death and new partner

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
we have had 2 lovely healthy guinea pigs for a year now.I teach english and at the end of the class the kids can go to my kids room.I walked in and found my youngest had taken his out to show them but he had her in an awkward position and i told him to put him back that he`d be frighted...he did but badly,hurting her i'd say,anyway she keeled over there and then and died,like a heart attack,am gutted.
Now i`m worried about the other one,they got on great ,since babies.
Do i get another?another female...risk them not getting on.Will she be awful lonely?the one that`s alive is the bigger of the 2.
thanks alot

ANSWER: my advice would be firstly to teach the children how to hold them properly, and yes I would get another, either a neutered male or a female. it is very rare that guinea pigs will not get on, especially females but to be on the safe side get the new pig from a resuce centre and explain that you would like to try a trial run so that if they do not get along you can always return it. A little bit of squabbling is normal and to be expected, but usually this will settle down once the dominent one has been established. before you introduce them clean out her cage so that her old scent is gone. also it is even more likly to suceed if you get a younger pig than herself.

best of luck

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks alot for that.
we got a new female,a baby,tiny compared to the other one and she seems terrified by her and everything.She(rex,the older one) is not letting her eat and i think she may be too nervous to try.we only got her last night so i know it takes time but should i separate them for food?i think the little one would die if i tried to get her or die if i tried to get he other one!!

Answer
spend a good amount of time just sitting quietly and seeing if she becomes a little more curious about her surroundings. if it is certain that rex does not let her eat or drink then i would get some chicken wire and divide the cage in two a pig, water bottle and some food on either side then every day swap them over, do this for between one to two weeks, it makes them both get familiar the the mix of each others scent.

dont panic a little bit of aggression like that is still fairly normal