as the automatically become bottom pig (for the time being...)

Here is a thread on introductions Introducing And Re-introducing Guinea Pigs
and bonding Illustrated Bonding Behaviours And Dynamics

It sounds like Nibbles is missing her friend, piggies feel grief like us but they do go on with surviving so it is excellent news she is eating well.. give her extra cuddles as you are doing

Lee
 
Nibbles'Mummy said:
We sadly lost one of our little girls just before Christmas. My 7 year old daughter is devastated, and we briefly considered rehoming our remaining one because none of us were sure my daughter could cope with losing another pet. But after considering it for a day, she's now adamant she wants to keep Nibbles, and get her a new friend.

Nibbles is about 10/11 months old. I've been told that we should try to find a companion that is roughly the same age (I was told 3/4 months either way), but then also I've seen others have said that personality is more important.

I've got 3 local-ish rescue centres I can phone next week, but I'm not sure what the chances are of them having a female of the "right" age. What would your advice be? If there isn't one of a similar age, is Nibbles likely to be happier with a much younger baby girl, or an older lady?

Also, since Twitch died, Nibbles has seemed OK. She's eating plenty, and chutting happily when she's being cuddled. The biggest difference in her behaviour is that she no longer runs away when I go to pick her up! She used to be fine once caught, but really difficult to pick up in the first place. But now she will just sit still and let me pick her up. Is this a worrying sign of lethargy/depression, or just a sign that she wants to be held and cuddled now that she's alone?

Sorry for such a long post!
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for your and your daughter's loss! You are welcome to post a tribute for Twitch in our Rainbow Bridge section if or anytime you and daughter would like to.

Nibbles is obviously feeling alone. Going rescue is a good way to find a new friend, but you want to make sure that the rescue is good standard (there is no licensing, so anybody can call themselves rescues). With a bereaved sow, you can also look for neutered boars. A rescue would ideally let Nibbles meet potential mates at the rescue, so you know that they get on and that initial acceptance has happened.
We have got a recommended good standard rescue locator on the top bar, but may also provide links to recommended rescues in other countries, if wished.
Could you please add your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can give you recommendations and tailor any advice as to what is the best way forward. We have got members and enquiries from all over the world, so any advice can differ quite a bit.
 
Thanks both.
We're based in Sheffield (UK), so I had a look a your list, and there's a centre in Barnsley, plus RSPCA centres in Sheffield and Chesterfield, which were the ones I was going to contact.

A local Pets At Home store apparently doesn't sell animals, it just has an adoption section, but they only have pairs at the moment and I'm not sure how Nibbles would feel about going from being with her sister, to being alone, to being one of three with an already bonded pair.
 
Nibbles'Mummy said:
Thanks both.
We're based in Sheffield (UK), so I had a look a your list, and there's a centre in Barnsley, plus RSPCA centres in Sheffield and Chesterfield, which were the ones I was going to contact.

A local Pets At Home store apparently doesn't sell animals, it just has an adoption section, but they only have pairs at the moment and I'm not sure how Nibbles would feel about going from being with her sister, to being alone, to being one of three with an already bonded pair.
Click to expand...

The bonded pair may be difficult @Wiebke is an expert on bonding...
 
Thanks Dindypig, I did look at their website but their adoption rules state house pigs only, and although ours are brought in to the house to be played with, they have to live in an outdoor hutch in the garage.
 
I'm from Sheffield too !

Cavy Corner is a great rescue and I would advuse you contact them to via their facebook page ( I will post a link when on my PC).

@pig in the city fosters for Barnsley Animal Rescue and is based in Sheffield. I am hopefully going to adopt a neutered boar from her as a companion to my recently bereaved sows.

If you need to look further afield, Milhaven are another great rescue.



All these rescues can be found on our rescue locator
 
Thanks PiggyOwner, I sent them a message via Facebook, butthey have confirmed they wouldn't adopt to us because of the outdoor hutch.
 
I'm sorry for the loss of Twitch. It's especially hard with kids, isn't it? It really rattled all of us to lose Linney last year. My 8-year-old took it particularly hard, they had a very special bond and the fact that we had Linney for over 6 years meant that she really didn't remember a life without her. It's so hard... but unfortunately one of those learning experiences. A year later she still misses Linney and talks about her often, but she also loves our surviving pig, Sundae, and the pig we got following Linney, Hadley. I'm sure in the long run your daughter will feel the same, but it's so hard to see them hurting!

As for bonding new pigs, my experience is that age really isn't a factor. I've had pigs with quite wide age gaps. When we first got pigs, we had Linney and Frenzy (same age.) Unfortunately, Frenzy passed away around 18 months of age following a massive dental abscess/infection. We then introduced Sundae, who was about 12 weeks at the time, to 18-month-old Linney, and they lived as a bonded pair for about 4.5 years until Linney passed away at age 6. We then introduced 4.5-year-old Sundae to another 12-week baby, Hadley, and they have been living happily together for about a year. The only 'issue' I notice from pairing a senior pig with a baby is that Hadley has a LOT more energy and sometimes seems puzzled that Sundae does not want to chase her around in circles or otherwise burn off energy the way Hadley does! But at a year or so, yours is still a young pig and you are not likely to see a huge difference in terms of energy levels (we really didn't see an age gap between Linney and Sundae, who were 18 months or so apart, until Linney hit old age when Sundae was still middle aged. But by then they were both pretty sedate, it was more a matter of health issues/body weight and such that distinguished who was old from who was in their prime.)

Hope this helps a bit and best of luck finding a friend for Nibbles!
 
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