cant wait to get guinea pigs :)

[chillynose]

dds. r 7 and 4
they r choosing one each
we moved to a new build in Dec now have a great garden

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Squeeee!

Where are you getting your guineas chilli
Are you looking for girls or boys?

We'll need pictures too you know

[fortifiedwithtea]

Yay! Post pictures asap. My DDs were 8 and 4 when they had their first guinea pigs.

You will have to supervise your 4yo at cuddle time and watch your 7yo friends extra close . My poor OB had some pretty hairy near misses at the hands of DD1 friends .

[chillynose]

Either 2 males or 2 females
From pets at home

[chillynose]

Hopefully buying hutch online sat and then buying the guineapigs on the 18th

[lostproperty]

I'm getting mine in 2 weeks and I can't wait either !!!!

[guineapiglet]

Hi all, good luck with your guineas! Very envious, this is a lovely time of year to get them,..... do read some of the threads on here about Pets at Home, from bitter experience many of us would politely suggest that you try rescues or breeders (good ones) to get your guineas. P@H do not look after their animals well..... and some of us have had to deal with dead pets pretty soon after they were purchased. I personally, would never get any animal from there, there are lots of guineas looking for good homes. Try the guineapig magazine kritiq recommended or look at their website, lots of places to get babies from without resorting to the 'evil empire' - :)

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Our local P@H hasn't had a load of gPs the last couple of times we've been there (DD and I try to avoid it TBH)
But in the times we have visited I've seen (Not at the same store though)

A very chubby sided GP in with the males (The pregnant look they get, not just all-over tubby). I did say "That's a pg female" and they said she would be moved. (I'm presuming she wouldn't be sold. Poor thing was just a baby herself. I've bought a pg female years ago who had a single piglet. Piglet never got very big but we had her 5 years)

A GP with a very scabby looking chest- no sign blood but maybe the start of something. Ringworm? Self barbering?

A GP (well actually 2 but one was ok when they caught it) with a closed eye. They took it off to bathe its eye "Maybe its sleepy" they said.
"Erm no, it's eye is stuck shut " I said.

I'm only looking at GPs. I've got no ideas about rabbits, hamsters.

There seems to be a continual conveyer belt of new babies, so the once out of their Cute-By-Date get shunted into rehome


And Gumtree GP sellers send by bloodprssure soaring

[frownyface]

please avoid p@h if you can, they dont look after their animals particularly well.

[chillynose]

The gps in our pets at home r looked after
Store has just had a refurb new cages etcs

[chillynose]

I have been collecting bits for guineapigs so far have :-

Activity tunnel
Card tube
Muesli food
Carrot throw toy
Tug n gnaw
Nobbly gnawer
Large carrot gnawer
Ceramic carrot bowl
Puzzle chew
Chomp and chew carrot
Mineral stone
Carrot drops
Apple drops
Large ball
Small ball
Water bottle
Dumbell
Shake n chew
Loffah chews
Teach n treat

[fortifiedwithtea]

Wow you going to be spoiling them. Lucky piggies .

The tunnel and tube will definitely be popular. IME piggies don't take to shop bought chew toys. They get ignored and wee'd on. Maybe try the chew toys out one at a time.

For homemade toys - brown paper bags cut the handles off filled with hay, shoe boxes with 2 doorways cut in, loo/kitchen roll tubes stuffed with fresh food treat and hay for them to snuffle out. If the DC go to build-a-bear give the box to the piggies (ready made house with window and door so sweet), line with newspaper to soak up wee and it will last longer.

I think you'll be a guinea pig mom before the 18th