Some people should not have piggies RANT

[damppatchnot]

bought some adults today for my stock and boy oh boy the knots in thier coats.So matted I had to cut some off and after I bathed them they were SO happy

And bought some second hand hutches and quite expensive but dirty. Spent that much time fitting them in car did not look inside but caked in poo and took hours to clean

God knows why people keep gp if they can't keep then clean

I did mine tonight and honestly it's like the ritz in the workshop you could eat off the floor

[Thumbwitch]

They're often put in cages with rabbits here in Australia still - even in pet shops. Annoys me. They shouldn't be! No effort made to sell them in pairs, either. (apart from the last "backyard" seller I bought one from - one of mine had died and I needed a new one as a friend for the one left so she was happy to let me have just one)
One pet shop I went into to look at theirs, I asked which were sows and which boars and the woman said "oh I don't know - pick one you like and we'll check" So she had them all in together, not sexed and CBA to work it out until she had to.

What annoys me more though is the lack of sweet meadow hay. We don't get it here at all, just some foul rough-as-guts stuff that's still lovely and edible but doesn't make a nice puffy bed for them.

[damppatchnot]

Mine sell for 20 for sow 15 for boar and that's for a Peruvian, alpaca or lunkyara

X

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

DD and I were looking at GPs to 'price them up' (not to buy them but we wanted to give a donation to the Rescue).

In P@H IIRC they are £25 for one / £35-£40 for two. They do recommend a pair when people go in (I heard one of the staff telling a buyer they should only buy one if they have a pig at home)

Our local Pet Shop sells for £22

Another PetShop has 2 Rex for £40 each ( they've been there a few weeks. They are getting big now and one is a boar .Don't know about the other). The longer they are there the less likely to sell.


(We gave £30 for our pair of one year old boars. Money well spent)

[ArtVandelay]

How much is a guinea pig in the UK? Mine were 30 euros each in Germany. I thought that was quite expensive but it made me glad as hopefully people would think twice. Altogether, 2 pigs (they won't sell just one), large indoor cage etc. and I spent nearly 200 euro.

Although actually, the money probably doesn't mean anything as I had a beautiful Weimaraner puppy from a rescue that will have cost someone a fortune and they still dumped her :( (She lives with my mum now because I don't want to put her through being transported.)

How do people live with themselves?

[sleepingbunnies]

I hate the fact that people get pigs and don't look after them... I was so close to getting a pig that I know would have a better life with me and at the last minute have been told no... Awful to think of the poor little piggie all on his own, no toys, no friends :-( so sad I could cry! And scream in frustration!

[Gay40]

Why the actual fuck would anyone get an animal and then not bother looking after it. It makes me so angry.

[damppatchnot]

And the sound of them all when I enter the garden to go to guinea towers is a joy

DEAFENING!!!

[BonkeyMollocks]

damp I have to say I am impressed!

:)

[damppatchnot]

Mine get a thorough clean out on sat ( only takes 4-5 hours) but I give then extra hay fluff it up at bedtime. I also say night night to them all 29

Night night
Mabel
Dorothy
Coco
Lulu
Penny
Lilly
Lola
Amelia
Muffy
Rhoda
Spike
Jaja
Cyril
Albert
Arthur
Charlie
Harvey
Henry
Trudy
Poppy
Angelica
Amy
Charlotte
Susie
Millie
Annie
Ada
Alice
Priscilla

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I love to give the boars a clean bed of hay and newspaper at night (and a comfy fleece in the hedgehog house (little wicker dome with a tunnel). They have a box in the hay box where GP2 resides. GP1 chooses the portion of the haybox outside the box.
So they are both together but with their own territory. (It helps me keep an eye on their pooh output. I know roughly who did what, but not 100%).

I just think the 5 minutes it takes me to give them clean bedding makes their life a million times better.
That's not too much for 2 little boys to ask is it ?

[BonkeyMollocks]

[damppatchnot]

Mine have had a lovely day I'm the garden today and my lawn is neatly trimmed ( and fertilised!)

