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Adopting Lonely pig needs a friend

SesshyBooBoo

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My boyfriend and I will be moving yet again in late August/early September to the New Bedford area in Massachusetts. Boo Boo has finally settled in at his parents' house and now we have to uproot him again.
My new job is very demanding and I work 9 plus hours a day, 5 days a week so sometimes it's a bit hard to spend quality time with my piggy. I am finally thinking of getting him a friend. I know I should have since the beginning but I was uneducated and wasn't aware that guinea pigs need a friend. I give him floor time when I can and hold him a lot but I think a buddy would really help him out especially with the move.

Boo Boo is 3 and a half and has always been a timid guy. Is it okay this late in his life to get him a friend? I don't want to buy from a pet store again, I want to adopt. Does anyone know if any shelters in my area where I could adopt a piggy?

I have a 2x3 grid coroplast cage and with my finances right now I can't upgrade to a larger size for a while. Will this be suitable for two pigs?

Any advice would really help.

Thank you!!! :)
 

Starthecavy123

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No its never to late I would try petfinder. Some guinea pig rescues do piggy play dates. Then he would be able to pick his own friend but you'll have to check first. Every place is different. A 2x3 won't be big enough for 2 males. Males generally need more room than females. My boys are in a 2x4 and get along great but they're really bonded. So if you get another I would definitely try and see if you can make a 2x4 at least. I hope this helped! :)
 

Artista

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I would err on getting a 2 x 5 for males unless you don't mind having to upgrade should it not work out. If you were bringing home already bonded males then that would be different, but you never know what you may get even after a play date when they come home 24/7.

I started after the pet store cage with a 2 x 3 for my girl. Then I decided a kitchen made sense to have so I had to upgrade to 2 x 4 so she still had decent amount of space outside the kitchen, plus I have a sleep sack, cushion, tunnel, and pigloo in there so definitely needed more space to fit all her goodies in. If I'm able to get a second some day, I would definitely get a 2 x 5. Sometimes I look and her setup seems small even though for 1, it technically isn't. If you can go big to start, you can save yourself time and some dough --- and bigger is always better just like would I rather be in a studio apt or something bigger.
 

Starthecavy123

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I'm soon gonna upgrade my boys to a 2x5 I just need to save more money first.
 

MrsGuineaPig

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If you have an old pet store cage, you can attach that to your 2x3 to make it bigger! No it won't be an exact 2x4 but it will still be bigger!
 

SesshyBooBoo

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Thank you for the input. I just feel so badly that I didn't get two piggies to begin with. I'm sure I can save up enough for the new cage. Would you know of anywhere to sell the old one? Then I could put some of that money towards a larger home!

Also, I heard that bonding two males can be difficult. Any tips on that?
 

Starthecavy123

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You could keep the 2x3 and just add on to it. That way your not starting from scratch.
 

Artista

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If you have an old pet store cage, you can attach that to your 2x3 to make it bigger! No it won't be an exact 2x4 but it will still be bigger!

I don't think this would be big enough for 2 boys. I have a pet store cage and I could see it like a kitchen area, not a run around area because of the entrance part, so it would still be too small.

You won't get much for an old pet store cage so I'd keep it to use as an emergency cage if one gets injured.

Maybe you need to wait until you can get the finances for an appropriate size cage. The problem is if it should turn out they don't get along even if at a play date they did, what are you going to do? You can't put a divider in a 2 x 4 let alone a 2 x 3. Then you'll be left with either hoping the fights don't draw blood while you get your money together or having to put one in your pet store cage which isn't good either.

Yeah it would be nice for your pig to have a friend, but especially with males, if you don't have a good plan B in case they don't get along, then might as well keep him a single until you can have a good plan B in place. Some may disagree with me especially since I have 1 girl who is just over 2 years old, but imo you need to be able to provide for 2 when things come up, and housing is a big one as that's where they always are. I feel bad having kept my girl in a pet store cage for 4 months before finding this site. Even 2 x 3 didn't seem ok as she needs to be able to at least trot around.

I'd be stressed out with 2 boys if they didn't get along and they were "trapped" in a smallish cage because I got another one without having a good size cage to help with their needs, which is needing more space than females- especially when you are adding one instead of getting a pair.
 
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