Pet shop Dilema

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ClaireL

ClaireL

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I got my Sheltie Kes from a garden center pet area back in Dec - before I realised the importance of rescuing or knowing a huge deal about piggies in general - I have since then redeamed myself ;) but now I have abit of a dilema...

He was housed with another male - which I didnt buy - not because there was anything wrong with him, just that I didnt think Males could live together and I didnt want any fighting (more Naiveity)...anyway the other male is STILL there after all this time, I go in to get my hay from there and always go past the piggies to have a look (not the best idea I know hmmm) I feel really bad for leaving him, and he looks really sad...he doesnt have a huge amount of room and is in some glass case with only a plant pot for company.
I realise I may not be able to bond him with my two boys (kes is now bonded with Sid a rescue piggy) but I could house him in my pig room - the set up I have is that all the cages are on equal level and its like a little community and I often go in to find the boys and girls chatting to each other through the cages....so he would have lots of company if I couldnt bond him with the boys

Whats the honest opinion of me going to get him? ....
 
They pull on your heart strings don't they? If he is a special lad then I would get him. We had this once and didn't get the pig because of the principles we have now of rescue pigs but I regret it.

I know it is still giving money to the petshop and that is what many of us don't agree with but if you want to give him a home and can't get him out of your head then go for it? :)
 
When I got my sow Feather she was with another girl guinea I presume was her sister. We had recently lost a guinea and although Feather wasn't a replacement there was space in our piggy family for one more and I was grieving for my lost girl. I could only take 1 tho due to space issues so I picked Feather. To this day I still wish I could go back and have both or none, it really plays on my mind over a year later!

I don't know what other people would think about you buying a piggy from a pet store but you’ve got to live with whatever decision you make...

Could you get him and maybe rescue a baby boar to pair with him?

Tricky choice.
 
i would get him because you will be giving him a better life than just been stuck in a pet shop, i wouldnt worry about him been from a petshop because you are rescuing him from a lonely life :) and he I'm sure you've got lots of love to give him so go for it
 
In my opinion, every piggy deserves a happy and caring home. It isn't their fault that they are up for rehoming from a pet shop ... it is only the previous owner that makes that choice.

It is a difficult one though. You don't know if you will be able to bond him. Have you thought about the options you if can't? The cost of neutering is expensive and risky. The cost of another piggy is also a financial commitment.

However, all the negatives apart ... if he tugs at your heart strings and you have the room in your heart and your bank account, then go back and have another look. Tell the pet shop owner that he has been there a long time and you are happy to rehome him, but you are into rescuing piggies and see his response. He may be happy just to let you have him.

I am afraid it can only be your choice. Keep us posted!
 
Thanks Guys...its so difficult to know what to do for the best - I dont think they will let me rehome him without paying - its a big commercial garden centre - but I can always ask the question - you never know.
My other Dilema is that if I take him then I am just making way for them to buy more piggies in and in a way adding to the problem, but then I feel taking him I would be recuing him ...oh god, I need to do some serious thinking!
The money side of things isnt a problem - its the conscious that is :{
 
go for it... if you can house him, even on his own but near friends, it'll be better than a glass case. Smelling other pigs will certainly perk him up.
 
I'm a great beliver in fate so if the next time * go in the pet shop and hes there then hes meant for you and like MrsM sed even if you have him near your other guinea pigs he wont be lonely and it will certainly be a better quality of life for him :)
 
I got my girls from P@H... they were in the adoption part, though, not the commercial pet centre. Do they have an adoption part to the centre? It's always worth asking, or telling a little fib and claiming that you thought he was up for adoption....:))
 
Follow your conscience. If you don't, it'll always play on your mind.

Goldie made the right point that every guinea pig deserves a good home. If he has been there since December, he'll need somebody or he may be put down due to his lack of attracting a buyer.

Make sure that you have the facilities to keep him if the boys don't get along.

