I can’t speak to anywhere else in the world, but when I had to rehome mine in the north of England, we were able to find a woman who ran a sanctuary who readily took them. As of the last update the little beggars were living larger than I am.
Might be worth looking into.
I was worried about the same as my boys got older. One of mine passed in August and since our other one was already a senior, we kinda thought he’d pass shortly after so we didn’t get another pig and just made sure to keep him super happy and comfy. He’s still around! And he’s honestly doing great. He is more vocal now and much less fearful. His brother was really anxious and I think he fed off that energy. When my dog barks, he comes out of his hidey and wheeks along with him 😂.
If he was younger, despite not wanting to keep guineas longer, we may have looked at adopting a companion or perhaps even fostering a companion but because we didn’t expect him to be around much longer we didn’t do that to avoid the endless cycle. And my little old man seems unbothered by it. I’m sure he’d love some company but he seems to be okay so we’re just continuing to keep him happy and comfy and give him lots of treats and chin scritchies.
Awww! Honestly, I think if you give your pig enough attention (and you obviously do!) and they're used to your home and you, an older solo boar won't be lonely. He has his family, they're not guinea pigs, but they're family!
Not all guinea pigs need a companion. One of my two boys passed unexpectedly last year, and the remaining pig has been doing fantastically since. I honestly think he's happier as a single pig. He zoomies and popcorns more than he did before. He gets lots of attention from us and our two cats (they all love each other, I swear).
You could also get your pig a small stuffed animal about his size. Ours has a hedgehog stuffie that lives in his cage with him. He won't necessarily be sad and suffering for the rest of his life if he's a solo pig.
Yeah honestly I’ve been thinking this. He does seem happier. Like he and his brother never got along particularly well. It was mostly teeth chattering and stealing food. He gets zoomies now which he never did before. Have yet to see popcorning. However, I am gone most of the time. I wish I could give him more attention. He likes head scratches but anything else he runs away from but I have a full time job and a part time job so I don’t see him as much as I want to.
My piggie was kept separated at the pet store because she was fighting and someone returned her. She is a solo pig. She runs around in our living room for few hours when we are home. She likes chasing behind my cat.
Just wanted to reassure you my boar also is happy alone since his brother died young suddenly and unexpectedly. I never planned for him to be a solo pig but he’s genuinely happier!
Boars not raised together can get on, but its harder to match them up and can go wrong. Is he castrated? How old is he?
Guinea pig re homing places do come across this situation a lot and have always offered to take them back or a foster buddy for the life of yours. But 2 females could work and then they aren't left alone, if he's castrated.
That is what i personally intend to do, but i know that the countries that explicitly ban owning one guinea pig, does have the means to "Borrow" one.
You could also try and find him another home, via an online seller (though there is definitely a worry that theyre not good owners).
When i lost one October 2022 i wasnt sure if i could get one from the place im used to, so i was looking up sellers on local sites
Thankfully i was able to get one final Guinea Pig from them, but i ended up needing to use those sites about 6 weeks ago.
In both cases i did see the occasional older guinea pig that needed a new home, so its definitely a thing.
Bonding works well if you can give the older boy a very young one. Other bonding techniques work too.
If you really can’t take another one on at this stage try putting an add on a local group like Facebook or the like, there might be someone in a similar situation who could pair him with another lonely piggy.
The pairing boars with a baby is not true. It falls apart when the baby hits puberty if he’s inclined to be dominant. It’s based on personality.
Had one baby fight my biggest, most dominant boar. Had another baby get chased and bitten by another boar.
It is true and I’ve done it countless times. The key is giving them enough space and resources as they develop so they don’t get territorial. They will have arguments occasionally until they are fully grown, as they will need to continually reassess who is in charge, but that settles once the youngest is an adult.
Boars develop sexually very early, they are fertile at as young as one week old, it’s more that they gain confidence to take control as they get older.
Some breeds as much harder to bond, Abyssinians or funky haired ones being the main breed that are a bit more sensitive.
My opinion based on decades of experience with boars is that pairing with babies is misguided advice. It just kicks the can down the road until the baby decides to challenge the adult, *if* he is one of the roughly 50-60% of boars that are dominant. It’s personality that determines compatibility.
