Not Sure What To Do :(

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Bongosmum

Bongosmum

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Hi everyone

I wasn't sure where to put this thread... It's a long and sad tale so thank you for taking the time to read it.

The story starts about 18 months ago when I adopted a pair of "male" guinea pigs from the adoption centre at pets at home (after joining this forum I've realised this was the first of many mistakes). Bruce and Bongo came to live with me and all was well until we lost Bruce quite unexpectedly just before Christmas.

I knew that Bongo was lonely and after speaking to the vet decided to get him a friend. So (second and third mistakes coming right up) I got him a male friend from our local pet shop,and the bonding went swimmingly. The first mistake was obviously getting the companion Ivan from the pet shop. The second mistake was not checking that Bongo was actually a male before introducing them. You can probably guess what happened next.

I noticed Bongo was putting on weight but put it down to him being happy after being thoroughly depressed when Bruce died. But I had a niggling doubt in my mind and after a quick google search and a frantic panic I realised Bongo was actually Bonnie and more than likely pregnant. I took her straight to the vet and he confirmed the pregnancy. By this time I was a member if this forum and knew that pregnancy in older guine pigs was often problematic and possibly fatal. After about 4 weeks of close monitoring, tonight Bingo have birth to one huge (130g) stillborn pup. She, thankfully, is ok.

I separated Ivan and Bongo when I realised she was pregnant and he has been living on his own ever since. The problem that I have is that he is terribly unhappy. When he lived with Bongo he was and outgoing an friendly chap, but now he runs away from me at the slightest noise and after weeks of trying to get him to come around with hand feeding and careful lap time he isn't having any of it. I know he needs a friend.

When Bongo was pregnant the plan was to wait and see what she had (we knew it was probably only one) and if all went well the baby could live with either Mum or Dad or possibly both if a little girl. We obviously now don't have that option.

I was always planning on getting Ivan neutered and putting him and Bongo back together however they have been apart now for about 4 weeks and he just seems to be getting more and more depressed. He is frantically chewing the bars of his cage and seems generally unhappy. If I get him neutered now it'll be about 8 weeks realistically before they can be together again,which is another 8 weeks of him being fed up. I guess there is also no guarantee that they will get on when he has been neutered. The alternative is to get him a boar friend and get Bongo a sow friend and have them live separately. I just don't know what is for the best.

Please don't tell me off for getting Ivan from the pet shop and not sexing Bongo properly before I put them together, I genuinely thought I was doing the best thing at the time and believe me I would do all of those things right if I knew then what I know now. I'm also heartbroken that I put Bongo through so much unnecessary stress by my thoughtless actions.

If anyone has any advice on what I should do with Ivan and Bongo I would be very grateful.

Apologies for the exceptionally long post! Thank you for reading.

Xx
 
There are a lot of experienced members on this forum who can give you much better advice than me but I would like to say don't beat yourself up for trying to do your best for you piggies. For one thing you have adopted rather than buying babies ultimately giving them a better life immediately and you have given them adequate vet care. Sexing guinea pigs can be difficult and I know you didn't let this happen on purpose. A lot of rescue centres offer bonding so might find them both a friend each or they might settle together after the neutering.
Hope it goes ok xx
 
Thank you for your kind words, you have made me feel a bit better about it all xx
 
I would definitely get any new piggies from a rescue, I've well and truly learnt my lesson there and won't be making the same mistakes again! Thank you for your advice :)
 
... and please don't think anyone on this forum is going to tell you off for getting your guinea pigs from a pet shop. As you have said yourself, what has happened has caused you a lot of sadness . All we are trying to do is to prevent people having to go through this.

I hope all goes well with finding your guinea pigs their ideal companions.
 
I'm so sorry you have all been through so much and RIP little baby. I agree that taking them both to choose their own friend at a rescue is the best option.
 
So sorry to hear this, you've done the right thing and it's not your fault. I would have to say what @piggyfan said seems like the best option so far.
Good luck x
 
I am sorry about all your problems and the dead baby! A single huge deadborn baby is not at all rare for older sows; they have a much reduced chance at their litters surviving birth. :(

You have done the best you could for your piggies and are a caring mum, so please don't beat yourself up!

Can you place Bonnie's and Ivan's cages next to each other so they can interact through the bars? That should hopefully help perk up Ivan in the short term.

Actually, the appropriate waiting period after a neutering operation is a full 6 weeks. I have the baby courtesy of a supposedly safe over 5 week post op boar living with me, just to prove that point! You will also need to find a vet that is well practised and experienced in piggy neutering to cut down on the otherwise much higher risk of post op complications and the next can of worms.

Under the circumstances, I agree with the other posters that your best chances are to look for a suitable friend for each piggy at a rescue. There is Wheek&Squeak near Southampton and then you have got several rescues in the Bristol area or Little Pip over the border in Devon, depending on where you are located. All the rescues in our rescue locator are run by experienced and knowledgeable people to a high standard of care and we can guarantee for them, so it is well worth travelling that bit further for some precious peace of mind! They will also support you in case you run into trouble at some point in their adopted piggies' life.
 
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