"Well, they're too young to breed!"

[Squeals4Meals]

This made me so mad! I recently went to a new Jack's Aquarium and Pets that opened next to a new super-walmart to check it out and they were hiring. I saw 2 young guinea pigs together in their glass triangle-shaped cages and asked an employee if they were males. She picked up the black and white and we both saw it was a male. She checked out the blue roan and told me it ws also male. I picked 'him' up and discovered it he is a she! I immediatly showed her and told her about female 'pimples'.
The next day I came back and they were STILL together. I asked another employee and she said "well, they're TOO young to breed and if they start we'll separate" It can happen so quick!! Then I asked another and he said they are at LEAST 2 MONTHS old!!! They are so stupid. So what if you don't have space to section off a new cage. Put him or her in one of those pet cages instead of risking death!

[TipiDancer]

These are one of the reasons why I personally hate Pet Store's. They probably don't even care of the guinea pigs breed. The more animals they get to sell, the more of a profit they get. Now, for the people that get animals from shelters; Their money is going towards helping animals have a healthy life.

[kathmom26]

The vet who neutered my male told me the same thing. In a few weeks I could proof her wrong. Either that or she has very wiggly intestines.

Kathy

[Fluffball]

I remember I asked a pet shop employee ''what age to guinea pig breed at'' she said 12 weeks I said ''no its 3 weeks for males 4 weeks for females''. Her response was ''thats impossible they are only babies''. Just because they are young doesnt mean they cant! They should do their research.

[littlebear]

Pet stores like that sicken me. All those stupid emplyees do is sit there make sure the right change is given, get there paycheck and leave. They could care less if a $5,000 dollar pure breed dog dies. They are sick people. (well most of the time)

[Matt & Guins]

Originally Posted by Squeals4Meals

I picked 'him' up and discovered it he is a she! I immediatly showed her and told her about female 'pimples'.

What exactly are female "pimples"? I have never heard of anything being described in such a way.



Matt

[Matt & Guins]

Originally Posted by Matt & Guins

What exactly are female "pimples"? I have never heard of anything being described in such a way.

Sorry to drag up this thread again (though it is not very old) but I have been waiting to get a reply to this question, as it really has me stumped. Any takers?


Matt

[Sabriel]

When you look at a little girl piggie there is the triangle that her girly parts make and there is a dimple or indent in the middle.

With a boy it looks more like an i.

I guess it's similar to the i and y rule.

[fairysari]

I sort of assumed the original poster was talking about nipples. Which obviously isn't a good way to sex pigs anyway, since boars have nipples too.

[Quiet Things]

Some people are so... Grrr! You would thnk that pet shop employees should have undergone some basic training before they are allowed to work with animals but no! They can just be hired, as long as like one person in the whole store knows a little bit then they think thats ok. Its infuriating, they have no idea what they are doing, they give the wrong advice and they dont care about the animals in the way the animals should be cared about!

[fashion victim]

Originally Posted by Quiet Things

Some people are so... Grrr! You would thnk that pet shop employees should have undergone some basic training before they are allowed to work with animals but no! They can just be hired, as long as like one person in the whole store knows a little bit then they think thats ok. Its infuriating, they have no idea what they are doing, they give the wrong advice and they dont care about the animals in the way the animals should be cared about!

