P@H again

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Little M

Little M

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Went to my local P@H tonight (actually went to matalan to get some clothes for holiday) just popped in was shocked to see piggies and buns in separate pens :)

BUT the pens were divided in half and there were far too many buns for my liking in the pen. They were all lionheads. We watched for a while to my horror one mated with two does. I told one of the floor staff who assured me they were all the same sex. I asked her if she would check the sexes and she did willingly. She said they were all the same sex and everything was ok. I could clearly see that there was a buck in with the does I pointed this out ( much to my OH's disgust trying to stop me causing a scene ) The lady then tried to tell me that the rabbits were too young to sex and she couldn't tell the difference, they were obviously older than what she tried to tell me as they had got really developed manes. and the bucks gingans were present. :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff:

I asked to speak to the store manager as I didn't seem to be getting anywhere just getting fobbed off she thanked me for pointing this out and that the buck would be moved into a different pen. The does were still left on sale :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff:

In the end I left the shop and immediately emailed the head office as soon as i got home I cant believe the staff cannot sex the animals and they could leave ( maybe )pregnant does on sale for some unsuspecting member of the public to buy even as their first pet. Unbelievable :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff:
 
Hi M,

Well done for speaking up! Must admit when I contacted P@H Head office they were very good and gave me a refund on my Sheltie and the cost of his treatment forhis fungal infection. He must have been bullied in the store as he was very thin and ill when I got him.

It takes a few days to contact, almost a week with me. I got the impression head office where trying but indiviual stores are letting them down. I now don't shop there. Having been educated here on the goings on I won't give them my money!

Besides, if I saw any pigs there I'd be wanting them and I know its not the right thing to do!

Let us know how you get on with Head office.

Louise
 
Hi , what is your local PAH ? just wondering , anyway...my local PAH was diffrent yes guinea's and buns were seprate , About time to ! The rabbits couldve killed the piggies! But for the buns on the Male side there were 2 buns. But one was in the nero rabbit cage! while the other one was roming around it!

I'll do a drawing on paint to show you >
lll.jpg

It was like that sorry for the rubbish thing i couldnt draw the animals so i used pics of the net
 
Well done for speaking out, both my nearest pets at homes still house rabbits with Guineas, and i tell them everytime I go in there (which is often) that they shoouldn't be housed to together and I have spokt to the managers and emailed but there still housed together. :tickedoff:
 
We bought 2 out of the 3 chinchillas P@H were selling, a month later my mum bought Chille as a friend for Molly...well the Bonding was hard work. Then one day my mum came down and screamed about a mouse in the cage. Well done P@H Molly had given birth and not to a Chille baby. That third chinchilla was a male!

Anyway, cue sister ringing them up. She got the vets paid for both Molly and the baby plus an £80 cage, brand new. So at least P@H will take responsability if you go past the minions and plebs at the tills and go to the honchos. The staff can't really take responsability. They don't actually have that responsability to take it.

It's not really suprising that the staff can't sex the bunnies. They're only shop clrks. They don't need to have animal experiance to be hired there, same as with most other pet stores.
 
No, pets at homes unique selling point is that the staff are supposed to be educated and know what they are doing.
 
The staff are not educated and they admit it, at least the ones in my local P@H have admitted it.
 
I've never actually been to a pet store where they didn't know the sex of an animal, its disgraceful if they don't. Though our local garden centre/pet centre have guinea-pigs and rabbits together, whats wrong with that? I know for certain at least one of the workers there is 100% animal orientated and would never do something that wasn't ok with the animals there, she breeds them, they're like her babies.
 
lilmisscavy said:
Though our local garden centre/pet centre have guinea-pigs and rabbits together, whats wrong with that?
Click to expand...

They are two different species - we don't house hamsters and gerbils together, so why rabbits and guinea pigs?
They have completely different dietary needs.
Rabbits can injure guineas in seconds, even dwarf rabbits.
There are diseases rabbits can carry that pass to guinea pigs.
 
I agree with everything daftscotslass has said.

