Whoop! My Mum Just Ordered A Pair Of These!...

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Harnesses are cruel and dangerous. They can damage a guinea pigs spine. No prey animal should wear one as they will not be able to display natural behaviour. I wish companies were banned from selling them for guinea pigs and rabbits.
 
Oh, um... Ok... *Awkward* Sorry if my post upset you but the person who recommended them said her guineas loved their times outside in their harnesses. :oops::eek:
 
Sorry to say i don't like to preach but I agree with @piggyfan completely. Guinea pigs have very delicate spines and should never be made to walk on a harness. Please do not use these.
 
PipandChip said:
Oh, um... Ok... *Awkward* Sorry if my post upset you but the person who recommended them said her guineas loved their times outside in their harnesses. :oops::eek:
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The guinea pigs cannot enjoy using them. Please do not use a harness.
 
It's okay, everyone makes mistakes and is fooled by the pet shops and other advertising easily.

But as above, these aren't a good idea really. We had one for our piggies years ago when I was a young child and I remember he utterly hated it and wiggled out. We never used it again and got rid of it.

Can you cancel the order and get your money back?
 
Please, please do not use these. As has been stated, they are very dangerous to guinea pigs - can cause severe spinal damage.

If you want your piggy to have outside time, can you get a run so they can enjoy the grass and sunshine while running free, not attached to a harness.
 
Agree with everyone else, plus to add, there was a member on here a year or 2 ago who used a harness, the guinea pig escaped and they never saw it again, so losing your guineas permanently is another risk aswell as breaking and damaging bones.
 
Oh i think we have all bought things that turned out not to be a good idea. Those harnesses look like a good idea but unfortunately are not suitable for piggies x
 
Lots of places sell things that are not suitable unfortunately. Please don't use this on your pig it will damage their spine. Pigs are prey animals and are not meant to be walked like a dog.
 
Aww. You were so excited. Perhaps you could ask you mum if she would be up for helping you with saving up for a run. There are some really good quality wood and mesh ones on ebay.

I hope you are ok and not upset by all the comments. People on here care so passionately about guinea pig welfare (as I am sure you do).
 
I once bought harnesses too, about 15 years ago, and never got to use them either because I found out they were unsuitable. Hope you are not too disapointed :( x
 
Best thing to do is return them as they have given wrong info regarding being OK for guinea pigs. Anyone selling these for guinea pigs should be reported to trading standards.
 
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Support from me too - I did the same as you have and bought one of these then found out it wasn't ok. I do hope you manage to get your money back, I didn't. And it had cute little carrots on it. I think I still have it somewhere, in amongst the stuff in the shed. I must have a general sort out soon.
 
I have never seen those ones with the full body wrap around mesh stuff. the ones I got (and never used) back in about 1999 were just string harnesses. Are they ok for ferrets?
 
what I do as I haven't got a run yet is I take the wire top off the hutch and put that on the grass and put a towel over one half so they have shade and sun in the garden
 
when i had my old piggies i considered getting a harness for them. Never did though because i couldn't afford it and saw how the cat reacted when one was put on him! Don't worry all had those thoughts too before finding out how dangerous they could be for piggies! Hugs! Xx
 
Don't worry about it as you didn't realise that harnesses are not suitable for guinea pigs.

I had one for my rabbit many moons ago. I attached the loop part to the leg of the garden bench but Casper managed to chew through the strap. Thankfully our garden was enclosed but if it hadn't have been, we could have lost him forever!

Those harnesses that you have brought could be useful in the future so I would keep them just in case. If you were ever unfortunate enough to have a piggy develop a skin problem or wound that the piggy kept interfering with, the jacket part of the harness can be used as a bandage type thing to prevent the wound from being interfered with.
 
I didn't know that they were so dangerous for them. I'd been thinking the last few days that if Piglet gets through his op I'd get him one so he could have a bit more freedom down the park and then he could come to work with me still some days. Won't do that now and will look for a run that's easily transported instead so can pop him in that either at work or down the park.

The thought was there for your piggies though which shows you love them - that's the main thing. xx
 
The key here is that @TheWheekies was unaware of the danger therefore was just trying to treat his/her piggies!

What worries me is that there are lots of pigs out there who's owners don't have the information we do and the onus should be on manufacturer to stop selling these or at least add a note to packaging to state they are not safe for piggies!

All it takes is a piggie to get spooked and run and break their back!
 
To aunty Katy, you could just cable tie some c&c grids together and then they will fold really easily so you can put them in the car.Doesn't matter about a top if you are there
 
Auntie Katie said:
I didn't know that they were so dangerous for them. I'd been thinking the last few days that if Piglet gets through his op I'd get him one so he could have a bit more freedom down the park and then he could come to work with me still some days. Won't do that now and will look for a run that's easily transported instead so can pop him in that either at work or down the park.

The thought was there for your piggies though which shows you love them - that's the main thing. xx
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You also need to be careful down the park about what pesticides etc have been used on the grass and if any dogs have pee'd as both can be poisonous to pigs.
 
helen105281 said:
You also need to be careful down the park about what pesticides etc have been used on the grass and if any dogs have pee'd as both can be poisonous to pigs.
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Oh god, I didn't know that! He hasn't eaten the grass but I think that's only because he's not been able to and if I took him once he's recovered I'm pretty sure he would. He did enjoy himself so much though so I'll have to have a re-think about what to do for him. He is having a run made to attach to his hutch so he can use that during the day while we are out and the dogs can't get in the garden but we don't have real grass. And I thought coming to the park one or two lunch times would be interesting for him. I thought I'd get a pen to take with us but will maybe re-think that now too.

Does anyone know if bark chippings are OK or a massive no no?

xx
 
You could take a blanket with you to put under the run and some hay in a bag to put in it.You can get collapsible tunnels as well
 
:agr:

You can usually cancel the purchase and get a refund if it hasn't been sent yet. I echo what everyone's said about them being very cruel.

Please don't use these. :no: Everyone makes mistakes, but as long as you don't use these then no harm done.
 
Everyone gets so passionate on here, its great but terrifying at the same time!
I'm gona say it now - i have a harness for my pigs, i tried it on one of my pigs indoors to see what would happen, i left it loose enough for him to wiggle out of if he really wanted to but i just popped him in it stop him running under my computer desk into all my wires and dust i keep under there. he was uneasy with it at first as anything forced to wear accessories might be but after a while it didn't bother him, hes not a dog he didn't tug on it it didn't pull on his back or anything else and i didn't "walk" him or drag him around in it he was perfectly fine with it, like as @Claire W said it was like wearing a jacket as there was no stress on him.

The only reason i havent used it again is because i haven't needed to.

Also googling guinea pig injured by harness I am finding it very difficult to find any pictures or articles that show a piggy that has been hurt by one, only forum after forum and blog after blog of people insisting it can!

Obviously these creatures are very delicate and small and no one on here would ever do anything to harm an animal and thats why i love this page however i am wondering if anyone can perhaps provide an example in photos of an animal that has been injured by its harness that i have missed so we know what to look for - this would also be useful for when adopting to make sure past owners haven't caused damage to piggies spines

so far the only images i can find are of skin problems caused by irritation and harness left on which they shouldn't be!
 
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