May have made a big mistake!

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

By the sound of them the babies are ill, so you would surely have to fork out more money in vet costs than you will in donations to a good rescue for some healthy piggies. Some of us have paid much more in a steep and sometimes very sad learning curve!

We all start somewhere before we get to rescues. I myself fell for a sad pair of eyes looking directly at me while they were being bullied by a bigger piggy in a shop... and promptly ended up with unplanned babies I couldn't keep.

I hope that you will enjoy your piggies-to-be. I would strongly recommend to make your final choice after you have met the piggies at the rescue. Often less showy piggies or adult piggies are great characters and wonderful snugglers, but you won't see that just from a picture!

 

[Daisypig]

Thanks again everyone. Yes you can hear the lie "). I emailed her and said that I hadn't realised that guinea pigs couldn't live with rabbits and that we have a great big rabbit (we don't!). I said I was looking for company for the rabbit but that having done some research have realised that piggies were not the answer. She said she understood and that she'd post me a refund, time will tell if I'll see my money again, but like you all said even if she keeps it at least I can save money on vet bills.
I have explained to my kids why we aren't having daisy pig anymore, they were disappointed but I think they understood at some level. My 3 year old asked if we can call one of the new piggies we find Daisy. I said I wasn't sure if it was mean to change an older pig's name, maybe someone here could tell me if it would offend a piggie to change it's name?!?
I'm relieved to have got myself out of it and am looking forward to meeting the two sows my friend's friend is rehoming. Hopefully that will work out. Do you think I should get them checked by a vet before taking them or are there obvious things I can look for myself to make sure they're healthy?
Thank you thank you thank you all again. xoxo

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Thanks again everyone. Yes you can hear the lie "). I emailed her and said that I hadn't realised that guinea pigs couldn't live with rabbits and that we have a great big rabbit (we don't!). I said I was looking for company for the rabbit but that having done some research have realised that piggies were not the answer. She said she understood and that she'd post me a refund, time will tell if I'll see my money again, but like you all said even if she keeps it at least I can save money on vet bills.
I have explained to my kids why we aren't having daisy pig anymore, they were disappointed but I think they understood at some level. My 3 year old asked if we can call one of the new piggies we find Daisy. I said I wasn't sure if it was mean to change an older pig's name, maybe someone here could tell me if it would offend a piggie to change it's name?!?
I'm relieved to have got myself out of it and am looking forward to meeting the two sows my friend's friend is rehoming. Hopefully that will work out. Do you think I should get them checked by a vet before taking them or are there obvious things I can look for myself to make sure they're healthy?
Thank you thank you thank you all again. xoxo

Yes there is no problem re-naming, lots of rescue piggies often get re-named

For your peace of mind maybe you should consider getting them vet checked first. Has she got a genuine reason for rehoming them? Does she want payment? If she is giving them to you I would get them checked just in case.

Things to look for would include:
Nice bright clear eyes, no runny ones
No loss of fur or sore/red patches (circular hair loss could mean ringworm which is contagious to humans!)
Generally good movement, keen to eat hay, grass veggies etc, not sitting fluffed/huddled up, that is a sign of illness as piggies hide their illnesses very well. Get the vet to check for any lice/mites too just to be safe & ask her their age & if/when they last had treatment for lice/mites.

I hope they are your perfect piggies

 

[Wiebke]

Always have any new pets vet checked at first unless they have been through a full quarantine at a good rescue. Also check the gender! Make sure that you find a good piggy savvy (exotics) vet; it can make all the difference, as small animals don't feature large in a general vet's curriculum!