I am keen to buy a pair of Guinea Pigs (Just need to convince my parents who are likely to react by either shooting me or kicking me out of the house) but I think I can take good care of them myself. I am just worried about whether or not I have enough room for a cage.
I have started a thread in the Cage Safety section and would be very happy if anybody could give me some advice.
Thank you in advance and I look forward and am hopeinng to be able to share my Guinea Pigs with you in the future.
I am assuming that you are a minor, given that you mentioned that your parents would need to be convinced. In which case, I would strongly advise against getting guinea pigs unless your parents are on board.
If they are the ones who would be providing money for their supplies and medical care, they really need to be willing to do so and it doesn't sound like they would be.
I am 19 years old
Okay but you live at home which means you still have to abide by your parents' rules. If they are not on board with having guinea pigs, you have to respect that.
Also, I would say that anyone on this forum would recommend that you adopt, not buy your guinea pigs. Use Pet adoption: Want a dog or cat? Adopt a pet on Petfinder to find a rescue or shelter near you. My original adoption plan was to wait until my local shelter had a guinea pig available for adoption, and try to get it before it was snatched up. However, I found out that there is actually a guinea pig rescue only about 15 minutes away from my house!
By adopting, you are saving the lives of guinea pigs in a rescue or shelter, and you are not supporting pet stores. Pet store piggies come from breeding mills, and there is already an overpopulation of guinea pigs. If we can stop pet stores from selling live animals by boycotting live animal sales, then we can ultimately end the cruelty and pain that they cause to the poor creatures.
I would recommend that you talk to them about vet care. You need to be fully responsible for that, and don't rely on them to pay it. Do you have a part-time job? If so, use your money and put it into a vet fund. You'll need to be able to pay for anything that could arise with your pigs medically. Most parents don't consider 'rodents' such as guinea pigs worth a trip to the vet, so they need to know where you stand on that.
Bottom line: You need to be prepared to pay for any and all vet costs, food costs, cage costs, any costs! They are expensive and fragile little things, but cavies are definitely the best pets that I've ever had.
My suggestion would be to hang out here for a while, ask questions, gather information about guinea pig care for the time being. They are awesome pets but they are a lot of work. Many people give up after they bring one home because they went into it not realizing the amount of work and expense involved.
Also keep in mind that the average lifespan of a guinea pig is 5-7 years. You are 19, so heading off to school might be in your near future. What would you do then? Universities often require underclassmen to live on campus and most do not allow pets in dorm rooms.
Responsibility for their care would fall to your parents who, as you have mentioned, are not on board with the whole idea. This is a problem because in the mean time, who suffers? The pigs. And that's not okay.
I already attend uni but I have plenty off time off, I also have a part time job that would allow me to pay for expenses. I havent actually asked my parents yet, they could well be perfectly fine with it. And I have considered adoption as that is how I got my dog and I would never get a dog any other way, it brings great joy to adopt a disadvantaged animal and watch it come to love you. In fact the rescue that I got my dog from also adopts out Guinea Pigs but they rarely have any. Adopting would be cheaper but there are no centres close to where I live.
Many people on this forum have driven 4+ hours to get to a location to adopt their guinea pigs. If there is a rescue within 4 hours of your house, then it is your responsibility to adopt. If you know that the pet stores get their pigs from mills, abuse them, and the like, then there is no excuse to buy them. Even if it is more convenient (there is a PetSmart within 5 minutes of my house), it isn't fair to the pigs to buy them. I hope that you understand why.Originally Posted by LukeM
Please understand that I am not trying to be rude, but it is important that we save lives. Also, adoption does save a lot of money. I got my pigs, and about $300 worth of other stuff including food, 3 water bottles, a Piggy Bedspread, pigloo, 2 cuddle sacks, 2 bags of hay, a travel carrier, and 4x2 cage for $75! I was also referred to a fantastic, cavy savvy vet that I am going to today (one of my pigs has what I suspect is a URI).
Also, if you haven't yet looked on Pet adoption: Want a dog or cat? Adopt a pet on Petfinder then please do so. You never know if there is a guinea pig right next door!
I live in Australia so I have different adoption centres.
I found this one that has a mother and daughter up for adoption which would be cool.
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A mother-daughter pair would be great! It doesn't necessarily mean they will get along but if they are being adopted out as a pair, then it's likely they are bonded.
If you can afford it and have the time to do it, and the permission from your parents, then by all means. I just don't want to see what I have seen time and time again. Pigs being brought home, only to be returned because people underestimated the time, effort and expense that it takes to care for them.
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