Our Adoption Process
Please visit our Guinea Pig Care page and read through our Cage Guide first for everything you need to know about welcoming a guinea pig into your home and providing them with the best care for a long and happy life.
Step 1: Fill out an online Application here.
If you are under 18 years old, you must have a parent fill out the application with you. We do require an adult to be the primary caretaker and point of contact.
Your application will be reviewed and an adoptions coordinator will get back to you within 48 hrs.
Step 2: Email us a photo of your complete cage set up so we can make sure our minimum space requirements are met. You can email it to socalguineapigrescue@gmail.com.
If you haven't purchased a cage and supplies yet, visit our Supplies List page for links to all of the items we use here at the rescue. Contact us with any questions, we are happy to help.
Step 3: Once approved, arrangements will be made for you to meet with an experienced volunteer and your new pigs. During the meeting your volunteer will answer any questions you may have as well as give you a nail trimming demonstration and if adopting a boar, a boar cleaning.
🐾 Foster-to-Adopt Program
Thinking about adopting guinea pigs but not sure if you’re ready to commit? Our Foster-to-Adopt Program might be the perfect fit for you!
This program is designed for individuals and families who are new to guinea pig care and want to make sure it’s the right match before adopting. Here’s how it works:
How It Works:
1. We provide everything you need to get started – including a cage setup, supplies, and a sweet, compatible pair of guinea pigs.
2. You foster them in your home for approximately 6–8 weeks while learning about their care and personalities.
3. We offer ongoing support during your foster period to answer questions, troubleshoot, and help you gain confidence.
4. At the end of the trial period, if everything feels like a good fit, you’ll have the option to adopt your foster pigs and officially welcome them into your family!
Why Choose Foster-to-Adopt?
• Ideal for first-time guinea pig guardians
• Low-pressure and fully supported experience
• Ensures a great match for both the pigs and the people
• Helps open up space in our rescue for other guinea pigs in need
We’ve had great success with this program — many of our fosters fall in love and choose to adopt. It’s a wonderful way to get started and give rescue guinea pigs a loving home.
We adopt our guinea pigs in pairs so if you see a pair or trio, they are bonded and cannot be split up. We only adopt single pigs out as a mate for other pigs. If you are interested in one of our adoptable single pigs, but you don't have a pig, we can try and pair them internally or with another pig from a neighbor rescue.
If you are looking for a mate for your single pig, we can arrange a bonding session if we think we have a possible compatible match, if not we have a couple rescues we can refer you to.
Our adoption fees are $35 for a single pig and $65 for a pair and $95 for a trio. All adoption fees go directly to the care of our guinea pigs.