Good luck!
 
go for it i got my baby boris from a petshop and i wouldn't change it for the world then when i vowed to never buy another petshop piggy i found basil who was severly depressed and on his own so i brought him.i don't regret it at all even though i probably shouldnt have gotten him:)
 
Well my dilema was answered for me - I went to see if he was still there this morning...and he had gone - there were a few other piggies there but I walked swiftly passed them knowing they were not the reason I came. I did wonder on the way there whether because of easter there may have been a few of them purchased including my little guy - just hope he went to a nice home.
Thank you all of your for your support and advice, each and everyone of you gave me good words of wisdom - It was obviously not ment to be x

I went to p@h afterwards to get some dog food and saw a piggy in the adoption centre...but I didnt get him/her, as again the garden centre piggy was the only one that was on the cards x
 
Also I just remembered I was in a small petshop once buying hay etc... and was cooing over some longhaired boy piggies. The shop owner said I could have them if I wanted as they'd been there ages and she'd give them to me to make way for new stock if I wanted. I really didn't have the space for more piggies - but it was interesting that some shops will give them away if they've not been sold for a while, its definately worth asking before you go ahead and buy him! :))

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhh Sorry hadn't read your update when I posted this... That is both a shame and a blessing. Hopefully he's in a good home and you can rest assured it wasn't meant to be...
 
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You must be glad and sad at the same time; hopefully, he's gone to a good home!
 
Aww well glad he has gone to a loving home with any luck. :) I don't go in pet shops for this reason, I'm a sucker especially for baby bunnies! :(|)
 
You should ask if he went to a new home because sometimes if they don't sell after a certain period of time they transfer them to another place to see if they can sell them, its just if he is in a different garden center they maybe able to get him back for you. (just a thought though)
 
boys

ClaireL said:
I got my Sheltie Kes from a garden center pet area back in Dec - before I realised the importance of rescuing or knowing a huge deal about piggies in general - I have since then redeamed myself ;) but now I have abit of a dilema..

He was housed with another male - which I didnt buy - not because there was anything wrong with him, just that I didnt think Males could live together and I didnt want any fighting (more Naiveity)...anyway the other male is STILL there after all this time, I go in to get my hay from there and always go past the piggies to have a look (not the best idea I know hmmm) I feel really bad for leaving him, and he looks really sad...he doesnt have a huge amount of room and is in some glass case with only a plant pot for company.
I realise I may not be able to bond him with my two boys (kes is now bonded with Sid a rescue piggy) but I could house him in my pig room - the set up I have is that all the cages are on equal level and its like a little community and I often go in to find the boys and girls chatting to each other through the cages....so he would have lots of company if I couldnt bond him with the boys

Whats the honest opinion of me going to get him? ....
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hi clair i could re home him if * want to I'm in birmingham to I'm jenny_ren49
 
Vickyt said:
Follow your conscience. If you don't, it'll always play on your mind.

Goldie made the right point that every guinea pig deserves a good home. If he has been there since December, he'll need somebody or he may be put down due to his lack of attracting a buyer.

Make sure that you have the facilities to keep him if the boys don't get along.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

They put them down if they get a bit bigger cos noone has bought them? :(
 
Briony_Y said:
They put them down if they get a bit bigger cos noone has bought them? :(
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One would hope not, but stores that sell animals have them for the same reason they have food, plants, furniture.. To make money. And it's not impossible to think that attitude includes doing what you do with all old, unsellable stock... :(

However, there's every chance someone did indeed buy him and he's now hopefully happy in a new home :) I remember the day I bought Freddie - He was with company in a pet shop a friend bought a couple of fish from. Went back for some fish food a couple of weeks later, he was still there, but on his own. Really wanted to get him out teh frankly appalling conditions he was in, but at the time knew very little about piggies and also felt strongly about perpetuating the chain as if he was bought the shop would only get more in. More weeks passed, went in at least twice a week on some pretence or other just to see if he was still there, and talk to him for a while. Went in on November 24th that year, he was still there, and there was a Queen song on the radio. The pet shop owner mentioned something about me going in to see the piggie so often, and that they'd had so many problems selling him if I bought him they certainly weren't going to have any more. That was it, sold! I wish I'd got him out of there sooner, especially as for all his life he carried a respiratory weakness which almost certainly stemmed from the horrible conditions he was kept in. But had I have bought him sooner, more piggies would have gone through the same fate.

Of course, two days later I took him to see a friend, and he ended up staying there! He was very much loved and very happy, and over the years thanks to him we have learned so much about piggies (and still are) that aside from wishing I'd have got him out of the shop sooner I have no regrets about "rescuing" him.

So I can understand why people desperately want to "rescue" from a pet shop, totally. The only problem is you rescue one, and 9 out of 10 times they'll simply get another in. It's a very difficult situation :(
 
Stinklepig said:
So I can understand why people desperately want to "rescue" from a pet shop, totally. The only problem is you rescue one, and 9 out of 10 times they'll simply get another in. It's a very difficult situation :(
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That was totally my issue...I thought in a way I would be adding to the situation...
I have a feeling he did get rehomed though as his glass tank was empty like he hadnt long gone...
 
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