hazeyg
Adult Guinea Pig
Well today I went to a garden centre near Carlisle for a coffee with my folks. There was a pet section which I expected to just have toys etc in but they did have live animals as well.
They had little piggies which I am certain were too small to be away from mum as even the just arrived piglets in PAH are usually bigger. I swear one was about the length of my index finger. I was informed they were 7 weeks old. Even worse, there was a dsiclaimer saying there maybe be sexed incorrectly and there was absolutly no hay in the male piggies and rabbit cages and a few dregs in the female cage. No sign of veggies either.
Anyway I asked to speak to someone about the pigs and twenty mintues later someone arrived. Needless to say I was a littl wound up by this point. So i decided to not rant and instead asked them what age they were and what do I feed them. The women said we feed them on excel look you can see the nuggets in their bowls. I then asked do they need anything else and they said yes they need some sort of forage as well. No mention of veggies. Then she said I can get you a care sheet if you like. Is it guinea pigs youd like she asked. Then all hell let loose.
I told her no I had owned piggies for years and I find it odd there is no hay in their cages, I pointed out that this was an rspca guidline to have unlimited hay and I could well have been an officer.
The women had told me from the start that she was filling in and works over at the crockery etc and then after I started my speil she openly admitted she didnt know what they needed it was the pet shops blokes day off.
I said to her that I coulld see the piggies were very lively and healthy and the cages were very clean and the water bottles immaculate but their teeth grow so quickly. I also explained people come into a pet shop and see how their kept and through ignorance think there is nothing wrong with giving them no hay and vegetables when infact hay should be about 80% of their diet. I also explained it will make for healthy piggies and people wont come back complaining when they get ill. I said ( and I had) had watched the female piggies for 20mins scraping over the sawdust searching for the tinyest wee scraps of hay, showing just hwo much they need it and it was unfair especially as soe cages didnt even have any at all.
My mum who's not even fond of piggies stepped in before I had a chance and said will they be getting hay, my daughter is very concerned for there welfare and the women said yes she will do it right now and she did and the wee piggies were so happy.
She said she really had no idea but she has put it in their diary so it has to be actioned daily but even asked me to write a complaint in because thats a sure way to get it fixed as she had heard of a similar issue being raised before. She seemed genuinly concerned, I believed her when she said she was filling in as she came from a different part of the store.
So ok it might not be completly resolved but those wee mini piggies have a better chance and were happily tucking into hay and at least thats one person in the shop that is aware they should have hay and hopefully will keep pointing it out as well.
I took pigtures and will post some soon.
They had little piggies which I am certain were too small to be away from mum as even the just arrived piglets in PAH are usually bigger. I swear one was about the length of my index finger. I was informed they were 7 weeks old. Even worse, there was a dsiclaimer saying there maybe be sexed incorrectly and there was absolutly no hay in the male piggies and rabbit cages and a few dregs in the female cage. No sign of veggies either.
Anyway I asked to speak to someone about the pigs and twenty mintues later someone arrived. Needless to say I was a littl wound up by this point. So i decided to not rant and instead asked them what age they were and what do I feed them. The women said we feed them on excel look you can see the nuggets in their bowls. I then asked do they need anything else and they said yes they need some sort of forage as well. No mention of veggies. Then she said I can get you a care sheet if you like. Is it guinea pigs youd like she asked. Then all hell let loose.
I told her no I had owned piggies for years and I find it odd there is no hay in their cages, I pointed out that this was an rspca guidline to have unlimited hay and I could well have been an officer.
The women had told me from the start that she was filling in and works over at the crockery etc and then after I started my speil she openly admitted she didnt know what they needed it was the pet shops blokes day off.
I said to her that I coulld see the piggies were very lively and healthy and the cages were very clean and the water bottles immaculate but their teeth grow so quickly. I also explained people come into a pet shop and see how their kept and through ignorance think there is nothing wrong with giving them no hay and vegetables when infact hay should be about 80% of their diet. I also explained it will make for healthy piggies and people wont come back complaining when they get ill. I said ( and I had) had watched the female piggies for 20mins scraping over the sawdust searching for the tinyest wee scraps of hay, showing just hwo much they need it and it was unfair especially as soe cages didnt even have any at all.
My mum who's not even fond of piggies stepped in before I had a chance and said will they be getting hay, my daughter is very concerned for there welfare and the women said yes she will do it right now and she did and the wee piggies were so happy.
She said she really had no idea but she has put it in their diary so it has to be actioned daily but even asked me to write a complaint in because thats a sure way to get it fixed as she had heard of a similar issue being raised before. She seemed genuinly concerned, I believed her when she said she was filling in as she came from a different part of the store.
So ok it might not be completly resolved but those wee mini piggies have a better chance and were happily tucking into hay and at least thats one person in the shop that is aware they should have hay and hopefully will keep pointing it out as well.
I took pigtures and will post some soon.
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well done for giving them advice hopefully it will make some difference to their quality of life! If they aren't keeping them properly then there is little hope they are giving out accurate information when people buy them!
