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Big G

Big G

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi there

I recently joined the forum as we bought our first Guinea Pig (for the kids') about 4 months ago.
Things have been going really well and (Buddy) is a placid wee thing.
He's really good with the children and doesn't mind getting picked up and handled too much.

Buddy must be around 8 months old now (approx.) and the reason for the post is that a few people have mentioned about getting him a friend.

We've discussed adopting another one but we want to go back to the same pet shop, who were brilliant, and get one this way.
We're in the process of looking for a bigger / better cage, but I really need some advice about this new piggy etc.

Should we get another male or is female better?

Thanks
 
Hi there, I personally would recommend a rescue, the main reason being your piggy can chose a friend that he will get on with, whereas if you buy one from a shop they may not get on and you could end up with 2 separate piggies.. Also if you get a female you will need to get your male neutered so there's no babies! I've only ever had males so I couldn't say if to get male or female. Oh and if you get from a pet shop, I'd advise a quarantine period, just in case your new piggy has an illness you don't want to risk passing it to your existing piggy. Good luck whatever you chose and hope someone more helpful comes along soon
 
Hi

Many thanks for the response / comments.
I'll look into a rescue piggy a little bit more. We haven't got a spare cage, so we might have to wait a few more days so that we have somewhere to put both of them etc.

I wish now that we'd just bought 2 of these wee guys when we got ours.
Thanks again

ps How long would you suggest for a quarantine period?
 
Np :)

It would be better to get a new friend from a rescue for the reason @Galaxy&nibbles pointed out, rescues are more inclined to help you date your guinea to find the right frined for him. I've done this three time we three pairs of successfully bonded boars, however I did adopt two boars from a rescue who fell out when they got in their cage here, one has a new friend called Tyrion who is about 8 weeks old now, TK is about 9 months old and the other boar we're having neutered so he can go with the sows.

If you do get from a pet shop I would ask them if they would allow you to return the guinea pig if they didn't get on, but the problem is the 14 days quarantine.
 
Thanks again for the advice Kerrie

I think i'll have a chat with the family and see what everyone's thoughts are on it.
I'll also give the local RSPCA centre a call too etc

It'll be my luck that whichever way we go, they wont get on.... :mal:
 
Big G said:
Hi

Many thanks for the response / comments.
I'll look into a rescue piggy a little bit more. We haven't got a spare cage, so we might have to wait a few more days so that we have somewhere to put both of them etc.

I wish now that we'd just bought 2 of these wee guys when we got ours.
Thanks again

ps How long would you suggest for a quarantine period?
Click to expand...
I bought 2 sets of boys from a pet shop, one pair have always got on so well and the other 2 not so well. I lost 1 and took roddy to a rescue and it took 3 attempts for him to get on. Sadly that 1 died a little while ago and I went back to the rescue again and he got a new friend first time. I think the quarantine period is 2 weeks like kerrie74 said.
 
Yeah, I think it can be just luck I suppose.
Just off the phone from the pet shop and they mentioned the quarantine period and they did also mention that ours and the new one might not get on.
The girl did point out that it would wise to put the new piggy in a separate cage / pen for the first wee while to see if they're going to get on etc. This in turn would tie in nicely with the 14 days anyway.

Cheers
 
I think (but don't know as not done it) the quarantine wouldn't be living next to your current piggy.. So seing if they get along at the same time. At the end of the day it's your decision and you'll do what is right for your piggy. Do keep us updated and of course any pictures are much appreciated here!
 
Umm I don't know if I agree with what the "girl" said... Quarantine would mean you have to place the guinea pig in a completely different room, not just cage.

Also... I'm not sure why she suggested putting them in separate cages... When we've bonded we've taken our guinea's to the rescue, for two of the bondings a guinea was placed in the carrier with our pig and that was that, all was fine, for the third bonding he was taken to a different rescue where they introduced them and let them run around for 20 minutes or more and then let my son bring the adopted one back, again worked out well. When your bonding they say it's not a good idea to keep splitting guinea's as when you put them back together it starts the whole cycle again.

I'll find the bonding threads and show you :)
 
Hi Kerrie / Galaxy

Thanks for the advice and links.
I'll have to look into this in much more detail.

Now got a couple of sad kids as they thought they could maybe go to the pet shop this week....... Oh, the joys. My fault in the end though as I shouldn't have agreed to it in the first place without asking the question with people like yourselves.
Anyway, i'll review everything and I will keep you posted on what we do.

Thanks again, much appreciated.
 
What a gorgeous guinea pig :)

That's ok, we've got 10 guinea's, they are lovely animals to have (we have two mice and a 13 year old collie as well).
 
Hi Kerrie / Nicky

Thank for the kind comments. :D

Yeah, he is a cute wee thing. Great temperament too.
Wow (Kerrie), that's a lot of pets!

To be honest, it's really been trial and error for us as a family as far as pets go.
We started off with 2 hamsters (for the kids') and both turned out to be utterly bonkers. I couldn't even handle them and both myself and my son got bitten. Luckily we got them rehomed.
Then we bought a beautiful Portuguese Water Dog (puppy), after doing loads of research as my wife is allergic to dogs as is my son to a lesser degree, and sadly it really affected her in bad way and we ended up having to give the pup back to the kennels.
The kids' were distraught! They still talk about Charlie (the pup) and look at his photos.

So, getting our wee piggy and finding out that he is great and nobody had any reaction to him is just brilliant.
Finally, we have a family pet that nobody is allergic to and is good with the children.
Thank goodness.....
 
Aww bless! I suffer with allergies myself so I know how your wife feels. I have rhinitis the hay affects me, fur, dust, pollen etc. I have a nasal spray and if I get bad I have antihistamines I take, both from the Dr so they are a bit better than the over the counter meds. I have plenty of other things wrong but won't bore you haha.

Guinea's pig's are awesome, I love all of ours, they all have their own little personalities going on, we have one that tries to play with you, he'll give you a good lick as well lol. Another thing about him is, when my son tries to give him a kiss he will pull his head away and put his paw in his face and yet when I do it he gives me a lick on the lip lol, funny little fella :)
 
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Oh, I feel your pain Kerrie.
I've got Asthma and was always told that I too was allergic to dogs, and it was only a few months ago that they re-ran some tests and said no you're only allergic to house dust / mites.
Sadly though, we believe that my son may have mild asthma, but we definitely know that he does get wheezy around animals. Although, Buddy doesn't seem to trouble him (thank goodness)

I have these really powerful antihistamines (long story), so if my wife gets bothered with things like dogs / animals, she usually "borrows" one of my tablets - and they work a treat.

Yeah, I totally agree about their wee personalities.
Buddy has got some really weird wee things he does that are really cute.

Its about 37 years since I last had a piggy when I was a kid, and I was reluctant to get one due to our track history, but i'm soooooooo glad we got him.
Wonderful pet.!
 
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