Teejay
Adult Guinea Pig
Hi all, well...in order to get VIPiggies (my new guinea pig boarding service) off the groud, me and my hubby spent most of Saturday visiting local pet shops and vets to put up posters.
One of the pet shops we visited is a regular haunt for us.....they have a big aquatic section, they always have really healthy, well cared for fish, and we've bought many fish from there in the past. It has a fantastic reputation locally.
They also sell livestock, but they rarely have guinea pigs for sale (they seem to sell mainly birds, mice, rats, gerbils, etc). Anyway, we were mooching round the shop, and they happened to have in some absolutely gorgeous female teddies.
Quick bit of background.....my two boars are living separately (after fighting pretty severely) and are currently 2 weeks post castration, in preparation for having a new lady-friend each in a couple of weeks! We've been trying to find a rescue local to where we live, so we can adopt two rescue girlies, but we can't find any within a sensible driving distance (I think Coventry and Rugby are the nearest, but they're both a good hours drive from us).
So.....we asked to look at the teddies......we had a cuddle with them, they were terrified, poor things.....and, of course, as soon as we held them (fatal mistake!) we made the snap decision to take them. I was confident that, coming from this particular well-regarded shop, they would be fit and healthy (I gave them a very quick 'once over' and they certainly looked well) and we already had a spare cage for them to live in until such time they could meet the boys.
So we got them home, they were really petrified, the poor mites, so we put them straight into their cage, and we left them to settle for the night. They quickly settled down though, clambering all over the cage, and they turned from nervous wrecks into bold little blighters!
The next morning, I just had a sneaking suspicion that something wasn't quite right.....so I got them out (first time holding them since they came home from the shop), turned them over, and lo-and-behold, they were both little boys.....schoolboy error, eh? not checking them in the shop! But, knowing the shop so well, I just trusted them......d'oh!
So, back they went.......apologies all round from the shop staff.......but "did we want the other two females that had been in the cage with the two teddies?" Eeeeeek....Noooooooooo.....I made such a fuss in the shop, absolutely everyone was watching and listening!....."of course I don't want the other two females, they've been in a cage with the two male teddies.....it's highly likely they are pregnant......you can't sell them knowing that they may be pregnant....you have to take them off sale straight away......." I think the staff were glad when I'd left the building! They couldn't apologise enough.....
So we left empty handed......until we popped into another pet shop to put up a poster.....and left with two absolutely scrumptious baby girls.....definitely girls this time (I checked while we were in the shop
!)
One (provisionally named Darklis) is black smooth coated with brown flashes and a white patch on her nose, and the other (provisionally named Coco) is a tri coloured explosion of fluff and hair!
I'll post pics soon......they're still a bit shy!
PS - sorry for the mega long post - they seem to be my speciality! LOL!
Tracey
One of the pet shops we visited is a regular haunt for us.....they have a big aquatic section, they always have really healthy, well cared for fish, and we've bought many fish from there in the past. It has a fantastic reputation locally.
They also sell livestock, but they rarely have guinea pigs for sale (they seem to sell mainly birds, mice, rats, gerbils, etc). Anyway, we were mooching round the shop, and they happened to have in some absolutely gorgeous female teddies.
Quick bit of background.....my two boars are living separately (after fighting pretty severely) and are currently 2 weeks post castration, in preparation for having a new lady-friend each in a couple of weeks! We've been trying to find a rescue local to where we live, so we can adopt two rescue girlies, but we can't find any within a sensible driving distance (I think Coventry and Rugby are the nearest, but they're both a good hours drive from us).
So.....we asked to look at the teddies......we had a cuddle with them, they were terrified, poor things.....and, of course, as soon as we held them (fatal mistake!) we made the snap decision to take them. I was confident that, coming from this particular well-regarded shop, they would be fit and healthy (I gave them a very quick 'once over' and they certainly looked well) and we already had a spare cage for them to live in until such time they could meet the boys.
So we got them home, they were really petrified, the poor mites, so we put them straight into their cage, and we left them to settle for the night. They quickly settled down though, clambering all over the cage, and they turned from nervous wrecks into bold little blighters!
The next morning, I just had a sneaking suspicion that something wasn't quite right.....so I got them out (first time holding them since they came home from the shop), turned them over, and lo-and-behold, they were both little boys.....schoolboy error, eh? not checking them in the shop! But, knowing the shop so well, I just trusted them......d'oh!
So, back they went.......apologies all round from the shop staff.......but "did we want the other two females that had been in the cage with the two teddies?" Eeeeeek....Noooooooooo.....I made such a fuss in the shop, absolutely everyone was watching and listening!....."of course I don't want the other two females, they've been in a cage with the two male teddies.....it's highly likely they are pregnant......you can't sell them knowing that they may be pregnant....you have to take them off sale straight away......." I think the staff were glad when I'd left the building! They couldn't apologise enough.....
So we left empty handed......until we popped into another pet shop to put up a poster.....and left with two absolutely scrumptious baby girls.....definitely girls this time (I checked while we were in the shop
!)One (provisionally named Darklis) is black smooth coated with brown flashes and a white patch on her nose, and the other (provisionally named Coco) is a tri coloured explosion of fluff and hair!
I'll post pics soon......they're still a bit shy!
PS - sorry for the mega long post - they seem to be my speciality! LOL!
Tracey
They sound adorable, hope they find a new loving home soon!
x) drool