I so totally agree! I went to a pet shop and said I wanted to buy a bunny, and that I wanted a female one because I had a female back home and didn't want them to mate (this whole wanting to buy a bunny thing was a fake scenario to test what everyone here says about missexing in petshops). So the girl in charge of the "rodents" grabs the prettiest one and looks a bit at her underside and said it was a girl. I was like... "are you sure???" And she's like, "yeah, I DO work at a pet shop, you know!" So I go around to another employee at the other side of the store (the pet shop is HUGE) and ask him to check the bunny, "because I want to make sure it's a male" and he touches him a bit and says that the bunny is indeed a male. What?!? Were those people playing me? I talked to the manager and she said it was a female, but I told her I didn't want to risk it and that I'd rather go to a more reliable place a few blocks away where the owner is a retired vet. Then I went the other day to check up on the GP conditions, and there were GPs of all ages and colors all mixed together in one 3x2 cage! But there were a LOT of them, like more than 10, and a few were, by their size, not babies or youngsters at all. So I went and asked the manager if they were fixed, and she said no they were not. I asked if they were all males or all females, and she said that they were both sexes! Well, I politely ranted a bit, and told them to change the LM animal farms bonanza food they were using, and to give them hay daily and to separate them by sex. I didn't mention the veggies because it's obvious they wouldn't go through that expense for animals they were going to sell by the next week. Also she had mentioned she had a rabbit, and that she kept it in a small bird cage because rabbits grow according to the size of their habitat. Is that true?!? I told her to litter train and let it run around the house and told her some vegetables to give him daily and told her to change the alfalfa (the bunny was 2 years old) to another type of hay and pointed out the timothy they were selling right next to the rabbits. Then she asked if I wanted to work there because I seemed to know a lot about the little animals. *rolls eyes* I really don't know if I should accept, because if I do it would mean the animals got better are and they would at least be properly sexed and separated and given extra care (I'd pay for the hay and veggies myself because I don't need a paycheck, since my parents pay for all my stuff).But that would be supporting the pet shop, and that's bad, right? I haven't gone back, but to be honest I don't think they're going to change the animal conditions because it would cost them more for the upkeep. It's very sad that they are so selfish and care so little about the animals they are selling.

[Quiet Things]

Thats a difficult situation, do you work there and hopefully improve these littles guys lives but at the same time support pet stores or do you turn down a job where you could do some real good! I would say go for it, because ultimately you would be doing a service to the animals, you would be improving their lives and you would be able to give people good advice plus at the same time encourage them to go to a shelter. I work in retail and if someone wants something I know we dont have or our stock is not as good as somewhere else then I encourage them to go elsewhere. Goodluck with your decision!

[fashion victim]

There's another thing, though - if the pet shop starts to offer healthier animals with no unwanted pregnant females and properly sexed and lively and cute (thanks to me) then more people will want to buy them, so I'd be promoting breeders that way, too. Because even though they have an in-store groomer the long haired GPs had matted and dirty hair. I know some people who were looking at the GPs were commenting on how ugly and dirty they looked, and someone I know said they wouldn't buy any animals from there because they gave her a male and female hamster and then she had a bunch of babies that she in turn gave to a friend of hers to feed a snake. It's such a dilema! So if I went there and caused all these changes in living conditions for those animals, then they'd be well fed and good looking and healthy and so more people would want to buy them!

[Ly&Pigs]

if the pet shop starts to offer healthier animals with no unwanted pregnant females and properly sexed and lively and cute (thanks to me) then more people will want to buy them,

It doesn't matter what conditions they keep the animals in, the problem is that they sell them. They buy the pigs, bunnies, rats, hamsters, mice, etc. from mills where they aren't always kept in good conditions. Any time anyone buys an animal from a petstore they are supporting breeding, sticking money into the hands of people who view the animals as nothing more than stock and take away space in shelters/rescues. Also it means more shelter animals have to die.

I immediatly showed her and told her about female 'pimples'.

You cannot properly sex a sow this way. It's no better method than trying to sex them by a Y and I shape. The proper way to sex a male is to get the penis to extrude and that can be successfully accomplished at 1 week of age. I have seen boars with the Y shape and sows with an I shape. That is not a good indication of sex.

[Matt & Guins]

Originally Posted by Sabriel

When you look at a little girl piggie there is the triangle that her girly parts make and there is a dimple or indent in the middle.

With a boy it looks more like an i.

I guess it's similar to the i and y rule.

Thank you for clearing that up. I cant say I have ever heard of it as a "dimple" - and if the area is spread open, then if anything it protrudes rather than being an indent.

Matt

[Sabriel]

I never said it was a good way to sex a piggie. Just explaining the term as well as I knew it.