Companion Corner: Guinea Pigs at Berkshire Humane Society

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Humane Society has a bundle of guinea pigs ready for their new home.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home. 

The shelter has six guinea pigs that are about a month old. They are each named after a rock: Slate, Lava, Igneous, Pumice, Granite, Limestone.

Feline/small animal adoption counselor Alyssa Petell introduced us to them. 

"So we have about six baby guinea pigs here. In my hands right now, I have Igneous and Slate, and they are all extremely cute, very young little babies. They're doing very well. We actually got them about a week ago, so they've been here for a short amount of time."

They came from a home with too many guinea pigs.

"They came from basically, I guess you could call it a hoarding case of guinea pigs. There was way too many guinea pigs in the home. MSPCA did take some of the guinea pigs out, and we did receive six in total from them," she said. "And so, because of the ability for guinea pigs to repopulate so quickly, they just became overwhelmed really quickly with babies."

Now they are looking for their new home and since they need a buddy the adoption fee for two will be $55.

"With guinea pigs, they are very social creatures. They do need to be in at least pairs or more. So we will be sending them home in pairs or to homes with other guinea pigs."

But since they can repopulate fast, make sure you know the gender of your guinea pigs before bringing another one home, she said, adding that the ones at the Humane Society are all boys.

"They are all boys, thankfully, but at a young age, it can be hard to tell the genders for guinea pigs," Petell said. "So I always recommend getting them gendered by a vet or checking their genders as best as you can for putting them together, due to how quickly they can overpopulate."

The guinea pigs have differing coats with some being Abyssinian and smooth.

"Our little guinea pig right here has an Abyssinian coat. If you can see the very pretty swirls and fur pattern here, and then right here. We have a guinea pig with a smooth coat. It can range from all different different kinds of coat textures. It's very very cool."

Guinea pigs are quite self-sufficient, making them a great pet for anyone, but make sure to ask the Humane Society any questions on their care before bringing them home if you are a first-time guinea pig parent.

"An interesting fact about guinea pigs is pretty much right after they're born, they are very self-sufficient. They start eating dry food right away and taking care of themselves really quickly," Petell said. "They don't nurse on their mother very long. Usually within a few days, they start eating dry food and they get born with their fur and everything, so it's very cool." 

This crew is ready to go to their new families. The Humane Society reminds people that it carries different types of small animals in addition to cats and dogs.

"So a lot of times at the Berkshire Humane Society, people always know that we have cats and dogs. They're very popular, but a lot of times people forget that we have many small animals that are still looking for homes, like these guinea pigs," Petell said.

You can visit the guinea pigs at the shelter and read more about them on the website.

The Berkshire Humane Society is open Tuesday through Sunday. The adoption center is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.