I have turned away some prospective buyers as they were not animal lovers and just wanted a pet for thier brats children

Also anyone who owns a snake is a big NO NO

One man asked how long they lived for and said well at least when they die the python gets a meal

I told him to sling it the weirdo

Just off to check on my expectant mummies last seen munching raspberry leaves

[sleepingbunnies]

Makes me so angry! Am trying to rescue a boy at the moment that just looks so sad! I agree... Why do people buy pets and then just forget about them?!

[Thumbwitch]

I had 2 rescue pigs after my first one died rather tragically (septicaemia from a cut on her tongue :() One was an RSPCA rescue from a farm, she was always so scared of everything and had troubles integrating with the others; the other one was part of a group of pigs who'd been abandoned in a cardboard box on wasteground. :( She was better - came around to being handled and so on - but it was so sad to see the fear in the other one. :( :(

[guineapiglet]

Hi all oh 70, the idea of a guinea being kept in a bucket really upset me, but cant say Im surprised - could open out the rant to encompass all animals and the fact that some human beings just do not deserve them at all - A good friend is a vet nurse and the tales she has told about people with inappropriate pets go on and on and are very depressing. She turned up at our house on Christmas eve with the saddest looking girl guinea you have ever seen - in a cage weeks deep of poo/broken glass/cigarette ends - it turned our stomachs - she also reeked of smoke and dope, bless her. We soon had her clean, in a lovely cage with food and drink, and she slowly got integrated with the rest of the girls - it was a horrible experience but so glad we could offer a home for her, which is why I think rescues are so deserving, they have been through a lot in some cases, and as you say 70, all they need is love and care.

[AnnieLobeseder]

LOL!! Took me a couple of read-throughs to realise you were talking about guinea pigs, not oink oink pigs!

[damppatchnot]

I love mine to bits all 29 x

[silver73]

It makes me feel ill to think about how many GPs there are out there not being looked after properly or loved.

I have five GPs now. After my Blondie pig died we got three rescue pigs. We have built a huge indoor C & G cage for them and they are utterly adored by the whole family.

They are such beautiful little creatures and so misunderstood. They are not hardy and need to be cared for properly and taken to the vet as soon as they are ill as they can go downhill so quickly.

[damppatchnot]

I buy gorgeous guinea products and they send me samples and I do a care sheet for my babies so people know what to expect

Lots if young girls buy mine ( or their mums do) as they like brushing hair

Mine fall asleep when we brush them

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

WRT how GPs are kept.
There are 1000s of GP being kept right now alone ,or with rabbits.
Ignored.Kept in dirty conditions.
Mites making their skin red raw so they scratch themselves till they scream (I had a GP with stress eczema -he was under a vet for treatment- and a screaming guinea pig is one of the worst sounds).
Long nails.Long teeth,

One I read about in a rescue had been living in a bucket

My DD says our boars are spoiled (yes they are) but they have the basic rights-
food, shelter, freedom from pain and distress, freedom to express themselves and appropriate companionship.

I 'accidently' bought a Peruvian (I bought the GP on purpose but didn't know she was a Peruvian at that age) and she was flipping hard work.
In P@H I saw some longhaired types.Hopefully they'll warn prospective owners what lies ahead.

[damppatchnot]

Mine are all king coated so bathed quite often and used to it

Some even close thier eyes !

[Thumbwitch]

29! Wow, that's impressive.

My piggies are getting cleaned out today - they're not keen on baths though. Actually, I've never had one that was keen on baths - one actually tried to jump out of the bath when I was washing all of them, and nearly made it! Mind you her name was Kanga on account of her ability to jump so I should have guessed...

[damppatchnot]

Or cute!

I have 29 and two small children and work full time

But it's my passion so i love looking after them

Just checked on them now and all snug in clean beds asleep !

[GeorgianMumto5]

Must be the day for it! I bathed one of mine today. He looks all cute and fluffy now, like a very small polar bear. They're really not that hard to look after, are they? Can't really understand why anyone wouldn't bother.

[ReallyTired]

That is awful. My own experience with GP was looking after one for a family who were on holiday for a month. I have to admit that I was surprised at the sheer amount of work involved in looking after GPs. (Did keep the GP clean and happy though inspite of being heavily pregnant)

I find ironic that there is so much protest about rats used in medical experiments when domestic pets suffer far worse treatment.