Guineas and Rabbits communicate in totally different ways, its just unfair to house them together...

Its like you being in a lift with a sumo wrestler or heavyweight champion that doesnt speak your language and is always stomping around and the only available food being frogs legs....think about it ;D :) O0
 
PerfectPiggies said:
Its like you being in a lift with a sumo wrestler or heavyweight champion that doesnt speak your language and is always stomping around and the only available food being frogs legs....think about it ;D :) O0
Click to expand...

Or like making your child share a bedroom with an Orang-Utan ;D
 
daftscotslass said:
lilmisscavy said:
Though our local garden centre/pet centre have guinea-pigs and rabbits together, whats wrong with that?
Click to expand...

They are two different species - we don't house hamsters and gerbils together, so why rabbits and guinea pigs?
They have completely different dietary needs.
Rabbits can injure guineas in seconds, even dwarf rabbits.
There are diseases rabbits can carry that pass to guinea pigs.
Click to expand...

Well no, hamsters and gerbils are different when housing is concerned. Guinea-pigs and rabbits CAN live together. They are alike in diet though, I give my rabbit and guinea-pig the same dry mix, sometimes its rabbit, sometimes its guinea-pig or a mix that says for both rabbit and guinea-pig, they like the same fruits and veg, and hay, grass, they're always fine and happy eating anything, and if they don't like it, they don't eat it. lol, whats the big deal? Yea, I can agree that a rabbit could kick out and hurt a guinea-pig, but then again, couldn't they also hurt another rabbit too? Not trying to start arguments, its just, I don't see the problem in it :-\
 
lilmisscavy said:
Well no, hamsters and gerbils are different when housing is concerned. Guinea-pigs and rabbits CAN live together. They are alike in diet though, I give my rabbit and guinea-pig the same dry mix, sometimes its rabbit, sometimes its guinea-pig or a mix that says for both rabbit and guinea-pig, they like the same fruits and veg, and hay, grass, they're always fine and happy eating anything, and if they don't like it, they don't eat it. lol, whats the big deal? Yea, I can agree that a rabbit could kick out and hurt a guinea-pig, but then again, couldn't they also hurt another rabbit too? Not trying to start arguments, its just, I don't see the problem in it :-\
Click to expand...
A rabbbit kicking out at another rabbit is not going to harm it like it would a guinea pig. Have you ever been kicked by a rabbit, they have very strong back legs. Guinea pigs backs are quite fragile and a kick could easily break it. My rabbit often charges around at great speed kicking her legs out behind her. If a guinea pig was in the way it would definitely be injured.
 
lilmisscavy said:
Well no, hamsters and gerbils are different when housing is concerned. Guinea-pigs and rabbits CAN live together. They are alike in diet though, I give my rabbit and guinea-pig the same dry mix, sometimes its rabbit, sometimes its guinea-pig or a mix that says for both rabbit and guinea-pig, they like the same fruits and veg, and hay, grass, they're always fine and happy eating anything, and if they don't like it, they don't eat it. lol, whats the big deal? Yea, I can agree that a rabbit could kick out and hurt a guinea-pig, but then again, couldn't they also hurt another rabbit too? Not trying to start arguments, its just, I don't see the problem in it :-\
Click to expand...

They are NOT alike in diet. The only thing they have in common is that they are herbivores. Did you know guinea pigs can't produce their own vitamin C? Did you know rabbit food often contains antibiotics to prevent diseases in rabbits and those antibiotics can kill a guinea pig? Did you know that rabbits require more vitamin D than guinea pigs? Did you also know that it is now a legal requirement to keep animals seperated from species they aren't intended to live with? Did you know rabbits can harbour bordetella which can kill a pig?

I'm genuinely surprised your guinea pig isn't either ill or injured. You need to understand that it really is an old wives' tale that rabbits and cavies can be kept together. Even the RSPCA recommend they be kept seperate.

