Zoelle - Guinea Pigs Swimming

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Ashleylynn said:
While respecting your views and understanding one should never purposely place stress on an animal, every animal is also an individual based on how they were raised and their socialization and exposure. Maybe not all pigs enjoy it but there may be some who do if they were exposed early enough. Watching the chemicals and temperature, and keeping s constant watch is surely nevessary- but saying it is animal cruelty; lighten up
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Not meaning to argue, but I don't think the guinea pig would think lighten up.
 
Ashleylynn said:
While respecting your views and understanding one should never purposely place stress on an animal, every animal is also an individual based on how they were raised and their socialization and exposure. Maybe not all pigs enjoy it but there may be some who do if they were exposed early enough. Watching the chemicals and temperature, and keeping s constant watch is surely nevessary- but saying it is animal cruelty; lighten up
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To quote a sticky thread on here -

Guinea pigs are not natural swimmers although like most animals they can paddle away in a desperate attempt to survive. The overwhelming majority of guinea pigs stay well away from water. They should never be forced to enter a body of water they cannot stand in and that they cannot not exit under their own strength.
Any water that is going down the lungs can cause respiratory infection and any body of water that is too cold can cause cardiac arrest. If water gets into the ears, it can kill them. Guinea pigs can die from sheer fright

Why would you willing expose your loved pet to something that stresses them out? People are viewing these swimming videos as 'cute' for their entertainment they do not understand the dangers involved and when high profile youtube channels publicise this practice it is unfortunately sending out a message that forcing guinea pigs to swim is an okay thing to do and many inexperienced owners and younger viewers will be completely unaware of the dangers..

Please don't 'rock up' on a guinea pig forum telling people to lighten up regarding the issue... How do you expect pet owners to act when they see these kind of videos?
 
I don't understand pet owners are like this. All they need to do is type their question into Google, read a few reputable looking sites and come to the most likely conclusion...However, I have just done this myself and pretty much all the links say they ARE natural swimmers as they are related to the Capybara..and of course, since we are related to Chimpanzees, then we can swing from trees also!

The first link to come up was this: Can Guinea Pigs Swim?

Guinea pigs are natural swimmers.

If you do put your guinea pigs in water, some may love it , some may hate it.

Just like humans really!

They can swim but do find it very distressing if they are forced to swim, just like us!.

...however, domestic cavvies are not used to swimming and most will find it very distressing because they are just not used to having been breed in a domestic dry environment.
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..and then it proceeds to inform you exactly HOW you can test if your guinea pig likes swimming! Basically encouraging it. I can see how many people would be confused since the site appears reputable. I mean, forcing a domestic piggy to swim has no function except danger. Hopefully, no guinea pigs drowned due to their irresponsible suggestions.

I have read on another site how 'Guinea pigs live in the wild in South America, living in rocky areas, grasslands and forest edges. They live in groups of about 10 adults, and live in burrows, either dug by themselves or by other animals. They are most active at night, when they come out and forage on a wide variety of plant materials.'. I imagine they have no reason to swim and put themselves in danger with crocodiles, snakes or any other predators as there is zero food for them in the water.

I have to groom and shower 4 of my piggies and I can tell you that none of them like even a splash of water on them! 3 of 4 will just try their best to get out of the bath and eventually, 2 of them will start shivering in fear and one will poop her guts out. This highly suggests to me that water + piggies = No lol
 
The piggy in the video is so like my waffles , I haven't watched it , as I don't want to but I know mine don't seem to appreciate a bath lol so I don't see the need to have a swimming guinea pig , very unnecessary , swimming is a survival instinct for them not fun ,it's not like a dog who loves the water well most do anyway!
 
Your piggie can't tell you if it likes it or not, so why risk it? Why would it enter someones head to try something that isn't natural?
Exactly how many guinea pigs do you see having a casual swim along the river banks these days?
 
I absolutely DO NOT encourage forcing piggies to swim in deep water, but I have found when giving the guinea pigs a bath that Sage hates it, but Poldark actually jumps in and protests when I try to take him out. I would never make him swim properly though, even if he loves it it's not worth the risk!

I think that I'm trying to say that some pigs do like water, but they still shouldn't be exploited for other people's entertainment.
 
anniedabannie said:
I absolutely DO NOT encourage forcing piggies to swim in deep water, but I have found when giving the guinea pigs a bath that Sage hates it, but Poldark actually jumps in and protests when I try to take him out. I would never make him swim properly though, even if he loves it it's not worth the risk!

I think that I'm trying to say that some pigs do like water, but they still shouldn't be exploited for other people's entertainment.
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Exactly. Just like me, I enjoy paddling in shallow water but find swimming in the deep end stressful :nod:
 
I agree. Guinea pigs hate water. Digger would try to escape even though it is up to his ankles! How would us human know when they hate it or not! We don't really speak guinea pig language.
 
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