Cheap Guinea Pigs

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SamStevo

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I was looking on Gumtree over the weekend. I love looking at the pics of babies. Alot of people seem to advertise piggies for as little as £6 each. I can't help think that this encourages people to buy them on a whim as they cost so little.

I know that not everyone who buys cheaply will end up rehomeing their piggies but It really annoys me that they sell them for so little. Surely if they cost more to buy a lot of people would think twice and less of them would end up being rehomed or even worse.

What do you guys think about this? Am I being unreasonable ?
 
I got FlipFlop for free from gumtree and I have seen there are some more on there for free. The unfortunate thing about having piggies free or cheap is even though a lot of people will genuingly want them as pets, there are the snake feeders/dog baiters out there that will get them for that reason

I am glad I got FlipFlop in the end as she was not well looked after but I would rather go to a rehoming shelter than anywhere else.
 
The feeding issue is what I meant by worse. Couldn't bring myself to type that out. I hate that life seems to be so cheap. I only paid £20 for my boys but would have been happy to pay more.
 
My piggies (Lola and Angel) were rescues, as were Barty and Bella before them. My baby boy Rebel was a freebie, Lola was pregnant when I got her, Rebel was born 7 weeks later. He was so handsome, we had to keep him. :yahoo:
 
This is were I struggle. When you see them free to good home if you go and get them to make sure they don't go anywhere dodgy are you encouraging this behaviour ? It's such a difficult call. They all need good forever home but we can't take all of them. BossHogg now I want to see baby piggie photo's :ple:
 
For me, it was about timing. I Celery had lost her buddie about 3 month previous. It wasnt something I would normally do but as it turned out FlipFlop and her didnt see eye to eye, so she lives with me now.
 
I got very upset after stumbling across piggies on gumtree living in horrid tiny empty cages, I was looking for guinea pig cages and I got more then I Bargined for :(. I haven't had piggies from there I think it's wrong they give them away (and it's upsetting to think they may be being used a bate etc) I think there should be much tighter rules on keeping pets.
 
SamStevo said:
This is were I struggle. When you see them free to good home if you go and get them to make sure they don't go anywhere dodgy are you encouraging this behaviour ? It's such a difficult call. They all need good forever home but we can't take all of them. BossHogg now I want to see baby piggie photo's :ple:
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I do tooo please :) he sounds very cute
 
I have already been a victim of the free to good home. I say victim, not really, but i couldn't resist giving Mavis and Dory a home! Also the lady who I got them from asks how they are doing which is good. I do agree though, a cheap price could attract the wrong kind of owners.
 
My3cuteBoys said:
I got very upset after stumbling across piggies on gumtree living in horrid tiny empty cages, I was looking for guinea pig cages and I got more then I Bargined for :(. I haven't had piggies from there I think it's wrong they give them away (and it's upsetting to think they may be being used a bate etc) I think there should be much tighter rules on keeping pets.
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I couldn't agree more. It's a crying shame to think that they are not all loved and looked after properly. It breaks my heart.:no:
 
SamStevo said:
I couldn't agree more. It's a crying shame to think that they are not all loved and looked after properly. It breaks my heart.:no:
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Breaks Mine too :(
I wish I had room to save some of them, But it's a never ending issue sadly. We must remember we have given happy loving homes to the ones we have :)
 
My last 3 piggies, Pepper, Pixie & Peach were advertised on Preloved "free to a good home,will separate if necessary". There are 3 5 year old sows who had been living together since they were babies & I took them & gave them a new forever home because I thought it would be cruel to separate them in their twilight years. They're now living with a neutered male, Rex & they all get on well together x
 
I call him my baby boy, he's all grown up now, he was 3 in August. ;) I'll dig out a baby photo when I get home, I have one of him at 2 hours old! ;)
 
Stewybus said:
My last 3 piggies, Pepper, Pixie & Peach were advertised on Preloved "free to a good home,will separate if necessary". There are 3 5 year old sows who had been living together since they were babies & I took them & gave them a new forever home because I thought it would be cruel to separate them in their twilight years. They're now living with a neutered male, Rex & they all get on well together x
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That would have been awful for them if they had been split. You are an angel.:inn:
 
I rescued Uno that @lisaali have now adopted from Gumtree. I met his 'owner' a few days ago at Poundstrecher buying some nasty muesli. I'm glad he's elsewhere now!
 
it was the same at a local agricultural show-a trio of sows were for sale for £25 at the start of the day, then reduced to £10, then at the end of the day it said 'free to good home.' the owner/breeder said she didn't want them anymore as 'they were of no use to her breeding programme.' I was kicking myself for not having anything to take them home in!
 
hattie.r said:
it was the same at a local agricultural show-a trio of sows were for sale for £25 at the start of the day, then reduced to £10, then at the end of the day it said 'free to good home.' the owner/breeder said she didn't want them anymore as 'they were of no use to her breeding programme.' I was kicking myself for not having anything to take them home in!
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Oh god, that is heartbreaking. I am a wimp and do not look at sites like preloved or gumtree it is just too sad.
The problem is indiscriminate breeding. The big culprits ( pet shops) make it seem like a way to make easy money and some
individuals copy them. I wish I had the answer.
 
Gumtree, preloved and the lot do break my heart but I usually have a look at local adverts every day. When I see a free to a good home I usually send a polite email to suggest they surrender to a rescue as free can attract dodgy people. Most people never reply but I have got people replying thanking me that have then gone and surrender to a good rescue.

It's always a fight but as hard as it is it's thinking about what we can do (and do it) rather than what we can't. For me it's a daily struggle as I get really emotional just thinking pigs (and other smalls) are neglected/abused/you name it.
 
I refuse too let myself look on sites like that. I get too upset just thinking about poor piggies living in awful conditions. So if I actually see a picture of it, it plays on my mind for days knowing I actually cannot do anything too help them :(

It's a shame, you never know where some of these poor piggies will end up :(
 
Abbie said:
I refuse too let myself look on sites like that. I get too upset just thinking about poor piggies living in awful conditions. So if I actually see a picture of it, it plays on my mind for days knowing I actually cannot do anything too help them :(

It's a shame, you never know where some of these poor piggies will end up :(
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I'm the same, I can't bear to think where these piggies may end up, and hate the fact that I can't home any more:no:
 
I agree, I've often gone on these sites and mailed people telling them to either put a price on free guinea pigs or to take them to a rescue because I hate the thought of something bad happening to them.

I've adopted from those sites too after seeing guinea pigs in my area in bad conditions. My piggie Corey was so terrified when I got him, he was the jumpiest guinea pig I'd ever owned. Think of lizards when they do that weird wobbly movement to take a step forward, thats how he was, like he wasn't sure whether to take that step or not. I bonded him with Romano but they had to be split after Corey was too attracted and wouldn't stop orgasming on the poor boy but by the time I gave him up to a rescue he was so brave, always loved running to the bars for food and was no longer scared of people.

coreycute_zps755ff67b.png

This is the day I sadly had to take him to the rescue, as you can see, no fear at all. =)
 
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