Male Guinea Pigs for Adoption

[ArkRescue (Premo)]

We have a couple of male guinea pigs that are available for adoption to an experienced piggy home (Joey and Dave) Dave is the fastest running guinea pig I've ever seen, so his time out to play needs to be in a confined space or he will get lost. These guys were rescued from the shelter and live separate, but can interact through the open grid of the enclosure. LOTS of great ideas at Guinea Pig Cages, Your Cavy At Home for the type of design we use.

Guinea pigs can live to be 4 to 6 years old (some people say 7 years old) if cared for properly. We had planned to keep these guys long term, but realized they need more attention than they get from us. So we only are willing to part with them if we can find them a home where they will get regular attention and would be happier. It would be nice of they could stay together in the same home.

Adoption fee is $25 for the pair.

[libertytyranny]

I'd love to take em..but I need a female piggy for my bubba...have one of those?


have they been put in the same cage? do they fight with each other? I have seen successful same sex piggie pairs..

[Cowgirl]

Why do they have to go to an experienced home?

[libertytyranny]

Piggies are a lot of work. I can imagine that it means that this shouldn't be an impulse buy for some 6 year old...They really are not good pets for children..they are sweet and all..but the work required should be left to an adult..or heavily supervised.

Unless they are special needs...?

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by libertytyranny

Unless they are special needs...?

That's what I was wondering.

If not, it'd be a great opportunity for a hopeful owner to learn from a rescue situation about caring for guinea pigs. They'd get more information there than from PetsMart or something.

[ArkRescue (Premo)]

Most people who get a guinea pig for the 1st time don't care for them properly, and they die early of nutritional deficiencies or lack of water. I only want these guys to be in a better situation than I can provide. If I don't find that, they'll just stay with me with less attention.

I'd like to think that someone new to guinea pigs would be open to all the information about caring for them, but usually I find people go yeah ok and then do their own thing and not following the guidelines of what's best for the pigs. I've seen it happen over and over. Not everyone is willing to alter their routine or add the expense to pick up fresh produce for the pigs regularly, and provide them with good quality piggy-appropriate hay, along with washing their water bottles frequently. There is a lot to caring for them but once you have their care as part of your routine it's pretty easy to do.

I want all the critters to have a good life, but I can't control what people do after I'm out of the picture. Most people do provide at least minimal/adequate care to the critters they adopt, but in this case these two are already special sweeties to me, so I want them to get more attention than I have to give, hence the part about having piggy experience. I'd be thrilled if the right person/family came along that really wanted to learn about pigs and make these guys a part of their family, and I'd be open to that if I felt they would take it seriously, but not everyone does.

What's that saying some people say? "It's just an animal" like animals have no value or are so easily replaced? Is that what they mean?

I saw a sign that says "We got rid of the kids because the dog was allergic." LOL

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

That's what I was wondering.

If not, it'd be a great opportunity for a hopeful owner to learn from a rescue situation about caring for guinea pigs. They'd get more information there than from PetsMart or something.

[ArkRescue (Premo)]

No all I have are boys and they are intact also because I don't have the $200 each to get them neutered - yes why does it have to cost so much to fix a guinea pig you say? I've heard they are very difficult to work on as they have special anesthesia issues. There is a vet North of Baltimore that is an expert with fixing pigs.

I had 2 girls (Lucy & Ethel) who lived together for years, but as time went on they were fighting and Lucy was being beat up, so I separated them but allowed them to be side by side separated by the open grids and they could still see/smell/touch each other. Eventually both girls (at different times) had to be put down at the vet office.

It's not easy to pair up pigs that are adults I've heard. Lucy and Ethel were sisters so they had been together all their life. I did have a boy in with them initially, but there was fighting so I had separate him. The biggest part of the male/female thing is keeping the intact ones separated obviously.

Originally Posted by libertytyranny

I'd love to take em..but I need a female piggy for my bubba...have one of those?


have they been put in the same cage? do they fight with each other? I have seen successful same sex piggie pairs..

[libertytyranny]

Yeah bubba is not fixed..but he is extremely easy going..when we did guinea pig speed dating to find him a wifey he was attacked..and never fought back..so I was reading where a very laidback male pig will do ok with a dominant male..they would have to meet I guess...im still lookin..poor bubba just runs around and squeeks..like hes looking for domino..he sticks his head in her pigaloo..then runs out..its so sad....I have got find him a friend :(

I got domino from a rescue..it was a lil pricey to adopt her because she was spayed..I may have to do that again I guess..

[ArkRescue (Premo)]

Aww poor Bubba - I hope you find a good buddy for him. Be careful if you get a piggy from the shelter because I once ended up with piggy lice that made one of the girls sick - doesn't affect any other critter but pigs I was told by the vet, but we had to disinfect EVERYTHING and treat the pigs repeatedly and disinfect everything AGAIN. Oh what a chore that was for 2 weeks! So you'd be wise to carefully check the piggy under bright light for anything tiny & white crawling on it (usually back of head/neck area).

Not sure if you've heard this before, but one way to help the bonding process is to put them in a small container (cage or cardboard box) then take them on a bumpy car ride and they will usually get scared and cuddle together and bond with each other out of fear. That works for rabbits too I hear.

Originally Posted by libertytyranny

Yeah bubba is not fixed..but he is extremely easy going..when we did guinea pig speed dating to find him a wifey he was attacked..and never fought back..so I was reading where a very laidback male pig will do ok with a dominant male..they would have to meet I guess...im still lookin..poor bubba just runs around and squeeks..like hes looking for domino..he sticks his head in her pigaloo..then runs out..its so sad....I have got find him a friend :(

I got domino from a rescue..it was a lil pricey to adopt her because she was spayed..I may have to do that again I guess..