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Small pets

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Original poster

Is it so bad to buy guinea pigs from a pet shop?

16 replies

Matildathebrave · 26/04/2011 20:39

Am struggling to find a breeder near to us and no babies on preloved.

Also don't 100% agree with breeders unless they don't interbreed and look after them well.

Hate the though of buying from a pet shop and supporting 'guinea pig farms'.

I'm on the Herts/Essex border.

Please advise!

Thanx

Matilda

OP posts:

LoopyLoopsNincompoop · 26/04/2011 20:52

Contact a rescue centre, please. If you buy from a breeder or a pet shop it is supporting the trade, There are plenty of guinea pigs needing homes in rescue centres all over the country.

LoopyLoopsNincompoop · 26/04/2011 20:53

here

Original poster

Matildathebrave · 26/04/2011 21:17

Thanks, but I have been down this route over and over. There are no rescue centres near to us. The nearest ones I have contacted and they no longer take in guinea pigs.

We were going to buy guinea pigs for half term in Feb, then planning to get them over Easter and still can't find any which is why I am thinking it has to be the pet shop.

Would love to find someone local but it's so hard.

OP posts:

bibbitybobbityhat · 26/04/2011 21:22

Matilda: I looked for guinea pigs at my local rescue centres, but unfortunately there were no young ones at all, in about a month of searching, in two places.

I want my dc to have their pets for as long as possible so, in the end, yes I did buy my baby girls from a pet shop.

They are utterly wonderful and our hearts' delight.

I am so enchanted by them I am seriously thinking about getting in to gpig fostering/adopting/holiday homing/breeding ... whatever ... but not for a few years yet, when I am older and more eccentric and unencumbered by the needs of children.

ragged · 30/04/2011 18:50

I just found out about a rescue centre only 2 miles away from us; they have much lower standards to be blunt about adoptors than many centres; I find it refreshing. They dont' have you sign six different forms about how the animals always belong to them really, they dont' do home visits, they probably aren't "allowed" on Loopy's list because they don't follow all the dictated best practice of only insisting on thoroughly vetted adopters. There needs to be something between the Policy-driven Rescue centres with their Inflexible & Impractical "Best practices" and pet shops You-bought-it-no-longer-our-problem-don't-know-where-it-came-from-anyway choice, I wonder about whether other places are filling that niche, just hard to find them.

PonceyMcPonce · 30/04/2011 18:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Carrotsandcelery · 30/04/2011 19:00

Please don't buy from a pet shop. I made that mistake several years ago. Both the pigs I bought turned out to be pregnant. One of them died in childbirth (which was totally horrific).

I had to hand rear her babies which meant 2 hourly feeds, day and NIGHT.

The other one's babies were beautiful but clearly inbred. One had extra toes and all of them died at about 3 years old from kidney problems.

Keep an eye out in the newspaper and free ads for them - sometimes people rehome them there. Put a poster up in your local post office - someone who is not sure what to do with theirs might see it there. Pets at home do have some sometimes in the rehoming section too.

nobetterthanthat · 30/04/2011 19:26

herts cavies

another one

Any good?

poppin · 30/04/2011 21:23

I am having a similar problem in Norfolk. There are breeders close to me but they all seem to breed fancy type ones with long coats. We are looking for smooth.

Meglet · 30/04/2011 21:28

This is one in the Reading / Oxon area but if you e-mail them they might know someone near you?

clayre · 30/04/2011 21:31

We got ours from a pet shop, went in for a cat bed came out with guinea pigs!! Anyway we took the 2 girl sisters which were in a cage with their brother but the man assured us that they were too young to mate well they weren't and we now have 4 guinea pigs!

ragged · 02/05/2011 20:12

Where are you in Norfolk, Poppin?

ragged · 02/05/2011 20:13

I can think of 2 or 3 possible suppliers for you.

poppin · 03/05/2011 18:30

We are in King's Lynn.

pinkhebe · 03/05/2011 18:33

our guinea pig lived for 7 years, and he came from the rspca, so they aren't always old

menagerie · 17/05/2011 23:21

We bought ours from a pet shop that closed down only weeks later. They weren't well looked after, were five months old, had mites, very long nails and one was a biter. They are now gorgeous and snuggly and the biter is the friendliest of all. It felt like a rescue, even though they came from a pet shop. We rang several rescue centres for weeks but all the pigs advertised on their websites had been housed long ago and they had no new ones, so we had to buy them. I don't regret it. I love them more than the DC do, and often bring them out for a quick cuddle when the boys are at school.

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