Rehoming is hard work!

[SnowFlower]

This girl wants my youngest (I'm not even sure who that is to be honest!) and she only wants one. Sorry hon, did you even read my listing? Guess we will see how it goes. She is my only responce for them, but I am sure as heck not going to let these boys go to a sub-par home. I can keep them here as long as I need to in order to find them a great home, this isn't a dump and run for me, I just realized it wasn't fair to the boys to have to be seperated because no matter where I put them here they seem to smell the girls. Hopefully she will decide that 2 is better than one and age doesn't matter!

Heck - I think I'm being pretty generous with what I am including with them for a $50 rehoming fee! And she wants one in a pet store cage. Not how I roll, sweetheart!

[suzilovespiggie]

I am so sorry you must give up your boys. They are so adorable. Just a thought, could they go into a completely different room where they cannot smell the girls?
You just seem to love them so. I realize you have put alot of heart into this decison. May the very best home for them present itself to you.

[NicholsS10]

Originally Posted by suzilovespiggie

I am so sorry you must give up your boys. They are so adorable. Just a thought, could they go into a completely different room where they cannot smell the girls?
You just seem to love them so. I realize you have put alot of heart into this decison. May the very best home for them present itself to you.

SnowFlower runs a rescue out of her home.

[Toadies]

SnowFlower, I admire your efforts in the care and adoption of creatures. I know that I could never do. I'd end up with hundreds of creatures, as I would never want to, or be able to let them go. It does take a special person to do that.

[Ly&Pigs]

If the girl isn't willing to meet your terms for the adoption, it's better to wait until someone who will meet your terms comes along. Even if she were to want to take both of them, what guarantees that she wouldn't put them in a petstore cage and feed them an awful diet and not take them to the vet if they get ill.

Rehoming is hard, I've rehomed myself in the past. You have to have the right person who will take wonderful and proper care of these pigs.

[SnowFlower]

Originally Posted by NicholsS10

SnowFlower runs a rescue out of her home.

I unfortunatly had to close the rescue for the time being, am not taking any more piggies into my home for the forseeable future.

I made the decision to rehome at least the 2 boars so I would be a cavy slave, not a hoarder (8 guinea pigs is not a great number for me if I am not activly taking in and rehoming on a regular basis).

We have found a wonderful home for them, just waiting on some details to work out ie: total family agreement from the adopter (mom and dad are going for it, the 11 year old daughter is still thinking); transportation - they are a little over an hour away which is fine, but we are trying to work out somewhere inbetween to make it easier on both parties.

[keehnle]

Originally Posted by SnowFlower

transportation - they are a little over an hour away which is fine, but we are trying to work out somewhere inbetween to make it easier on both parties.

May I suggest for you to meet half way if they do decide to take on the responsibility of your two boars. Personally I drove two hours to pick up my new guys. Then turned around and drove two hours back! It was totally worth it to me. Good luck with your re-homing! I know it breaks your heart to have to do it but I also understand that you want to do right by your pigs.

[SnowFlower]

Still waiting for the perfect home to present itself for the boars. I am still not one for just letting them go to any old home, but the financial burdens my family has is starting to move over to the piggies. I feel horrible about this - I made a commitment and wanted with all my heart to be able to stick with it thru our hardships, but the emergency fund is again gone (needed to pay bills and it was the only money left) and I'm having to ration out veggies from my family's supply.

As a last option will be the Humane Society, but they are already overburdened from the economic crisis and adding a pair of piggies isn't going to be good for anyone involved - especially the guinea pigs who will then receive less than superior care.

I am just concerned, I guess, that I am selfishly holding out for that "perfect family" when I am now becoming less than perfect myself. Don't get me wrong, the pigs in my care are still receiving excellent care but not as excellent as they deserve.

[Onetwo]

Aww I'm sorry for your hardship snowflake. Have you tried other options? Food shelves tend to have extra fruits and veggies this time of year. I suppliment my guinea pigs fresh foods with certain canned foods. Like canned pumpkin (no added sugars or spices), VACUMM sealed sweet potatoes, Unsalted peas, green beans, carrots, etc... Have you tried buying a bale of timothy from a local farmer? 45-55 lb bale is around $5 here! Much better than the prices at pet stores and such. You can get fairly good quality pellets from local feed stores. Worse comes to worse you can ask on craigslist for free or cheap supplies. If someones going to throw it away because their guinea pig died why let to go to waste? There are freecycles and farmers markets where you can get cheap and free stuff too! Also you can go to your local grocery store and ask for their unsellable fruits and veggies. I'm not asking you to take rotten food but there might be a small bad spot you could cut off. We get heaps of old corn and husks from our grocery store. The smaller the grocery store the more likely they would be willing to help you out! I have 6 male guinea pigs and my husband and I have been employed 5 months out of the last 20. We are using every resource we can to get by. So far it is working but its come down to crunch time. I think this will be the last month before we loose our apartment unless one of us manages to finally get a job! Good luck to you and anyone else struggling in this hard time!

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Canned or cooked foods should NEVER be fed. That is poor advice.

[Paula]

It is indeed bad advice and is unacceptable.

Canned foods are precooked and lack the nutrients of fresh veggies. Also, they are hard for a guinea pig to digest because they have been previously cooked or boiled and they can cause stomach upsets. Same with frozen foods.

Onetwo, I can appreciate that you are trying everything you can to give your guinea pigs the best that you can, but previously frozen or cooked (canned) veggies are not a reasonable alternative to fresh veggies.

There is a point in owning a pet when you have to be able to step back and look at the true situation in front of you. If you aren't meeting the needs of the animals, it might be time to seriously consider finding them a home that can. There is a difference between providing the best care you can and the care that they might actually need. Please don't feed canned or frozen veggies for any reason, or at the very least, don't recommend doing so to members here.

[SnowFlower]

Originally Posted by Onetwo

Aww I'm sorry for your hardship snowflake. Have you tried other options?

While I appreciate your intentions, I will need to agree with Paula. I have stepped back and made my decision and I will not be giving my guinea pigs sub-par nutrition to save a few bucks. I did not come here asking for advice on how to keep the animals I need to rehome, I have thought of all alternatives and this is the one that is in the best interest for the animals in question and my family.

While some readers may find this post a bit abrasive, I do not intend it in that way at all - just as a reiteration of my position on this matter.