The novice Piggy owner thread

[Cavy2009]

I thought it would be nice to contact people who are new to handling guinea pigs. here's my story. Last November I bought what I thought were two boy piggies. 4 weeks later take my boys piggies to the vets, thinking one of them was dying or having odema, only to find out that Collin and Burt weren't boys, infact girls, and one was heavily pregnant. 3 weeks later along come my three little pigs.

Lesson Learnt: Take some experienced with you when buying piggies, prefereably one that can tell boys from girls.

Later, found that boys mature and are ready to mate a around 4 weeks old. Also not fussy about whether it's their mother, sister or teddy.

Then there was the mites debate I have had on here. lesson learnt: piggies get mites and you can help keep them under control.


I did buy a care for your guinea pig book, but obviously my introduction to piggies wasn't exactly text book. Still it gave the vet a laugh,.")

 

[MemberY]

you have had a time of it!

You will learn loads more on here, so do stick around. I learnt when I first joined that there were such things as guinea pig rescues and I though there were only cat & dog rescues and donkey sancturies!

Why "buy" a guinea pig whose mummy has been bred back to back until she dies from exhaustion, malnourishment or some other stress related illness. Why "buy" from a petshop when they cannot even sex guinea pigs? you have found that out the hard way

Here, we promote rescue where homeless, unwanted guineas are available to loving homes with no fear of being bred, abused and culled when they have had their use. Mostly, boars are neutered at rescues and paired with a sow ready for rehoming, rescues can correctly sex them and any ailments have been treated already

 

[Cavy2009]

I got her from a reputed farm amongst Cavy owners. I asked around first. The farm doesn't set out to breed Cavys like you stated. Infact when I got there she and her friend Burt had loads of room to run around in. The farm is run by a college which is used by students on animal management courses. They have strict policies and guidelines and are govern by the RSPCA. All the piggies are cared for until they die. My sister did her studies there and told me what the farm did, as like you, I wasn't convinced. It's was unfortunate for me that I ran into some one who didn't check the girls properly.

I love them to bits and wouldn't be apart from them. But I would never buy from a petshop or go to these farms that sell piggies for less than £10. I also now know my local animal rescue has Cavies too.

 

[nutmeg]

You do seem to have had a chequered start to your guinea pig ownership. Stick with the forum you will find lots of tips for care and having fun with them.
I am not sure that the prices charged relates to the care given though. Stick with rescues, we have plenty of them, sadly. x

 

[Wiebke]

Welcome to the board - I had a pretty lively intro to adult piggie life myself (which also included surprise babies and a companion that needed two trips to the vets to have her gender confirmed), so I can feel for you! Needless to say that I'm sticking to rescue pigs nowadays...

 

[Cavy2009]

Yes, after I got my piggies, all these rescue sites came up, when I googled cavy. I just wanted to adopt them all.:...