Rehoming Should I re-home?

[Ek2659]

Hello, I wanted to come on here to ask for some opinions on my situation.
Anything helps!
I have one female Guinea Pig and I am questioning wether I should find her another home. A bit of background:
I used to have a different guinea pig who was living alone, therefore, I decided to get her a friend. I got Marobi (the new pig) and slowly introduced them (they didn't get along). Unfortunately shortly after my other girl passed away.
I have a few problems now. The first is that I hate re-homing pets. I always feel so irresponsible... I had gotten Marobi more as a companion for my other pig than for myself, which makes it more difficult now. Anyway, Marobi is four years old and I got her maybe 8 months ago. I got her from someone looking for a home for her after Marobi's companions died. Marobi is a very interesting gal. Im pretty sure she was under-socialized when I got her and not really taken care of. We haven't bonded very much and that is mainly my fault. She tends to chatter her teeth when I stand by her cage and hangs in her house a large amount of the time. However she is a little bit better when I hold her. (She is a goof ball).
I think this was made worse when I helped catch a domestic rabbit from a neighborhood. I was planning on rehoming him, but as I took care of him I absolutely fell in love, we built up a connection fast and I just can't imagine letting him go. This makes it especially hard, because I dont want to be one of those cases where someone get another pet and ignores and gets rid of the other... However, I think this uncertainty with having Marobi has been going on since my other girl died...
I really do not plan to get another guinea pig, and It really makes me sad to know that she is lonely. She has a 2 by 5 NIC grid cage and oxbow food and hay, but that doesn't make up for not getting a lot of attention from me. Since she did not get along with my other pig, I am also worried how she will interact with others...
I know this was a long post, but any suggestions will help. I am very loyal to my pets but I have to question if she may be happier somewhere else...

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I hate saying this, but yes. I think you should rehome her.

She is alone. You have said yourself she gets little interaction from you. You have no plans for getting another pig. Picture it this way. You are Marobi. You live in your bedroom. You occasionally get taken out. You have no friends in your bedroom and you spend most of your days alone and bored.

By finding her a good home where she will have another pig to interact with, where she will have a chance to have company and be happy with a friend, is the kindest and most responsible thing you can do.

Be cautious about whom you rehome her with. DO NOT put an ad somewhere saying, "free to a good home". Ask a rehoming fee even if you don't want the money. If you're convinced her new owners will give her a great home and love her you can withdraw the rehoming fee.


At four years old, a significant portion of her life is behind her. I would love to see you give her to someone who can make what time she has left worth living.

 

[Kelsie]

It's difficult to give an opinion of whether or not you should rehome Marobi because I'm not really sure of what you mean by not giving her attention. Are you saying that she is ignored and just fed and watered daily or do you mean that you don't get her out and play with her all of the time? If she is just given the most basic care and not much more, then of course you should do what is best for her and find her another home. My only concern is that she has already been placed in two homes and now she would face a third home. Your indecisiveness and concern about what to do tells me that you really do care for her. I guess what I would ask you is do you believe that someone else would give her a better home than you are giving her?

At four years of age she is not a young pig but she could still have a few good years left? I would not make a rash decision on quickly rehoming her. If you can find someone who you trust to care for her and will hopefully give her a forever home than I would say that you should consider what is best for her. I would not want to see this little girl bounced around from home to home.

Whatever decision you make I wish you the best of luck. If you do decide to find her another home, please follow the advice that @Guinea Pig Papa gave you and be very selective on who she goes to.

 

[pparade]

You need to ask yourself what you really want.

You adopted Marobi as a friend for your guinea pig who passed away shortly after. I won't make any assumptions, but I'm going to guess you're sad about the loss of your pet, and you may be projecting that sadness into love and care for the rabbit you helped rescue from a poor situation rather than Marobi.

You already know the logical answer: if you can't give her the attention, you should rehome her. You're asking for peoples' opinions because you're uncertain. So instead of asking whether you should rehome her if you can't give her the care, ask if you want to give her the care. And if you want to give her the care, get her a friend even if you're uncertain about other guinea pigs right now. Ask yourself if you want to do that.

It is NOT irresponsible to rehome a pet you can't take care of - it's the most responsible thing you can do.

I won't tell you not to ask other people for advice - asking for advice is a great thing to do. But ask yourself first and foremost whether you want to keep Marobi, or if the loss of your other guinea pig had too much of an impact on you to keep her. Do not worry about looking "irresponsible". No logical person is going to judge you for making the best choice for an animal - it isn't selfish to do.