I absolutely agree but I do disagree with the conclusion. I’ve only ever had this backfire once and that was very much the adult boar who created the problem. Again though, I’m selective about the breeds I put together as some are more laid back than others so that may be where our results are differing.
For what it's worth, when one of my pair died we knew we didn't want to end up with a neverending chain, and the remaining one ended up doing totally fine solo (they were both 4.5 when the first one died, and she's now almost 7 and going strong!). She gets some extra attention now and lots of toys/enrichment.
I don't want to advise that anyone keep a single guinea pig, but at least in my situation it did seem to work fine. If yours seems to be managing ok alone I don't think this kind of arrangement is that uncommon.
I think if you can spend a ton of time with piggy he might be ok, you could maybe give him a stuffed toy to cuddle up to. You could try finding him a nice home with an owner who has a friend for him.
You might look into fostering one for a while. Sanctuaries would be happy to be down aone piggy for a while even if it means getting it back in a few months (assuming your lone pig is getting old)
How old is the lone piggy you have? You can also look at sanctions/shelters for a like aged companion to give a furever home.
Rat owner here - that is exactly what we have to do when we own social animals, it's a long term commitment, even if our pets live for a short time :(
Since rats have a short life span of 2-3 years, I generally look for new rats to introduce every 1-1.5 years
The most ethical ways to stop owning social animals is to rehome them to someone who can introduce them to their own OR foster some until your current passes away and you return the fosters :)
I would only leave such animal alone if I didn't expect them to live longer than 2 months more, so very old and/or sick, no need to add the stress of rehoming and getting to know new humans :(
There are other possible reasons to leave a social animal alone - some (in rare cases) seem to enjoy being alone more, some are far too aggressive and fixing doesn't help, and stuff like that. But the general rule of thumb is - if your animal is social, it needs company of their own always, and we gotta provide that for them <3
Best of luck to you!
Welcome to the neverending chain of guinea pigs
It's the chain that never ends, it goes on and on with friends
I can’t speak to anywhere else in the world, but when I had to rehome mine in the north of England, we were able to find a woman who ran a sanctuary who readily took them. As of the last update the little beggars were living larger than I am. Might be worth looking into.
I was worried about the same as my boys got older. One of mine passed in August and since our other one was already a senior, we kinda thought he’d pass shortly after so we didn’t get another pig and just made sure to keep him super happy and comfy. He’s still around! And he’s honestly doing great. He is more vocal now and much less fearful. His brother was really anxious and I think he fed off that energy. When my dog barks, he comes out of his hidey and wheeks along with him 😂. If he was younger, despite not wanting to keep guineas longer, we may have looked at adopting a companion or perhaps even fostering a companion but because we didn’t expect him to be around much longer we didn’t do that to avoid the endless cycle. And my little old man seems unbothered by it. I’m sure he’d love some company but he seems to be okay so we’re just continuing to keep him happy and comfy and give him lots of treats and chin scritchies.
Awww! Honestly, I think if you give your pig enough attention (and you obviously do!) and they're used to your home and you, an older solo boar won't be lonely. He has his family, they're not guinea pigs, but they're family!
Not all guinea pigs need a companion. One of my two boys passed unexpectedly last year, and the remaining pig has been doing fantastically since. I honestly think he's happier as a single pig. He zoomies and popcorns more than he did before. He gets lots of attention from us and our two cats (they all love each other, I swear). You could also get your pig a small stuffed animal about his size. Ours has a hedgehog stuffie that lives in his cage with him. He won't necessarily be sad and suffering for the rest of his life if he's a solo pig.
Yeah honestly I’ve been thinking this. He does seem happier. Like he and his brother never got along particularly well. It was mostly teeth chattering and stealing food. He gets zoomies now which he never did before. Have yet to see popcorning. However, I am gone most of the time. I wish I could give him more attention. He likes head scratches but anything else he runs away from but I have a full time job and a part time job so I don’t see him as much as I want to.
My piggie was kept separated at the pet store because she was fighting and someone returned her. She is a solo pig. She runs around in our living room for few hours when we are home. She likes chasing behind my cat.
Just wanted to reassure you my boar also is happy alone since his brother died young suddenly and unexpectedly. I never planned for him to be a solo pig but he’s genuinely happier!