Go and live in a house with a fully grown gorilla for a couple of months and see how much you like living with a larger, stronger species with completely different requirements to your own.
 
daftscotslass said:
lilmisscavy said:
Well no, hamsters and gerbils are different when housing is concerned. Guinea-pigs and rabbits CAN live together. They are alike in diet though, I give my rabbit and guinea-pig the same dry mix, sometimes its rabbit, sometimes its guinea-pig or a mix that says for both rabbit and guinea-pig, they like the same fruits and veg, and hay, grass, they're always fine and happy eating anything, and if they don't like it, they don't eat it. lol, whats the big deal? Yea, I can agree that a rabbit could kick out and hurt a guinea-pig, but then again, couldn't they also hurt another rabbit too? Not trying to start arguments, its just, I don't see the problem in it :-\
Click to expand...

They are NOT alike in diet. The only thing they have in common is that they are herbivores. Did you know guinea pigs can't produce their own vitamin C? Did you know rabbit food often contains antibiotics to prevent diseases in rabbits and those antibiotics can kill a guinea pig? Did you know that rabbits require more vitamin D than guinea pigs? Did you also know that it is now a legal requirement to keep animals seperated from species they aren't intended to live with? Did you know rabbits can harbour bordetella which can kill a pig?

I'm genuinely surprised your guinea pig isn't either ill or injured. You need to understand that it really is an old wives' tale that rabbits and cavies can be kept together. Even the RSPCA recommend they be kept seperate.

Go and live in a house with a fully grown gorilla for a couple of months and see how much you like living with a larger, stronger species with completely different requirements to your own.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't ever give my animals something to eat that wasn't safe for them, but buying guinea-pig and rabbit food costs a bit too. Though I wouldn't have had a guinea-pig live for 6 and half yrs on a mix suitable for both rabbits and guinea-pigs (it said on the packet "Rabbit and Guinea-Pig Mix") if it was going to make him ill. He was my best friend and like my baby and he lived a long happy and healthy life. I think people worry too much about what they feed their pets to be honest, as long as its not to a crazy extent. I will be going to said local garden centre on Monday or Tuesday and I shall ask and also look through any books and even on the backs of packets for my own beneficial information. I am aware its not 100% safe for them to eat because obviously they have their own made specially for them but I didn't think there'd be that much difference... :-\
 
The pack I have for my two right now... Don't know if I should show this as it has Tesco on it and that could be advertising.. :-\ Sorry if I shouldn't have posted this!
food.jpg


They like a few but it depends where we're going and where the nearest place is to buy them a mix, and how much money we have.
 
lilmisscavy said:
I am aware its not 100% safe for them to eat because obviously they have their own made specially for them but I didn't think there'd be that much difference... :-\
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Well now you know there is. The tesco value food is one of the worst you can buy for either. It is exceptionally low in fibre which is not ideal for your rabbit. The ingredients are low-quality and contain too much fat at 4% - the majority of other guinea pig foods range from 1.5 - 2.5%. Just because it says on the packet that it is rabbit and guinea pig food doesn't mean it's automatically suitable for them both.

The people who worry about what their guinea pigs eat only care for what's best for them. Try and realise this - you can do better than how you are keeping them and what you are feeding them. There's a big difference between living and existing.
 
I must admit when I first got Sunshine I did buy that food as I didn't know any better but when I opened it I thought that it didn't look right to give to a guinea and binned it and got the purple Tesco food. Mine love it!

The Tesco Value is £1.69 the Tesco purple is £2.99 theres not that much difference really.

Louise
 
i always have fruity guinea pig from the local pet shop I get a massive brown bag full for £1.60 and the hay is only 60p a bag its a brilliant little pet shop been there for years I always travel to get to it cus i moved from the area but they've always been fantastic on advice and the pets r really well cared 4 :) :)
 
As I said, they do get a different range of foods depending on what money we have and where we're going when we need to get food, where the nearst shop will be. They have had those Gerty Guinea-Pig and Russel Rabbit foods, but they work out too expencive. So normally we'll get Tesco own, ones we get from our garden centre which are just their own too, and sometimes Wilko's, but they always eat it and they have a bunch of other fruits and veg to eat too. In fact, Harvey's digging into his mix right now, he loves it lol
 
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