My guinea pig Mieps lived alone for many years. Guinea pigs are group animals, so she might miss a friend to talk to. A friend from her own species who could understand what she’s saying.
It took a while to convince my parents to adopt a guinea pig. After I finally succeeded, took me over a year(!), I quickly contacted a shelter where I’ve seen a guinea pig that seemed a good match for Mieps. I have been stalking all the shelters nearby for over an year, so I knew exactly which shelter had a guinea pig I could adopt.
On the 31th of October it was finally time to adopt James. I almost lost him to another person who showed interest in him, but the owner of the shelter didn’t trust the e-mails she got from that person. So she contacted me again that I could come get him if I’d still be interested.
The introduction was a bit scary, as I didn’t know how Mieps would respond. After all it had been over 3 years since she has last seen an other guinea pig! It went beyond well, they didn’t fight at all. They just ate some snacks and explored together. Just in case they wouldn’t get along so well during the night, I set my alarm every 2 hours to check on them. I did this for the following 3 days. In the end Mieps has a new friend, his forever name is Archie, and he has found his forever home with me.
I understand not everyone wants to adopt, a younger guinea pig would have been cute and adorable, but for me adopting was the right thing to do.
