Rabbit replacement.
Discussion
Evening all,
We recently re-homed a rabbit and a guinea pig that came from a friend of ours that was moving abroad.
The two had been together for a long time but unfortunately the rabbit has died due to a chest infection despite a course of antibiotics.
It would be nice to get a new friend for the guinea pig but we are unsure if it would be best to go for a young rabbit or would it be aggressive? Or is it a safer bet to get another guinea pig?
We recently re-homed a rabbit and a guinea pig that came from a friend of ours that was moving abroad.
The two had been together for a long time but unfortunately the rabbit has died due to a chest infection despite a course of antibiotics.
It would be nice to get a new friend for the guinea pig but we are unsure if it would be best to go for a young rabbit or would it be aggressive? Or is it a safer bet to get another guinea pig?
Ritchie335is said:
Evening all,
We recently re-homed a rabbit and a guinea pig that came from a friend of ours that was moving abroad.
The two had been together for a long time but unfortunately the rabbit has died due to a chest infection despite a course of antibiotics.
It would be nice to get a new friend for the guinea pig but we are unsure if it would be best to go for a young rabbit or would it be aggressive? Or is it a safer bet to get another guinea pig?
I was talking about a similar thing to our vet this week and she said adding another guinea pig was very tricky and something she wouldn't advise.We recently re-homed a rabbit and a guinea pig that came from a friend of ours that was moving abroad.
The two had been together for a long time but unfortunately the rabbit has died due to a chest infection despite a course of antibiotics.
It would be nice to get a new friend for the guinea pig but we are unsure if it would be best to go for a young rabbit or would it be aggressive? Or is it a safer bet to get another guinea pig?
As for the rabbit,I don't really know, but I've always understood that if you do do it then the younger the better so that the original has chance to assert its dominance.
Personally I wouldn't try and let the guinea pig stay on its own now.
Your best bet would be to introduce a baby guinea of the same sex. Please don't get another rabbit, rabbits and guineas don't really mix. Rabbits can injure guineas very badly and the dry feeds they need differ. And baby guineas are easiest to introduce because the adults are more tolerant of babies. You might have no problems with an older guinea, but in my experience there's a lot more chance of friction if you introduce two adults to one another.
I've mixed baby guineas and older guineas before and rarely had a problem. Guineas don't like being alone, so you're doing the right thing by finding your guinea another friend.
I've mixed baby guineas and older guineas before and rarely had a problem. Guineas don't like being alone, so you're doing the right thing by finding your guinea another friend.
Edited by SGirl on Sunday 29th September 18:50
)There us another thread running about this re introducing a new guinea pig to another, some good websites to look at.
I wouldn't try another rabbit.
Not sure why a vet would advise against finding a new piggie mate as it is well known that it is usually successful with a bit of care. Rabbits on the other hand a lot harder to predict!
I wouldn't try another rabbit.
Not sure why a vet would advise against finding a new piggie mate as it is well known that it is usually successful with a bit of care. Rabbits on the other hand a lot harder to predict!
Edited by bexVN on Sunday 29th September 21:31
Register on here and see where your nearest rescue is. It's far better getting from rescue than buying, you have the advantage of trying your piggy with others to see if they get on before you pick one. 
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/index.php
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/index.php
Ritchie335is said:
Male piggy, the mrs is going to see what she can get this morning.
In that case, make sure she gets another male who's as young as possible. The males can get quite grumpy about being asked to share with a stranger, so the younger the newcomer, the better. It's often a good idea to mask the scent of the newcomer as well, if you can. I usually do this by putting on some scented handcream and just rubbing the new piggie all over before introducing the two. You could also ask at a rescue whether they have any babies that need rehoming. There are plenty of them.
Piggies are brilliant. Hope you can find a little boar (boy) piggy mate for him as that's what works out best - we had ours in a run with a mesh divider down the middle for a few days so they could 'talk', exchange smells etc before they went in together - and yes, LOTS of cuddles to make sure that new pig smells like you/your home and less strange to your current resident. I heard of someone using a damp flannel to groom old pig and then new pig to transfer some familiar smell, never tried it myself but it sounds like a reasonably low-risk good idea from here...
Thread resurrection!
We got another piggy and all worked out fine, thanks for the advice all. The question is now, what should do with regards to the cold weather. They live in a small chicken coop with lots of hay/straw and a water/wind tight cover. Is this ok, or do they need to me moved into some sort of shed or outhouse? The one that we adopted apparently had stayed out over the last few winters.
We got another piggy and all worked out fine, thanks for the advice all. The question is now, what should do with regards to the cold weather. They live in a small chicken coop with lots of hay/straw and a water/wind tight cover. Is this ok, or do they need to me moved into some sort of shed or outhouse? The one that we adopted apparently had stayed out over the last few winters.
Ritchie335is said:
Thread resurrection!
We got another piggy and all worked out fine, thanks for the advice all. The question is now, what should do with regards to the cold weather. They live in a small chicken coop with lots of hay/straw and a water/wind tight cover. Is this ok, or do they need to me moved into some sort of shed or outhouse? The one that we adopted apparently had stayed out over the last few winters.
We brought ours indoors if it stayed below freezing during the day - they had a windproof cover on the hutch which had been insulated with old carpet so they were pretty snug but it just seemed wrong to leave such little critters out in it when we could so easily bring them in.We got another piggy and all worked out fine, thanks for the advice all. The question is now, what should do with regards to the cold weather. They live in a small chicken coop with lots of hay/straw and a water/wind tight cover. Is this ok, or do they need to me moved into some sort of shed or outhouse? The one that we adopted apparently had stayed out over the last few winters.
They learned what the fridge door sounded like within hours - the chorus of hysterical squeaking every time you opened it was actually a real highlight of the winter.
Guineas are well able to cope with the cold, provide plenty of fresh hay every day to keep them snug, the biggest killer is the damp, they will not tolerate dampness.
If wrapping the hutch up like a Xmas present do make sure it still has plenty of ventilation as it's amazing how much heat they can give off,
If you find condensation in the hutch then there's not enough ventilation.
Pigs kept in sheds do not need heat, just make sure there is a window/door open for ventilation( with a wire rodent proof cover)
If wrapping the hutch up like a Xmas present do make sure it still has plenty of ventilation as it's amazing how much heat they can give off,
If you find condensation in the hutch then there's not enough ventilation.
Pigs kept in sheds do not need heat, just make sure there is a window/door open for ventilation( with a wire rodent proof cover)
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