Getting a guinea pig.

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Hachi475

Hachi475

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Hi there I really want a guinea pig and I think I might get one so here are a few questions I need to solve:

-How to prepare
-What to do when my piggies get home
-What shelters there are in London (as I checked the rescue and rehome page for shelters and didn't find any close enough to me)
-How to introduce myself to them.

Thanks! :(|) I might foster a guinea pig if I don't get one...
 
piggies are best in pairs as they are social animals.
I'm sure there are rescues around london,someone more knowledgeable than me will come and tell you I'm sure
 
Hi welcome. I agree that piggies are better in pairs (same sex of course) i personally would go for girls as pigs are very addictive and you can always add more girls. You also need to think about where you will house your pigs. Indoor and outdoor are both fine but our winters get very cold so you need to think if you have room in the house to bring them in for the winter.
Do you have space in your garden so they can go out in a run in the summer to eat the grass?
Its always best to research your animals before you buy them, maybe buy a book or ask as many questions as you want on the forum.
Guinea pigs can not produce their own vitamin C so you need to buy special guinea pig food and also provide them with plenty of fresh veg.
You also need to look at the size of hutch/cage that you will be housing them in and make sure its an adequate size.
I am not from London but i am sure there are some rescues and its fantastic that you are thinking of rescuing your pig/s rather than going to your local pet shop.
Cant wait to hear more on what you get and any questions or queries there are plenty of piggy experts here on the forum xx
 
Hiya! Welcome to the forum!

I can't help with the rescues part of your questions, but I'll do my best with the rest!

It would be an idea for you to get two, rather than a single piggy. You really don't get the best out of piggies unless you can watch a pair of them doing what piggies do!

How to prepare:
There's not much for you to do other than find a suitable cage (4ft wide and 2ft deep is reccommended and required by most rescues!). Outdoor hutch you need to make sure they're 2 feet deep as many commercially available ones aren't that deep! Indoor cage, you should look at something like the Ferplast 120 or bigger if you can afford to go bigger.
You should also look into finding a piggy savy vet too, just in case of emergencies. Guinea pigs on the whole are surprisingly hardy little critters, but things do happen from time to time and it's always advised to register with a suitable vet just in case!
Obviously apart from that you just have to buy the accessories (bowl, bottle, food, chew toys, treat sticks etc) that you want to get. You'll get changeover food from a rescue if you've chosen a different food, or you can wait till you get your pigs and see what they're being fed!

When you get them home/How to introduce myself to them.
It's recommended that you give them a day to settle into their cage once you've brought them home (though I'm usually far too impatient...) just to let them get used to their new surroundings.

After that you can start holding and interacting with them in short bursts and build it up as you and they start to grow in confidence. Most rescue pigs will be well socialised by the time you take them home anyway, but it's always best to give them chance to explore on their own terms for a bit! Hand feeding yummy veggies is a good way to get them to come to you and learn that you=good! Then you can start picking them up and holding them in a blanket if they're timid! I find the best way to do it is to wrap new ones up in a towel/fleece blanket first then I leave it to them as to whether they want to come out of the blanket to say hello to you and get stroked and cuddled!

Hope that helped! Hopefully other members can point you towards some rescues in your area. RSPCA is always worth looking at to see if they have any pigs! :)
 
If I can't find any shelters near me, would it be okay to check the adoption centre at Pets at Home? Oh and thanks everyone for the replies! My mum is taking me to Pets at Home tomorrow so I might ask her then and just talk about it with her. Also, what age guinea pig should I adopt?
 
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Sometimes rescues will do a "piggy train" to help piggies get to a new forever home, this is basically people helping out with transport.
What age to get is completely up to you, rescues have all different ages in them I guess it's just who you fall in love with :)
I've heard stories of P@H using the adoption centre to rehome poorly animals or the ones that have got too old to sell in the store but they make up a story about why they are in the adoption centre ... so you have to be careful there... :(
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=62482

How far is Greenwich from you?
http://www.greenwichrabbitrescue.com/

Have you checked this bit of the forum
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=19

Good luck finding your piggies :)
 
Hachi475 said:
If I can't find any shelters near me, would it be okay to check the adoption centre at Pets at Home? Oh and thanks everyone for the replies! My mum is taking me to Pets at Home tomorrow so I might ask her then and just talk about it with her. Also, what age guinea pig should I adopt?
Click to expand...

Most people on here won't recommend P@H for several reasons, which you'll see from looking around the forum.

However, if you do go in and you spot pigs in the Adoption Center, then I would advise you to ask as many questions as possible; ESPECIALLY about their background. You want to know; Age, past health, where they came from, why they were in the AC, what have they been like while in the AC (needed vet care? If so, why?). As many questions as you can fire at them, then please do so!

