Can I introduce another guinea pig to my 3 year old female?

[Sally]

One of our female guinea pigs has just died and I'm worried the other one is lonely as she has always had a companion. I would like to introduce another one but fear that she won't take to it because of her age, can anyone help please?

 

[Sarah]

Hi, you just described what happened to be 3 years ago, I introduced my 3 year old male and a new young male guinea pig. Females as a rule are generally easier to introduce then males, jdont just put one in the cage though, you shouldn't put them together for the first 2 weeks incase the new one is ill and causes the older one to to become ill. Then dont just put one in the cage of the other, introduce them whilst holding them in a different room, and monitor them closely so you can seperate them if you have to, and try again untill they accept each other, which they usually will

check out my website. I'm I have information on guinea pigs, I'm updating it and the guinea pig part will be finished in a hour.

Become a member if you like. It's free

http://rodent-info.webs.com/

 

[Kate]

Yes its a good idea. But the best way to ensure that she will accept the new piggy is to get a very young one so about 6 weeks old. This way the piggies already know who is boss, the older one. The younger one will automatically be submissive and not fight with the older one. Make sure you have two hiding places in the cage and put hay in two spots until they are used to each other. Just be sure the older one is letting the baby eat and drink because sometimes they can be overly dominant but usually there are no problems! If they argue, let them argue unless they are hurting each other. The arguing is just a way of establishing a pecking order. Good luck it should be a breeze!

 

[Ashley]

Check out these websites, they are awesome for guinea pig info!
http://www.guineapigcages.com/
http://www.guinealynx.info/sitemap.html
http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm#Introductions

 

[Kissi]

actually its better that one is older, because she would be the obvious leader, so they wouldn't have to fight about it.

 

[Dan]

well u wont fool her they determine identity through smelling their grease gland at their rear ends but see how she is, if she goes off her food then it may be worth trying a new Companion out.