Rehoming Rescue Guinea Pigs

Guinea pig rehoming is the term used when trying to rehome a guinea pig that you currently own or perhaps you want to ‘rehome’ a guinea pig as in give a rescued guinea pig a home.

Rescue is the term used when unwanted guinea pigs are ‘taken in’ and new homes are found. Currently anyone can call themselves a rescue or sanctuary. The term is also used loosely when referring to guinea pigs in distress that have been bought from a pet shop or online etc. Generally a term that is open to interpretation.

Rescued guinea pigs have often been passed to  different homes before they arrive at the rescue, others may have undergone a period of neglect or just less care than they need. It is vital to their well being and general welfare that they are rehabilitated correctly. Labelling a guinea pig as ‘aggressive’ is fine but steps must be taken to discover why this is the case and then to rehabilitate the guinea pig so that it is no longer ‘aggressive’ and can socialise with other guinea pigs and humans (rarely is a guinea pig aggressive with humans, this is usually out of fear).

Once rehabilitation has finished the guinea pig should be paired with another individual or group ready for rehoming. The minimum requirements for homes should be that they are Animal Welfare Act compliant. Many rescues have requirements above this. For example, minimum hutch size for the Welfare Act is recommended as 4 foot by 2 foot  for 2 guinea pigs, many rescues require a 5 foot by 2 foot hutch.

Whether the guinea pigs are being rehomed from a rescue or from an RSPCA Branch where an adoption certificate is signed the commitment to them must be the same. Most rescues ask that you return the guinea pigs if you are no longer to keep them, this is a condition of adoption on RSPCA certificates.

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