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Small pets

Can't find adoption pig!

10 replies

itsbetterthanabox · 14/10/2017 13:59

So I posted last week that my guinea pig sadly died. His brother is still healthy and only 2 years old.
I've been looking for a new cage mate for him as I know they hate being alone.
Ive contacted every rescue and adoption service in my area and none have any guinea pigs or the one that does they only have already bonded pairs not single ones or girls.
I'm now considering buying one as I know he needs a friend and I'm worried most about my pig even though I'd much prefer to get a rescue.
Is this better for my pig in his best interests? Not to leave him alone waiting until something maybe comes up? Looking for advice really on that.
I'd get a younger, baby boar as I know they work better with an older pig.
Is a pet shop or breeder better if I did buy? Is one better than the other?
Thanks

OP posts:

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Taxminion · 14/10/2017 14:06

We got ours from the Wood Green centre which I think was near Huntingdon. This was another female. TBH my opinion now is that GPs unless bonded very young should either be singles or kept in herds as mine tend to bicker over everything - they have lovely accommodation and plenty of space so it is not that.

I previously bought from a pet shop, wouldn't do so again, but I stupidly didn't realise that 2 boys would fight and they had to live separately. The new one actually died of an unknown cause before he was one.

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Laaadyofthehousespeaking · 14/10/2017 14:09

Definitely best to get another one as company, you've done the right thing looking for a rescue. Have you tried calling any of your local pets at home stores? They sometimes have the older guinea pigs and rabbits that haven't been bought up for adoption? If not I would just buy one.

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EastMidsGPs · 14/10/2017 14:26

Our Sadie came from Pets@Home. We were on holiday in Norfolk when a gp died and we needed a friend as the remaining gp went into a decline - we were going to be there 3 weeks and so made a trip to P@H Kings Lynn.
I have to say it worked, but Sadie hadn't been handled very much and the young assistant wasn't very experienced - she was more concerned that we had a Nottinghamshire postcode than anything.
It worked tho, we needed a baby as Mollie wasn't dominant and Sadie has turned out ok.
Our local P@H has an elderly gp keeper and I think she finds it hard to let her babies go!

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 14/10/2017 15:48

If there's nothing in Rescue and you really need to bond your piggie then a breeder would (IMO) be a better bet than a large chain petstore.

They'll know their pigs, they'll breed good traits in (so specifically selecting the Dad to complement the Mum)

Its a dilemma because buying one means a Rescue has to stay in Rescue and it fuels the market in selling pigs.
But at the end of the day you're doing it for YOUR pig , he's your priority.
You might find a breeder that will bond your pig with another one for you?

(And S*ds Law will have your Rescue over-run with pigs next week . When we got GP3 they were on the verge of taking in something like 40 boars all ages)

I was even tempted by a Gumtree piggie (local to me and has to be gone yesterday ) but the seller wouldn't entertain me taking the pig to give it a good home and give a donation to Rescue (ie they wanted rid but wanted the cash. All this want £20 to guarentee a good home tosh. They paid £X , didn't guarentee a good home )

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HorseDentist · 14/10/2017 15:50

There's is an amazing guinea pig rescue in Stoke. I have had 3 of my girls from there.

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itsbetterthanabox · 14/10/2017 17:10

Thank you so much for the advice. As much as I wish there wasn't a lot of unwanted pets I want to do the best thing for my boy.

OP posts:

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rightsaidfrederickII · 15/10/2017 13:52

I would suggest having a look on Gumtree / Shpock / Pets4Homes etc.

Rescue hamsters often come up on there in desperate need of an owner upgrade, and you may find a suitable pig on there too.

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knowsmorethansnow · 17/10/2017 22:02

We got one from the adoption part of pets at home when ours lost their buddy, but they never got along. I had to keep them in separate hutches . They seemed to be happy to hear each other but just not share their space.

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FernieB · 18/10/2017 11:29

HorseDentist - I suspect we have used the same Rescue in Stoke. My Gingerpig is from there - they are brilliant. Unfortunately they couldn’t help when I needed to find Ginger a new friend, so I went to the RSPCA for Madampig.

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flyingpigsinclover · 27/10/2017 19:12

We try for rescue as well, we have had two RSPCA rescues, one from P@Home who was lovely and tame and then we have two that we bought when no rescues had piggies available and we needed companions. Well, one that we needed and one that we fell in love with.