Two Guinea Pigs are Happier than One

December 14, 2014

by Natalie Secretan

Guinea pigs make the most adorable pets. Their goofy personality, bouncy antics and piggy oink-oink are just too cute to resist. When you add a playmate to all this energy, you create your very own cartoon show starring two very happy guinea pigs.

All that bouncing around is good exercise for your guinea pig and will help ensure a long, healthy life. Guinea pigs can live anywhere from 3 to 12 years, so their health is important. Being social animals, guinea pigs fare better in pairs or groups of their own sex. Not only does their activity level increase, but also having the companionship of another guinea pig will help improve their mood and mental health.

My first guinea pig, Oscar, would race around the edge of my living-room carpet. It was a circular carpet and was the ideal racing circuit. He’d latch onto the edge of it for extra torque and oink his way around, getting faster and faster and louder and louder with each circuit he completed. He made me laugh so much.

But he didn’t like it when I left for work. He would crawl inside my coat pocket or my backpack, hoping I would take him with me. So I decided to get him a mate, another male but younger. After two or three weeks of quarantine, just to be safe, I slowly introduced them to each other. Before long Oliver was chasing Oscar around the carpet squeaking in unison. They would go all night and then cuddle up together in their cage, grooming each other and playing with their food, content and satisfied. Oscar was so much happier with a mate; he lived for a total of 8 years.

It is well known that guinea pigs are happier in pairs, so much so, that most shelters encourage adopting two guinea pigs at the same time. It’s always easier getting two from the same litter at the beginning, because you’ll know for sure if they get along.

Life’s better when you have someone to share it with and the same goes for guinea pigs.

Photo credit: Darren Johnson: Twiglet and Lenny trying to keep warm.