Thank you for your interest in adopting a guinea pig! Below you will find our adoption policy and the piggies we currently have in our care who are looking for new homes. If you are interested in adopting a guinea pig or pigs, please contact us via email so we can provide you with our adoption questionnaire.
We monitor all new piggies for a minimum of 2 weeks to check for health issues and to assess what kind of home they will be best suited to. If you are interested in a guinea pig who is not yet available for adoption, we would still love to hear from you, so please do get in touch.
Guinea Pig Adoption Policy
Companionship
Guinea pigs are highly social animals, so we will never allow a single guinea pig to be adopted to live alone. Where a guinea pig is being adopted to join an existing pig, we will ask you to bring your piggy to the rescue to allow us to supervise the introductions and start off the bonding process. Support and advice after taking your pigs home will always be available, with full rescue back-up provided should any bonds fail.
Guinea pigs adopted from us must not be bred from in any circumstances.
Housing
In general, a pair of sows will need a minimum of 2ft x 5ft, and a pair of boars 2ft x 6ft. Some piggies may have different needs, and these will be listed in each pig’s description below. Guinea pigs will only be homed to outdoor setups where these are inside an insulated shed/outhouse/garage (not shared with a car). We will always carry out a set-up check prior to adoption either online or in-person.
Diet
The majority of a guinea pig’s diet must be hay, so a supply of good quality hay should always be available. Muesli style dried food should not be fed, instead we recommend hay based pellets to avoid selective eating. Piggies should also be fed around 1 cup of fresh veggies per day, and must always have access to fresh drinking water.
Adoption Fees
Our adoption fee for a single guinea pig is a minimum £20 donation and for a bonded pair £35 (neutered piggies will have a slightly higher adoption fee – please see individual descriptions), to help cover the costs of caring for the animals at Tiny Paws MCR. Adopters must be age 18+.
Dandelion & Burdock – Under Assessment
Dandelion & Burdock are a bonded pair of male crested guinea pigs. Having only recently arrived they are currently quite shy but beginning to gain enough confidence to come out of their hidey to eat some yummy hay and forage. Once they have passed their assessment period with us, they will be looking for a spacious (minimum 6ftx2ft) home together, preferably indoors, or in an insulated shed/unused garage.
George – Under Assessment
George is an approx 3 year old male Himalayan guinea pig who has previously been a class piggy at a primary school. He has come to us to find a more stable and calm home. George arrived with a lovely (not!) case of anal sac impaction, which we cleared out however this appears to be a recurring issue, and he will need help with this on a daily basis going forwards. He is currently under vet treatment for suspected respiratory and eye infections, and under investigation for hind leg weakness. George will stay with us until he has the all clear from the vet.