I've got one girl from there who they originally told me would be "extremely suitable" to live with my herd of sows. No, she isn't, she's a demon pig around other girls. I went back a few weeks later for some food and I got talking to another one of the assistants there and she said that if she were in that day she would have told me that she was not good for living with girls because she bullys and intimidates them.

I'd only ever adopt from P@H again if I had a full background and knew exactly what I was letting myself in for! Definitely look at local piggy rescues, you're almost certain to find well socialised, healthy guinea pigs with lots of information about where they came from and what they're like!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum!

Here is a thread that lists everything you need to consider when getting guinea pigs. http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36801

It would be great if you considered using a proper guinea pig rescue. It is might not be as close, but you will get only guaranteed properly sexed, not pregnant and healthy piggies that will only be rehomed when they are well enough and ready to go to a home; they will also be already carefully bonded. Any good guinea pig rescue will only rehome suitable piggies to a piggy beginner and will support you during the settling in period. I think that that is well worth a bit more of an effort, considering the steep and costly learning curve some p@h newbies on here have had!

Best of luck!
 
welcome :-)
are you anywhere near crawley as there is a rescue there? They may be able to arrange a piggie train? Good luck with finding those special piggies and please don't go to pets at home. There are so many pigs in rescues around the uk because of pets at home selling pigs who are pregnant, ill or just to people who are buying on a whim. Don't support this cycle!
Well done for finding info before adopting :) x
 
Thanks everyone for the comments. I did a secret inspection of Pets at Home of the guinea pigs and they looked fine and were alert. I tried whistling and making noises and they were all alert. My mum had to drag me out of Pets at Home. Seriously. I'm not joking. She actually had to pull me out. :red. I went to the Pets at Home in Hendon. Has anyone else been there? For now I am just showing signs that I want a pet and then I will move on to telling them about guinea pigs and then I might ask then. If not I hope I can foster! xx>>> Thanks everyone for the help! Wish me luck! I'm participating in a UK spelling bee so this might help me get my guinea pigs! For me (starter guinea pig owner), what age guinea pig should I adopt?
 
RSPCA has a Hendon branch, have you tried them?

Failing that see if you could arrange a piggy train. If you can get to South London there is at least me who has a car and could help, subject to some sort of home check being arranged as necessary.

Sorry but how does spelling help with guinea pig ownership?! Apart from being able to read food packets etc..?! lol
 
RSPCA has a Hendon branch, have you tried them?

Failing that see if you could arrange a piggy train. If you can get to South London there is at least me who has a car and could help, subject to some sort of home check being arranged as necessary.

Sorry but how does spelling help with guinea pig ownership?! Apart from being able to read food packets etc..?! lol
 
Hachi475 said:
Hi there I really want a guinea pig and I think I might get one so here are a few questions I need to solve:

-How to prepare
-What to do when my piggies get home
-What shelters there are in London (as I checked the rescue and rehome page for shelters and didn't find any close enough to me)
-How to introduce myself to them.

Thanks! :(|) I might foster a guinea pig if I don't get one...
Click to expand...

http://www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutani...rch/details/-/Pet/ELIZABETH/ref/52193/rehome/

Adopt her, along with her sister :)) gorgeous little animals x
 
Thanks for the suggestions! Oh and about the spelling bee, I meant that if I won it then my parents would've been really proud as I would've been on BBC Breakfast etc so that would've been my chance to get one but I lost. I asked my mum if I could get a guinea pig for my birthday next week (7th June) but she said no. I will keep trying though! And I didn't know there was a hendon branch! I have to go there! Does anyone know the address?
 
-How to prepare
Well, first you need to have the time. The time to feed, cuddle and look after the little piggies. Also you will need a hutch or cage try c and c cages if you want to keep them inside or a hutch. The rspca recommends a 4ft x 2ft hutch for 2 piggies but I think it needs o be 5ft x 2ft. You will need to give them regular hay, dried food, water,fresh fruit and vegtables also toys to play with such as ; socks, stuffed toys, tunnel, hidaways, hammocks, treat balls, and cosy cups.
-What to do when my piggies get home
When you get them home you should leave them together in their home for a short while alone but watching them. I would say to get two sows as boars may fight. Websites say to leave them for 3 or 4 days but I think just the afternoon overnight and the next morning and then cuddle them!
-What shelters there are in London (as I checked the rescue and rehome page for shelters and didn't find any close enough to me)
Try guinea pig rehome, they have a list of rescues near you
-How to introduce myself to them.
You could simply let them smell you through the bars for the a little while then cuddle them and sroke them slowly and carefully. Do this a few times a day and they will warm to you.
Thanks! :(|) I might foster a guinea pig if I don't get one...
If you foster rember you have to give them back!
 
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