Introducing another guinea pig?

[Ashlee]

I have a one year old female guinea pig and i want to buy her a friend. Ive thought about it for a few weeks and i think it is time. I read that you should wait 2 weeks before introduing them, just to make sure they are quarentined but i have mixed feelings about this. I introduced Lizzy (my piggie now) to a rat who seemed to have a cough and it did not make lizzy sick. I also presented her to a male baby who just came from pet co and they did fine, even though she hated him. The other 2 females she met did just fine as well, she loved them. My bff had a 2 year old and within a few days we introduced LIzzy to her and they were fine. I know not every guinea pig is safe, but i wanted to know if you guys waited that long and what you thought of it? I wanted to just get a small cage to keep the new one in for a few days and then put them together when they started getting along and slowly get them in to the same cage. What do you think? thanks :]
thanks for the advice! I bought a new g piggie and a new cage, but im afraid its too small for 2 weeks. :/ I was gonna give them like 4 days apart and then slowly introduce them. I havent had a problem when ive gotten pets at pet stores before. I think its a good idea, but i dont want the new piggie to suffer in the smaller cage, otherwise i would have boughten a bigger one.

 

[Carol]

The biggest reason for keeping a new pet away form your for 2 weeks is to make sure it does no have any illness that are contagious and will make the one you have not ill.Many illness have a 2 week period that they take before they make you or the animal sick so the new guinea pig could be perfectly healthy looking but has this illness getting ready to make it quite ill.You are luck that you have a guinea pig that gets along with so many, that way after the two weeks it would appear you will have a smooth transition to them living together.

 

[happy]

I would keep them separate for two week, just in case, even though they will probably be ok. Believe me, you do not want to take ANY chances with guinea pigs because you can quickly lose them =(. But anyway, when you introduce them, you can probably just put them in the same cage right away, but you will need to introduce them first. To do this, set up some towels on the floor with a few extra towels right next to you and easily accessible. Let the pigs run around together for about half an hour, and just observe them. See if they respond well to each other. If they do, then you can put a little hut or box in there and see if they get along with that. They may get a little rambunctious because they will be excited and try to establish a hierarchy by trying to raise their chins the highest, but don't worry about it unless a true fight breaks out. If they do start fighting, immediately grab one of the spare towels and throw it over them. This will stop the fight and keep you safe as well. Once they stop fighting, immediately separate them and take the new one back to the store or, if you really don't want to do this, you could keep them in separate cages for the rest of their lives, but that's not fun for anyone because guinea pigs need companionship. Good luck!

 

[Nancy W]

Quarantine is the way to go, in my opinion anyway, for two reasons. If for some reason the new pig is carrying an illness that he can pass along, you could have 2 sick piggies on you hands. Another reason is dominance. I read somewhere the easiest way to do this is with a c&c cage. you keep the new one completely away for about a week, then bring him to the same cage but keep a barrier there so they can say hello but no one is flung at the other. Then f all goes well a week later let em play

 

[Bob Bone]

i think you should keep them seperate. you don't want lizzy to get sick, and you can wait 2 weeks, can't you? it'll be worth the wait.