Guinea pig adoption: Introducing Zebedee

Regular readers will know that we sadly lost our lovely guinea pig, Henry, a few weeks ago. In the past, when a guinea pig has died, I’ve replaced them with a baby guinea pig. Baby guinea pigs are adorable!

But times have changed and getting a baby guinea pig didn’t feel right this time. The kids are grown up and no longer bother with the guinea pigs. We have a dog now. Our family is very different from the way it was in 2014, when we first got guinea pigs.

Leaving Henry’s old friend, Herbert, on his own was never an option. So I decided on guinea pig adoption. I was lucky enough to spot Zebedee on the local animal shelter website. According to the website, Zebedee is a 1-year-old Abyssinian guinea pig. We’ve never had an Abyssinian before. They have unique coats – not long, but not short – which is arranged in ‘rosettes’, so it sort of changes direction all over the place.

Zebedee is a tricolour guinea pig (like two of my old favourites, Eric and Cedric). He has a straight line of dark fur over his eye, just like Cedric. He is exactly the sort of guinea pig I would have chosen for myself.

I filled in a form, including photos and dimensions of the hutch. The animal shelter got in touch to see if I would like to visit. He was so adorable that I wanted to take him home straightaway. They were very happy for me to have him, thank goodness, but he had to have a final check with the vet first.

Zebedee was in a similar situation to Herbert – his friend had passed away. But his owners then decided they couldn’t keep him.

I arranged to go back to collect him in two days.

Zebedee had a check-up with the vet when he arrived at the animal shelter and another one a week later when I took him home. So I know he’s healthy. If there are any problems with bonding, I can take him back. I have this slightly irrational fear of Herbert dying soon. If that happens, I would also be able to take Zebedee back.

I was given a pack of calming wipes and spray, and also a chewable hay dispenser (which I assume had come from his original home).

The worker who introduced me to Zebedee and organised the adoption thought he was coming up for 2 years old – his birthday in April or May. A 2-year-old guinea pig would have been perfect for me. I want to have two guinea pigs who grow old together. But his form said he was born March 2022. So I’m really not sure how old he is!

While adopting a dog is a cheap way to get a dog (they’re £150 from this animal shelter), guinea pig adoption is not a cheap way to get a guinea pig. Zebedee cost me £20, which is the same as I paid for Henry and Herbert from the breeder. Baby guinea pigs at Pets at Home cost £25. But I didn’t adopt to get a cheap guinea pig, I adopted because it seemed like the best thig to do for Herbert and the family.

I brought Zebedee home and put him in the hutch with Herbert. I watched them for a few minutes and they seemed happy together. But bonding turned out not to be plain sailing… More on that soon.

I considered changing Zebedee’s name to one of the old man names I usually use. I’ve been very close to calling the last three guinea pigs ‘Dennis’. But somehow Dennis didn’t seem right. And everyone liked the name Zebedee. So he’s going to stay as Zebedee.