Eeeek.....how much?....but they have no fur!

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Teejay

Teejay

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hi all

I've been out shopping all day with my mom, and we popped into a local garden centre. I needed to pick up some hay, so (of course) I had to have a peek at the bunnies and piggies for sale.

I noticed a small group of people gathered around one of the 'tanks', so I had to go over and see what was attracting so much attention.

When I got there, the tank looked empty, but then I spotted a fuzzy nose sticking out of the plastic igloo......so I looked a bit closer, and there were two skinny pigs, one black and one tan. I've never seen skinnies in a pet shop before...in fact, I've never actually seen one 'in the flesh' (no pun intended) before!

I got chatting to the sales assistant, and was kind enough to let me go 'behind the scenes' to have a bit of a cuddle with them (x))......they were so sweet and far less 'freaky' than I thought they'd be (sorry to all of the skinny fans out there!).

I was actually rather taken with these two sows.......so while we were chatting, I casually asked how much they cost.......and it was a good job she'd put them back into the tank, cos she told me they were for sale at £600 the pair! :{ :{ :{

£600! I nearly fell over! Obviously, they were priced at a premium as they could be bred from (:(), but I would have just wanted them as pets....but £600?

I felt quite sad as I left them......they could have a fantastic home as the pets of someone who would love and cherishe them (not necessarily me, but I think I would have taken them if they'd been a more sensible price), but at £600, they were obviously intended for a breeder, to go off for a life of baby making....poor little things.....money making machines :(

Very sad....but on a positive note, they were very healthy and well cared for and the sales assistant was a guinea pig fanatic and knew exactly how they should be cared for.
 
O___O £6000 for a pair of skinny pigs? At least it would put odff inexperienced joe public from taking them and not caring for them properly.
 
Thats ridiculous?! Ive seen them sold for around 90 quid each which i thought was a lot for a piggy, they are simply playing in the 'craze' of something new and different its like these designer dogs labradoodles for example basically there mongrels/crossbreeds but they sell for £500? Madness.. Skinnys are gorgeous creatures but id never pay 90 never mind 300 for one!
 
Oh god poor things, that's so sad that that's all that lies ahead for them.

We have 2 skinnies, our local rescue asked us to take them as she knew us and knew we wouldn't breed from them as she was worried about rehoming them to a stranger.

I love my girls, they are such big characters, though we do have a slight cozy battle going on with them at the moment, as in Katie thinks we bought 2 cozies for her and not one for each of them.
 
Just curious why the £600 price tag makes you assume they're destined for breeding? Especially when, as Lil'ninnibig has said, you can get them for £90-£150 {:|

But they're advertised at these prices because they're sold to the pet shops for between £150-200, the pet shops then think that because they're 'unusual' and paying such a high price themselves, that they can charge what they like. I know a few people who own pet shops and skinny's have been on the 'list' of available animals from the rodent farms for quite a while (last couple of years at least).

It's unfortunate, and I 100% don't agree with skinny pigs being sold, especially not in pet shops.
 
They're £130 for a pair from my local pet shop, I thought that was expensive but 600 wow.
 
bubble&squeak4ever said:
£600! Wow! :o Thats astonishing! But how lovely to hear that they are being looked after well!
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They were warm, plump and looked really happy and contented.....and the knowledgeable sales assistant told us she was in charge of rubbing the aloe vera into their skin. I have to say that this particular pet shop is one of the best ones I've seen who sell livestock.
 
Lil-Ninnibig said:
Thats ridiculous?! Ive seen them sold for around 90 quid each which i thought was a lot for a piggy, they are simply playing in the 'craze' of something new and different its like these designer dogs labradoodles for example basically there mongrels/crossbreeds but they sell for £500? Madness.. Skinnys are gorgeous creatures but id never pay 90 never mind 300 for one!
Click to expand...

Well, funnily enough, I just assumed that skinnies would cost about the same as a 'hairy' piggie to buy, as, let's face it, lots of people are a bit freaked out by them, they're not everyone's cup of tea!

But I googled "skinny pigs for sale" and I found loads of sows for sale at about the £100 / £150 mark (not that I'll be buying one, of course).....I really don't see how they'll ever sell them at £600.
 
helen105281 said:
Oh god poor things, that's so sad that that's all that lies ahead for them.

We have 2 skinnies, our local rescue asked us to take them as she knew us and knew we wouldn't breed from them as she was worried about rehoming them to a stranger.

I love my girls, they are such big characters, though we do have a slight cozy battle going on with them at the moment, as in Katie thinks we bought 2 cozies for her and not one for each of them.
Click to expand...

It's very sad, I felt quite depressed when I left them behind.

LOL at Katie!
 
Squidge said:
Just curious why the £600 price tag makes you assume they're destined for breeding? Especially when, as Lil'ninnibig has said, you can get them for £90-£150 {:|

But they're advertised at these prices because they're sold to the pet shops for between £150-200, the pet shops then think that because they're 'unusual' and paying such a high price themselves, that they can charge what they like. I know a few people who own pet shops and skinny's have been on the 'list' of available animals from the rodent farms for quite a while (last couple of years at least).

It's unfortunate, and I 100% don't agree with skinny pigs being sold, especially not in pet shops.
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The sales assistant said as much......well, obviously, they can't only sell them to a breeder....it's a shop, after all, and if I handed over my credit card, they'd sell them to me, and I'm definitely not a breeder.

But she mentioned that they were having some skinny boars in soon, who would be "much cheaper as they're less valuable for breeding".

I really don't agree with any livestock being sold in a pet shop, it breaks my heart to see it.
 
Teejay said:
They were warm, plump and looked really happy and contented.....and the knowledgeable sales assistant told us she was in charge of rubbing the aloe vera into their skin. I have to say that this particular pet shop is one of the best ones I've seen who sell livestock.
Click to expand...

Ahh that's fantastic to hear! Makes such a change from the usual stories we all hear about pet shops!
 
Wow! That's an incredible amount of money! Hopefully it will stop them being an impulse purchase, but I guess they will still sell them to whoever hands over their credit card- knowledgable or not.

I don't mind telling you, I paid £100 for Hamish and his furry companion and they will not be used for breeding and are spoilt rotten.
 
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