i think my guinea pig is getting lonely?

Question

So ive had my piggie for almost a year now and i think hes getting lonely as im at school for 6/7 hours a day and he has no cage mate. i was thinking after christmas i would get another male for him to be with when im not around, but i dont have much money and because im too young to get a job, i wont have much money for a while. When im around i try to spend as much time with him as possible but even at that, i think he feels alone.
Is there anything i can do for the moment to make him feel a little less sad, like toys or somethin? Is there any games i could play with him maybe once or twice a day to give him excercise and some fun.
Please dont tell me just to get another guinea pig, i already explained i dont have the money
thankss xx

Answer 1

guinea pigs are social creatures ,they need a companion or 2

Answer 2

Well maybe for Christmas (I know it's only like three days away, this is just an idea) you could maybe get him a friend. Although I heard two males may get territorial. I'm not sure. But I have the exact same problem as you do. My guinea pig is over 2 years old and I'm trying to talk my parents into letting me get her another female that she can have as a friend, after Christmas. But in the mean time, just take him out often. I feel so bad sometimes when I don't spend time with Nellie(my guinea pig) because I have school, then cheerleading practice. So what I do is take her out and put her in the floor and let her run around as she pleases. I think being outside of their cages and near you is something they love. Also, if you're just like watching TV, take him out and let him lay in your lap or on your chest. I do it all the time with Nellie. She doesn't seem to care so much for running around, she just loves being with me. So I think if you keep that up with your guinea pig he'd be happy. But when you get the money for another guinea pig, I would definitely consider getting him one. As for toys for him to play with, I don't think that would be a good idea. You could try it though! I'm sure he sleeps while you're at school. I'm pretty sure Nellie does! Well I hope I helped a little, have fun with your guinea pig! They're such great little pets!(:

Answer 3

Well, if you live with your parents, Im sure they can buy you another, and the feeding it wont be any less you still get huge bags of food, and water comes out the taps :D



If you live in a student flat or your own, Ask your parents to lend money, if not why not just buy another one, its not much for a piggy, And also i strongly recommend toys, they keep a guinea pig entertained for a while, You can make your own little toys and so on, make his bed more comfy, feed him alot of fruit and veg, If its a female, getting a male will be great! they might make love and so on Lol, but if its a male itself and getting a male Might cause fights "Such as territory grounds" and food, But they normaly dont fight, so it should be fine. Also it the guinea pig has any metal bars he can walk on, cover it with carpeting or somthing softer, they dont like it much.



Hope this helped, You can always get a job as a paper girl, Or work in a chinese shop or chip shop, I hear you get days off if you got a job, work experiance or somthing.

Answer 4

When you do have the money, if you decide to get another guinea pig, I suggest you take it very, very slow. For instance, keep the 'company' in a different cage or divide your guinea pigs cage...After about two weeks put them in the others cage so they can get the smell and switch them back after about a week so they can associate another pigs smell in their cage..when you introduce them, I recommend the 'buddy bad' (just google it and you will get plenty of information on it)...Don't get a female, unless you plan on neutering your male..(if you take that route, they still need to be separated for about 4-6 weeks after that so the female doesn't get pregnant)

For now, though, all you can really do is what you have already been doing - trying to spend more time with him. Do you have a large cage? Like a store bought one or a C&C cage? (store bought cages don't meet the minimum space requirements for one single guinea pig, let alone two...)



Good Luck!! :)

Answer 5

Sorry, but i don't think many guinea pigs play 'games' as such. And although you said not to, I'd say the only way to cure guinea pig loneliness is a partner/cage mate. When I had guinea pigs i noticed that the two in the cage together would often sit/lay together, as well as the ones underneath (we had stacked cages) would often sit by the walls joining them. You could try putting a cuddly toy in there, like a small one, something like a guinea pig or a squirrel something that your guinea pig can huddle up to.



Good luck with you guinea pig. :)

Answer 6

guinea pigs are very social. but dont get another. just hold it more often.