Pets At Home Refusing To Sell Baby Pig

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Navi4321

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My pig is 4 (male) his partner died about a month ago and we have been looking into finding a new companion. We looked at nearby adoption centres but have had no luck finding a single male as they tend to be already paired up. We don't want to make piggy travel far in the car either to have dates. He seems ok in himself, no signs of depression, but I would hate for him to be alone for the rest of his life.

Anyway, I went to Pets at Home today to see if we could get a baby pig as I was told my the local adoption that older males tend to pair up best with babies. However, the employees at pets at home were adament that this would never work and wouldn't budge, insisting that he will need to be paired with an older male, even though they didn't have any in store, and how would I be certain they would get along? They even told me that they had single guinea pigs who were absolutely fine and did not need a partner! Obviously totally contrasting advice to what I've read online. What are everyone's thoughts on this? I was really upset with the way they spoke to me, extremely patronising and made me feel like an awful piggy parent, suggesting there was simply nothing else I can do and that's that. Left in tears knowing my pig may have to be on his own. Has anyone else had a similar experience? How did you overcome it?

Thanks for listening
 
It really is pot luck whether you can get one to bond or not. The only thing is look at your boar & see what his temperament is like than get the one the opposite and hopefully they will bond.
I would report the staff in Pets at home, they are talking twaddle.
I would ask the address & phone no of head office & tell them you are going to report them as a reputable rescue is saying they will bond.
 
I would also advise you report the staff.More often then not they sell piggies to people who later find out their the wrong sex. Just shows how much they really know.
 
I had this problem with the pet rat ones when her CaterMate died the pets at home where I stayed at the time if you sell me a single female so I reported them
The poor thing was clinging to me and was making really loud squealing noises when they try to take your of me
So as you can imagine I left the store in absolute bits
I think it differs from whereabouts in the country you are as well as to how knowledgeable the staff are
This is what I found with first living in Scotland and now I live in England and English pets at home where I am in Reading is pretty good
They allowed me to get stripey on the understanding that if him and my older pig didn't bond they were taking back
So I don't know what I can't do that for you
I really feel for you
 
Navi4321 said:
My pig is 4 (male) his partner died about a month ago and we have been looking into finding a new companion. We looked at nearby adoption centres but have had no luck finding a single male as they tend to be already paired up. We don't want to make piggy travel far in the car either to have dates. He seems ok in himself, no signs of depression, but I would hate for him to be alone for the rest of his life.

Anyway, I went to Pets at Home today to see if we could get a baby pig as I was told my the local adoption that older males tend to pair up best with babies. However, the employees at pets at home were adament that this would never work and wouldn't budge, insisting that he will need to be paired with an older male, even though they didn't have any in store, and how would I be certain they would get along? They even told me that they had single guinea pigs who were absolutely fine and did not need a partner! Obviously totally contrasting advice to what I've read online. What are everyone's thoughts on this? I was really upset with the way they spoke to me, extremely patronising and made me feel like an awful piggy parent, suggesting there was simply nothing else I can do and that's that. Left in tears knowing my pig may have to be on his own. Has anyone else had a similar experience? How did you overcome it?

Thanks for listening
Click to expand...
Each pets at home store seems to have its own rules, I wanted a pig to bond with another, one store said no, another said yes, also when I got chinchillas 6 years ago, the lady was adamant she would only sell as a pair ( I agree with this due to company etc) but another day when I was in the same store they were selling one as a single to a customer. Surely the rules should be the same across the board. Keep looking, hopefully you,ll find one and it will work.
 
Navi4321 said:
My pig is 4 (male) his partner died about a month ago and we have been looking into finding a new companion. We looked at nearby adoption centres but have had no luck finding a single male as they tend to be already paired up. We don't want to make piggy travel far in the car either to have dates. He seems ok in himself, no signs of depression, but I would hate for him to be alone for the rest of his life.

Anyway, I went to Pets at Home today to see if we could get a baby pig as I was told my the local adoption that older males tend to pair up best with babies. However, the employees at pets at home were adament that this would never work and wouldn't budge, insisting that he will need to be paired with an older male, even though they didn't have any in store, and how would I be certain they would get along? They even told me that they had single guinea pigs who were absolutely fine and did not need a partner! Obviously totally contrasting advice to what I've read online. What are everyone's thoughts on this? I was really upset with the way they spoke to me, extremely patronising and made me feel like an awful piggy parent, suggesting there was simply nothing else I can do and that's that. Left in tears knowing my pig may have to be on his own. Has anyone else had a similar experience? How did you overcome it?

Thanks for listening
Click to expand...
Tbh if your area is anything like mine, there's multiple pets at homes about 10mins drive from each other so if you are adamant about getting a pet shop pig try another branch? Failing that, if I were you I would be going into the same branch in a weeks time on a different day and try again. If you get a similar answer you can just talk to them in business terms. I.e. Do you want a sale or not? And if they say no, on the ground of welfare then you can just POLITELY throw it back in their face. Best example is considering that you are probably standing right next to the pens, is the rspca guildlines on housing size for pigs and point out how small that is in comparison and how they repeatedly sell cages that are WAY too small for what they need. Pointing out that all those adult pigs that are absolutely fine will need a partner is false is a good one too. If they still don't you can ask to talk to the manager and explain why they are being unreasonable. Usually if you take a business stance though they will give because they are a business not a rescue, of course they want your custom.

But honestly, I know that pet shop pigs are so much easier to get hold of but if I'm honest, I'd still try looking for a rescue pig. Maybe I'm lucky in my area but I have four rescues that have pigs one of which homes only Guinea pigs maybe there is some more small rescues that you haven't come across yet. I find that boys seem so much more common because people tend to get girls. Be vigilant. And don't give up with the local rescue either. You can ask whether they have a waiting list? Or perhaps check every week to see whether they have any friends for your pig?
 
@Navi4321 please can you add your location to your profile so that we can advise you as to your nearest rescues who undertake boar bonding. The safest way to get a stable bond is by boar dating which the rescues are good at achieving.
 
At least two staff in my local Pets at Home don't know which pen holds the males and which is the females! I ask questions every time I go in there and they really don't know their stuff. I'll probably get banned soon but I only go in there to do price comparisons and they all ways loose so I won't miss them.
 
VickiA said:
@Navi4321 please can you add your location to your profile so that we can advise you as to your nearest rescues who undertake boar bonding. The safest way to get a stable bond is by boar dating which the rescues are good at achieving.
Click to expand...

Sure, I live in Brighton. I found somewhere in Haywards Heath who may be able to help! Hope the journey won't be stressful on him
 
I'm sure he will be fine. When I lost one of my piggies I took the survivor dating at a rescue that was about an hour and a quarter's drive away.
Have you tried the rescue locator at the top of the page (here's the link Guinea Pig Rescue Centre Locator) to find a number of rescues within a reasonable distance.
 
Worlds fail me with pets at home sometimes but a rescue will be better anyway. Mine havevtravelled sometimes for a couple of hours in the car and I think they actually like it! They tend to curl up and sleep. Just make sure they have plenty of hay, some water or watery veg and are covered over so they they feel safe and the journey will be fine.

Good luck!
 
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