[Nelli]

My son wanted a pet for his birthday. I said no to cats and dogs because I didn't want any pets on my bed or counter tops. Reptiles were way out of the question. His dad has a python and I can barely deal with that. Anyway, we walked into Petco just to take a look at what animals were available. I said no to everything in there and stopped to look at the guinea pigs. First we saw Precious, she was so adorable, my son picked her and we decided to take her. While we kept our eyes on Precious we saw Patches in another tank just running all over the place. He looked like a busy body. I told my son he could only have one pet. Then he started asking if we could take Patches home so that Precious wouldn't be lonely when we were not home. I took one more look at Patches and I melted so we decided to take him too. I decided to hurry up and get out of there before my son had me buy every guineapig in there.

I didn't really know much about guinea pigs so I decided to ask the small animal specialist some information about cages and food. I was told the mixed feed was best for them and any brand was fine and they love timothy hay. I was told that a starter home (12x22) was fine for both of them even through adulthood. My money was taken and I was then sent home with a starter home, mixed feed, multivitamin drops, one hay dispenser and two guinea pigs.

I went to work two days later and begun t see if I could find any information on piggies. I stumbled onto the gl site, then to guinea pig home and then here. Thanks to all sites we have learned a lot and it has made a big difference.

Please forgive me for purchasing from a pet store. At that point I din't know about guinea pig rescues and adoptions or petstore maltreatment/ breeding mills. I thought rescues and shelters were really for cats and dogs. Now I know better and I have eventaught my son better. When I first started teaching him about all that goes on he got really sad. He started to get even more sad because he thought that we were going to have to take them back after he had gotten so attached to them. Now when I on the site he keeps asking if were going to adopt. He wanted us to tkae a drive to virginia the otherday to adopt a 1 month old girl piggie. I couldn't at the time but if I could have I would have.

The following is a part of a popst the I put on here regarding petstore cage vs. c&c:

When I bought my piggies 1st home I went to a pet store who did exactly what they were supposed to do (make a sale). Poor me didn't know any better, I listened to a sales rep who told me that a starter home would be the perfect size for two piggies even through adulthood. I was sold what I now know to be a glorified litter box for $89. Not satisfied with that a few weeks later I purchased another cage 47x22 ($130)not realizing that those were the measurements of the outermost part of the cage and not satisfied with that I decided to build a c&c which both I and my piggies are happy with. Thank God for sites such as this and guinea lynx from which I was able to learn about adequate cage space. I didn't know better then but I know better now.Total cost of the c&c = $67 {$26 for both boxes of cubes; $35 for a sheet of coroplast and $6 for 600 zip ties}.

Now I am more educated and still always learning thanks to sites such as this.

My piggies are now in a 3x3 with a 1x3 upper level (soon they'll be upgraded to a 3x4 with a 2x3 upper level). They get floor time which I knew nothing about, quality pellets, lots of veggies, some fruits, wooden tunnels, cozies, fleece bedding and fleece tunnels, lots of timothy hay (soon upgraded to bluegrass and timothy), lap time vet visits and lots of love.