any guinea pig money saving tips?

witchwoopiggy

hi jaffa sorry to hear about peanut

sallyrsm

Adopted an adult male guinea pig last week as a cage mate for Mario, another adult male who missed his friend Luigi who died. They've got their own igloo in the cage and at first there was some teeth chattering but nothing else. Now the new one, Sammy, has gone in Mario's igloo, quiet for a minute, and then a big noise, chattering, and a full on fight I had to seperate them and Sammy has a mouthful of Mario's fur...

will they ever get on?
Or does Sammy need a cage of his own?

kindofagilr

It sounds like they need a cage each

I didnt think you could put two animals from different litters in the same cage?

I dont know for sure though?

sallyrsm

Sammy's now got his own house....

xxlaurissaxx

Its better to put the cages together(next to each other) first so they can see each and get to know each other before putting them together in a cage. It may take a few days, maybe a few weeks but hopefully they should be ok after this.
xx

traceyaj

Male guinea pigs have a scent gland at the base of their spine. If you dab some cheap aftershave on this (think something like Brut) then this will disguise the male scent and should help them to get along better. This may take a little time especially if the new guinea has had contact with a female but it should work.

Put them together for short periods at first and only when you can supervise them and gradualy extend the amount of time they spend together.

sallyrsm

I've been out and got a really big under bed storage box that is as big as the base of Mario's cage and put it on the floor next to his with Sammy in it with all his own stuff in, toys, igloo etc, and a chicken wire frame to use as a 'lid'.
I didn't want to buy another cage if I can help it....They might decide after being kept "apart" that they miss each other. Sammy was at Pets@Home for AGES waiting for adoption so he's bound to be set in his ways. I've got a "hutch" that was built into the garden shed but I don't want to banish him to the garden on his own if I can get them being mates eventually. I'll try the aftershave thing too. He'll be smelling like a tart's handbag by the time I'm finished

chocdonuty

Try these 2 sites, I was searching in the last week as we wanted a companion for our female guinea pig and these give some good tips, I actually just went for it and popped them together on the floor when they first met, when i was sure they were ok they went into the older piggies cage which was fresh and clean. They have been kept a close eye on and all seems to be going well . If however it hadn't worked there are plenty of ideas in these sites :
http://www.cavyrescue.co.uk/introducing-guinea-pigs.shtml
http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm
hope it all works out ok for you, piggies are great pets:T

smithyjules

Usually male pigs will get on ok if they have both been neutered. it might be worth shampooing them with a strong smelling shampoo like polytar to make them both smell neutral when you put them together.

when you first put them together maybe try short periods in the living room where they can scoot about and sniff each other out in neutral territory under your watchful eye.

good luck!

Willeh

We had two guinea pigs of which both were brothers. Sadly one died this morning and we're now in search of a home or rescue to adopt another pig, to offer company to the remaining pig we have.
I'm avoiding PetsAtHome as, no offence intended, there has been quite a bit of negativity in regards to purchasing pets from there.
Does anyone know of any homes or shelters in Cardiff?

Many thanks