bethaleio
New Born Pup
Hey guys! I will quickly tell the story of my piggy, Tumnus, and then get to the point of this thread!
What would have been around 3 months ago now, there were 3 male piggies that some jerk had set loose in a field by my apartment. Tumnus was caught fairly quickly, but the other 2 were much younger than him and VERY timid... they took about 5 or 6 hours to catch. ANYWAYS, even with proper introduction techniques, Tumnus would NOT get along with the other 2 males (who were clearly both from the same litter and bonded) and the fighting was severe so they had to be separated. I live in a small, one bedroom apartment but I have an 8 square foot cage for Tummy and the 2 babies were put into piggy foster care (and they found their forever-home last month.. YAY!)
So, the point of this thread is that I have a single piggy right now. Tummy is such a lovely boy, by far the most friendly, social, and confident guinea pig that I have ever had, and I obviously want the best for him! He does not exhibit any signs of sadness or lonliness, and is constantly wheeking, squeaking, tearing around the apartment, and begging for veggies. However, I know that quality of life would be higher if he had a friend as that is how it is in nature. The problem lies with his dominance. He is a territorial piggy and I do not want to attempt to bond him with boars again (it was really scary.. he charged right for the babies and not in a typical meeting/rumblestrutting way.. he meant business! So, I booked him an apointment to be neutered on the 14th so that I could introduce him to a sow. There is a small animal vet in the city that I live and they seemed very confident on the phone, telling me that they neuter guinea pigs and rabbits all of the time and it has a high success rate, but the more research that I do the more scared that I get. I seriously love Tumnus so much. I have had 3 months of bonding with him, and he has such a big personality that i know inside out. I feel like he was randomly plopped into my life for a reason, and I am scared of him being put under anesthesia, but I would do it if I truly thought that it would overall enhance the quality of his life. However, I have also been reading a TON about new guinea pig introductions and how some piggies are simply loners that don't like sharing their space. If an introduction with a new piggy failed, I do not have the space to house a piggy in a separate enclosure plus it would take away from the play time that Tumnus would have.
I am so sorry for this long post! But these are all concerns that have been buzzing in my head for three months! I guess that I am just asking for advice from other piggy owners on what they would do
Since the date of the neuter is getting closer, I realized that I really had to make a decision. (Also, here's a picture of my little rescue! ^_^ )
What would have been around 3 months ago now, there were 3 male piggies that some jerk had set loose in a field by my apartment. Tumnus was caught fairly quickly, but the other 2 were much younger than him and VERY timid... they took about 5 or 6 hours to catch. ANYWAYS, even with proper introduction techniques, Tumnus would NOT get along with the other 2 males (who were clearly both from the same litter and bonded) and the fighting was severe so they had to be separated. I live in a small, one bedroom apartment but I have an 8 square foot cage for Tummy and the 2 babies were put into piggy foster care (and they found their forever-home last month.. YAY!)
So, the point of this thread is that I have a single piggy right now. Tummy is such a lovely boy, by far the most friendly, social, and confident guinea pig that I have ever had, and I obviously want the best for him! He does not exhibit any signs of sadness or lonliness, and is constantly wheeking, squeaking, tearing around the apartment, and begging for veggies. However, I know that quality of life would be higher if he had a friend as that is how it is in nature. The problem lies with his dominance. He is a territorial piggy and I do not want to attempt to bond him with boars again (it was really scary.. he charged right for the babies and not in a typical meeting/rumblestrutting way.. he meant business! So, I booked him an apointment to be neutered on the 14th so that I could introduce him to a sow. There is a small animal vet in the city that I live and they seemed very confident on the phone, telling me that they neuter guinea pigs and rabbits all of the time and it has a high success rate, but the more research that I do the more scared that I get. I seriously love Tumnus so much. I have had 3 months of bonding with him, and he has such a big personality that i know inside out. I feel like he was randomly plopped into my life for a reason, and I am scared of him being put under anesthesia, but I would do it if I truly thought that it would overall enhance the quality of his life. However, I have also been reading a TON about new guinea pig introductions and how some piggies are simply loners that don't like sharing their space. If an introduction with a new piggy failed, I do not have the space to house a piggy in a separate enclosure plus it would take away from the play time that Tumnus would have.
I am so sorry for this long post! But these are all concerns that have been buzzing in my head for three months! I guess that I am just asking for advice from other piggy owners on what they would do
Since the date of the neuter is getting closer, I realized that I really had to make a decision. (Also, here's a picture of my little rescue! ^_^ )
Also, are they easy to notice? People have said that their piggies got abscesses up to 4 months later.. can this be the case?
