How to Find Your Guinea Pig a New Partner
Rehome a Rescue Cavy and Help Your Bereaved Pet
Sep 30, 2009
Guinea Pigs live in social groups in the wild and need to live in a cage big enough to take two. The pair are usually siblings and have lived together all their lives. When the unthinkable happens and you lose one of your pets, the question is what to do with the other one.
Guinea Pigs like to Live in Pairs
All the recommendations are that the remaining guinea pig be found another partner, but it is not as simple as that. What if you buy another guinea pig from the pet shop and take it home, but they do not get on? You will need another cage for the guinea pig, an expense that you will not want. The shop may not take the animal back.
Guinea Pigs Need the Right Companion
Your female guinea pig may accept another young female with a little time and if you introduce them on neutral territory. But is it a risk you want to take? Male guinea pigs are unlikely to easily accept another male, but they will be lonely if they are on their own. Nor is it ideal to introduce a female to a male guinea pig to live together as the female would be constantly producing babies which will all need their own homes.
Rehome a Rescue Animal
Here in the UK, you might like to look up your local pet shelter, either the RSPCA or local groups that specialise in rabbit and guinea pig rescue. Not only can they advise you on the best way to go about finding your guinea pig a partner, they may have one that needs a new home. You may be able to search on the internet to find a group local to you.
They will have minimum cage size requirements, to allow the animals plenty of room, and they will also want you to have an animal run separate to the cage to give the pets the chance to nibble the grass. They will most likely do a home visit to check that you have the right sort of cage in place.
They will have guinea pigs needing new homes and they will help those guinea pigs to bond with your pet so that they can live together without problems. Some of the shelters organise neutering for the male guinea pigs and this allows them to live with females.
The animals they look after may have a known history or they may not. The shelter will have checked them over, organised medical treatment if necessary, then put them in groups or in pairs. They will keep siblings or family members together if necessary. The guinea pigs may be young or older, tame or not handled, but they are all in need of a good home.
It will depend on many factors – the age of the remaining guinea pig, the space you have available and if you have an animal shelter close enough to help. However your guinea pig will be content to form a new friendship if it is introduced in the correct way and will be happier for it.
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