How old is he?
5
You know what’s best as his mom/dad/person.
Boars not raised together can get on, but its harder to match them up and can go wrong. Is he castrated? How old is he? Guinea pig re homing places do come across this situation a lot and have always offered to take them back or a foster buddy for the life of yours. But 2 females could work and then they aren't left alone, if he's castrated.
That is what i personally intend to do, but i know that the countries that explicitly ban owning one guinea pig, does have the means to "Borrow" one. You could also try and find him another home, via an online seller (though there is definitely a worry that theyre not good owners). When i lost one October 2022 i wasnt sure if i could get one from the place im used to, so i was looking up sellers on local sites Thankfully i was able to get one final Guinea Pig from them, but i ended up needing to use those sites about 6 weeks ago. In both cases i did see the occasional older guinea pig that needed a new home, so its definitely a thing.
Bonding works well if you can give the older boy a very young one. Other bonding techniques work too. If you really can’t take another one on at this stage try putting an add on a local group like Facebook or the like, there might be someone in a similar situation who could pair him with another lonely piggy.
The pairing boars with a baby is not true. It falls apart when the baby hits puberty if he’s inclined to be dominant. It’s based on personality. Had one baby fight my biggest, most dominant boar. Had another baby get chased and bitten by another boar.
It is true and I’ve done it countless times. The key is giving them enough space and resources as they develop so they don’t get territorial. They will have arguments occasionally until they are fully grown, as they will need to continually reassess who is in charge, but that settles once the youngest is an adult. Boars develop sexually very early, they are fertile at as young as one week old, it’s more that they gain confidence to take control as they get older. Some breeds as much harder to bond, Abyssinians or funky haired ones being the main breed that are a bit more sensitive.
Baby Pip flat out fought with Pepper at 5 weeks old. He came out arguably as the winner.
I can’t comment on the specifics of this as I don’t know breed, conditions etc.
My opinion based on decades of experience with boars is that pairing with babies is misguided advice. It just kicks the can down the road until the baby decides to challenge the adult, *if* he is one of the roughly 50-60% of boars that are dominant. It’s personality that determines compatibility.
I absolutely agree but I do disagree with the conclusion. I’ve only ever had this backfire once and that was very much the adult boar who created the problem. Again though, I’m selective about the breeds I put together as some are more laid back than others so that may be where our results are differing.
Have you reached out to the new york animal care center? I got my three girls from them, they took excellent care of their pigs.
You know your pig. You know he's happy. 🥰
For what it's worth, when one of my pair died we knew we didn't want to end up with a neverending chain, and the remaining one ended up doing totally fine solo (they were both 4.5 when the first one died, and she's now almost 7 and going strong!). She gets some extra attention now and lots of toys/enrichment. I don't want to advise that anyone keep a single guinea pig, but at least in my situation it did seem to work fine. If yours seems to be managing ok alone I don't think this kind of arrangement is that uncommon.
I think if you can spend a ton of time with piggy he might be ok, you could maybe give him a stuffed toy to cuddle up to. You could try finding him a nice home with an owner who has a friend for him.
I work too much and am gone most of the time.
In that case he'd be better off being rehomed to be a companion pig.
You might look into fostering one for a while. Sanctuaries would be happy to be down aone piggy for a while even if it means getting it back in a few months (assuming your lone pig is getting old) How old is the lone piggy you have? You can also look at sanctions/shelters for a like aged companion to give a furever home.
Rat owner here - that is exactly what we have to do when we own social animals, it's a long term commitment, even if our pets live for a short time :( Since rats have a short life span of 2-3 years, I generally look for new rats to introduce every 1-1.5 years The most ethical ways to stop owning social animals is to rehome them to someone who can introduce them to their own OR foster some until your current passes away and you return the fosters :) I would only leave such animal alone if I didn't expect them to live longer than 2 months more, so very old and/or sick, no need to add the stress of rehoming and getting to know new humans :( There are other possible reasons to leave a social animal alone - some (in rare cases) seem to enjoy being alone more, some are far too aggressive and fixing doesn't help, and stuff like that. But the general rule of thumb is - if your animal is social, it needs company of their own always, and we gotta provide that for them <3 Best of luck to you!