But let's start from the beginning. After Bob died, I pretty much started looking for a new partner for Zorro right away. Guinea pigs are just so unhappy being alone and they feel unsafe without one or more other guinea pig(s) around.
Since Zorro has lived with a neutered male for years and isn't the youngest piggy anymore, I though the most sensible choice would be to get her another older neutered male for company.
Not an easy thing to find. But I did find a rescue that had a few older males to adopt in Unna (a 70 km drive). So, I packed up Zorro and drove to Unna. She was supposed to chose a partner herself. She did find one she seemed to like, so I packed up both piggies and drove home.
Couple of hours latter I was on my way back to Unna again. Turns out the male (about twice Zorro's size) was scared of her and quite agressive towards my little girl. Not cool! So he had to go.
The next pig I got from the rescue was an older neutered male used to living with a group of girls. Very confident fella. He started to chase and mount Zorro right away (to show his dominance) but she wasn't having any of that. They started fighting and Zorro got bitten in the nose. Maybe I should not have seperated the two after that, but I was so shocked by the nasty cut that I did. The male went into an extra cage over night and back to Unna the next day. (Thankfully the bite healed quickly.)
Thinking about it, I realized that Zorro simply wasn't used to not being the boss. With Bob she'd always been the boss and honestly, I never even realized that this wasn't the way it's supposed to be with guinea Pigs. Bob and Zorro were always so harmonious with each other.
Back in Unna the rescue lady and I decided to forget about the old males and try two young females as new partners for Zorro instead. So, I packed those up and went back home. Determined to make things work out this time.
During the following week I tried to get the three girls to play nice with each other. The two new ones lived in a seperate cage and I only let them meet zorro on neutral ground. Unfortunately, Zorro was in no mood to meet any more strangers. And to make matters worse, one of the little ones was quite a dominante little thing herself. Whenever they met, she simply chased Zorro for a bit and Zorro was just terrified by her, running and hiding. Another deal breaker. And even though I really, really like that little pig, she too had to go back to Unna.
Thankfully, the other little one was a perfect fit and she gets to stay! I call her Io.
Io:
Io is about 4-5 months old and very shy. She was a little scared of Zorro at first but at the same time interested in her. At first Zorro was also a little scared of little Io, but only for a day or two.
Zorro and Io day two:
They have been living together for two weeks now and everything seems to be working out just fine. There was no fighting or chasing at all, only some gestures of dominance from Zorro here an there. Perfect.
Amidst all that piggy drama I also extended the cage.
Before:
And now:
Notice, there is now room for three piggies...
...to be continued!
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