My little man Marlin has ended up alone as his older friend suddenly passed away at the beginning of the month. I've waited til I'm at a more stable economic situation to get him a new friend, and after finally landing a new job I am on the right track. Marlin is only four months old but very spunky, sassy and active. My older male had a bit of a hard time putting up with him sometimes.
Should I be looking for a younger or older male as a friend for him? I am leaning towards a younger male/one of his age, as Marlin clearly likes to be the boss of the pig cage and I feel like he would fight over dominance with an older male, but then again, I don't know if it's a good fit, I don't want him to stress out a younger piggy or for them to fight when the little piggy becomes a teenager himself. What do you guys suggest? I do not really have an opportunity to "try out" a bonding and then give the piggy back, the rescues and breeders do not do that here.
Useful info: my country doesn't really have great breeders (the follow the bare minimum care requirements in my country which arent a lot) and extremely few shelters have piggies. I am therefore leaning towards getting a younger piggy as a friend for Marlin because I feel like that way I can ensure it gets the best care from an early age. I've had one adult piggy from a breeder before that we found out did not receive enough vitamin C growing up and apart from it having malformed ribs, it also kept getting sick. That's why I'm leaning more towards a baby piggy, but please do tell me if I would be making a terrible choice in that because in the end I care about succesfully bonding Marlin with a friend the most.
Should I be looking for a younger or older male as a friend for him? I am leaning towards a younger male/one of his age, as Marlin clearly likes to be the boss of the pig cage and I feel like he would fight over dominance with an older male, but then again, I don't know if it's a good fit, I don't want him to stress out a younger piggy or for them to fight when the little piggy becomes a teenager himself. What do you guys suggest? I do not really have an opportunity to "try out" a bonding and then give the piggy back, the rescues and breeders do not do that here.
Useful info: my country doesn't really have great breeders (the follow the bare minimum care requirements in my country which arent a lot) and extremely few shelters have piggies. I am therefore leaning towards getting a younger piggy as a friend for Marlin because I feel like that way I can ensure it gets the best care from an early age. I've had one adult piggy from a breeder before that we found out did not receive enough vitamin C growing up and apart from it having malformed ribs, it also kept getting sick. That's why I'm leaning more towards a baby piggy, but please do tell me if I would be making a terrible choice in that because in the end I care about succesfully bonding Marlin with a friend the most.