Please recommend where to buy a guinea pig?

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NewOwnertobe

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Hello

New to this forum! My son is turning 9 and for the past year, he's been begging us for a guinea pig. We've been to Pets at Home numerous times to handle them, so now we've agreed to buy him one for his birthday in 2 weeks time. I've since discovered through research that we really ought to get two (even though Pets at Home told us that one would be fine with lots of attention) - however, I don't want to be cruel and only get the one.
We live in Surrey - does anyone know of any babies for sale, please? We like the long-haired breed.

Thanks for any advice!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

We are pro-rescue here and to be honest it's a great place to start. Often children with bore of their pets and its left to the adults to look after because they don't expect the to last more than a couple of years, and so they end up in private rescues. However it's not all doom and gloom and you've found the right place.

firstly, there are so many piggies in rescues looking for their forever homes who will help you settling you with having guinea pigs. Lots of questions to consider, indoor or outdoor. Consider definitely how many - one is just animal cruelty as they live in herds in the wild - or did.

If you pop along to the rescue locator at the top of the page you will find rescues that are recommended. They will give you loads of advice about finding the right housing, understanding the cost of keeping guinea pigs (nail clippings, worming treatment - oh yes you won't believe the amount of care they require! After all they are exotic animals) and in the event you go on holiday (without your piggies) they may offer boarding facilities.

Long haired breeds do take a lot of grooming so I would add a touch of caution for first time piggy owners.

You will find lots and lots of information here about the care.
some people even discover that they are allergic to them but only after they have taken them home! What a shocker, but with a rescue you get to sit and touch and bond before hand - see it's a win win!

Hope this helps.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. We don't discuss purchasing of piggies as we are a pro rescue forum (adopt don't shop). We have a rescue locator in the top bar which lists reputable rescues by area and the piggies you can take on from here will be well suited to your home. They will be vet checked and regularly handled so would be easier for your 9 year old to handle too. It might be worth considering slightly older or fully grown piggies at first as they will be a little less lively (well it depends on the pigs but most tend to mellow)
 
Hi there I agree regarding long haired piggy’s/ first time owners, I don’t know if you’re aware but they need grooming daily (their hair gets matted if you don’t do this) and long hair around the bum area can lead to increased risk of fly strike and urine scald etc. When I was younger me and my brother got a piggy each for our 10th birthday, they lived for 7 and 8 years respectively. I’m ashamed to admit it but the final 2-3 years I hardly interacted with them and it was left to my parents to care for them, feed them and clean them out, as I was more interested in my boyfriend(s) :roll:. I’m not trying to discourage you, it’s just something to be aware of, I think my parents got fed up with me!
 
NewOwnertobe said:
Hello

New to this forum! My son is turning 9 and for the past year, he's been begging us for a guinea pig. We've been to Pets at Home numerous times to handle them, so now we've agreed to buy him one for his birthday in 2 weeks time. I've since discovered through research that we really ought to get two (even though Pets at Home told us that one would be fine with lots of attention) - however, I don't want to be cruel and only get the one.
We live in Surrey - does anyone know of any babies for sale, please? We like the long-haired breed.

Thanks for any advice!
Click to expand...
Hi, welcome to the forum! I agree that it is cruel to keep a loan guinea pig unless that desicion is a forced one, for example after a fight and unsuccessful bonding attempts, not a personal choice. Even with lots of human attention, a guinea pig needs another guinea pig to interact with. As for where to get them, I fully recommend adopting from a rescue. I’m not sure exactly where you live so I can’t recommend a patircular one local to you, but searching “Guinea pig rescue near me” will bring you up multiple options. Rescues are amazing. As well as the brilliant fact that you have given the piggies a second chance at a happy life, they are very supportive and helpful. I’ve been on the phone in the middle of the night to the woman who runs the rescue I adopted my boys from, and she explained exactly what to do. If you can’t find a local rescue, there is always the adoption stand in Pets At Home, where you can adopt if there isn’t a local rescue.

Also, I’d recommend getting a pair of girls. Boys can be very aggressive with each other and fight and injure each other. I’d also recommend buying a C&C cage, they are much easier to clean, pick guineas up from and are much nicer for the guinea pigs. You can buy them online or alternatively find someone who makes them local to you, my rescue made mine for me.
Good luck!
 
Piggies&buns said:
Agreed! My pair are boars!
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My two are from a rescue, but they started fighting when we took them home, now they live in a divided cage. We are trying to get them a girlfriend each ;) and a new cage though
 
Piggies&buns said:
Agreed! My pair are boars!
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Boars are perfectly fine together as long as the bond is good.
I don’t believe in this ‘they just don’t get on with other pigs’ we don’t have that in human society we have humans who are just more personality challenging, pigs are the same.
My Mowgli was a terror and that’s because he had an awful start in life and now he’s lovely as he met the right girl pigs and that has made him stable and I was able to bond him to another set of girls. Time, kindness and effort goes a long long way to a piggy personality
 
Thanks, MH! I did call RSPCA earlier (they have lots!), based in Aylesbury so quite far. Waiting for a call back.
 
Welcome to the forum
You’ve been given plenty of advice so I just want to say looking forward to hearing more when you get your piggies- and seeing pictures
 
Can I just say how nice it is to see a family doing research and being so keen to do the right thing by pets they don’t even have yet? I think you’ll make fantastic piggy parents :).

Our local rescue didn’t have any suitable pigs, but serendipity struck and we adopted our two girls privately after I saw a post on here. Keep looking - the right ones for you will be there too 👍🏻
 
NewOwnertobe said:
Thanks, MH! I did call RSPCA earlier (they have lots!), based in Aylesbury so quite far. Waiting for a call back.
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I know the things we do for pets. I've got an hour journey on Sunday for some boar bonding - 1 way then whatever time it takes for Jellicoe to choose his new friend then an hour home and then settle in to their new hutch life together with me firmly sat on the viewing sofa in the lounge or the summer house - odd that I have viewing sofa's from 2 angles watching the hutches and their antics! I've only just thought about that.

It's worth it though. I've travelled all sorts really.
 
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