I Saw The Most Horrible Living Conditions

[cavymartin]

Ok me and mum went to this guinea pig breeders house.
AND I WAS HORRIFIED
They were livng outside (I have nothing against that) but there wasnt any grass there was just a few weeds and some mud on the ground.
Then the lady showed me some of her young ones. Then I saw about 5 babies (all females thankfully) crammed together in a hutch about 4ft tall 2ft wide and 3.5ft in lenght. And they only had pellets and the bowl was nowhere near half full and there were NO VEGETABLES.
Is this acceptable.

And then the lady told me that she changed the mother's diet and it lacked Vitamin B and then the baies either had bald patcheds under their eyes or on their stomach. They weren't big but were noticable. My heart went out to a small black guinea pig and therefore I bought her off the lady and took home where I feed her fresh vegetables and dry food everyday I even give her the occasional saucer of oats and I have noticed an increaser in her weight and her fur is alot glossier.

[JarBax]

Hi - we spoke in chat last night. As I mentioned, this forum is totally against breeding - there are so many beautiful guinea pigs in rescues up and down the country, that there is never any need in the world to visit a breeder. As you saw, 'back-yard' breeders are not in the least interested in the welfare of their guinea pigs, their only interest is in money. They keep the pigs in the worst conditions, offering the very least in the way of nurturing - a handful of pellets, and filthy, cramped cages. This is not acceptable in the slightest!

I have learned through this forum that buying a poor piggy from a breeder or to a petshop (who buy their stock from such breeders) is not saving them - but infact just creating a space to be filled by another poor piggy - and then another, and so the cycle continues. Meanwhile, guinea pigs sit in rescues, waiting for a new home - which could have been offered by the very person who bought their guinea from a breeder or petshop, if only they'd known.

There is a wealth of information on here, advising on the best possible care of our guinea pigs. There are some amazing threads in the nutrition section, which will help you offer your new piggy the very best to regain her strength and health, now that you have her (this will also be invaluable for your other wee ones.) Oats are not recommended - or necessary.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet-nutrition/

If you have a good look around, you will find many posts related to breeding, and why rescue is so much better - for the pigs, for you and for all the poor pigs stuck in horrible breeding holes like the one you visited with your mum.

All the best.

[buttercup06]

Originally Posted by cavymartin

Ok me and mum went to this guinea pig breeders house.
AND I WAS HORRIFIED

And they only had pellets and the bowl was nowhere near half full and there were NO VEGETABLES.

Just because you didnt see any veg didnt mean there wasnt any there and just because the bowl was halful doesnt mean they were starved either, my lot can empty food dishes within the hour thats why I switched to the gravity feeders and food is a constant supply.

Was there hay anywhere around ?

And one other thing not all breeders are the same so dont tar everyone with the same brush.

Rescues are in dire need of help but unfortunately will never be the first port of call for some, plus some rescues are more dire than some so called back yard breeders.

At least you have your piggy and you can give him/her the best love and care and thats all that matters

[FoolOnTheHill]

Originally Posted by buttercup06

And one other thing not all breeders are the same so dont tar everyone with the same brush.

Maybe cavymartin didn't see the veggies and stuff, as you said, but I would still say that breeders can all be tarred with the same brush, because they're all still breeding! They're all breeding when, as JarBax said, they're are loads of pigs in rescues waiting for a home.
I can completely see that some breeders have records, healthy animals, clean cages - the works - and others just don't bear thinking about, but in the end they're all still contributing to a problem which can't be solved unless everyone stops breeding.

[cookie_gal]

I was going to say the same thing about the food thing. If you looked in my girls house now the dry food bowl is almost empty and there are no veggies, which is fine cos they are due for feeding soon.

Also you shouldn't have got the little piggy as you have just contributed to the supply and demand cycle. If she didn't manage to sell them she wouldn't breed any more.

[buttercup06]

Sadly whichever way you look at it people will still breed, people will still buy from Pet Stores, its personal choice but more should be publicised of how many are in Rescues as did the Rescue Hopperhaven who had an open day which was a complete success from what I have read and the feedback from them but money is always the issue.

Anyway this is not the issue here you take care of your piggy honey love and treasure him, Good Luck

[wolfie]

Cavymartin- your new baby sounds adorable and I am glad to hear that she is doing well. Hope we will get to see some pictures of her soon. I took a look at your cage in the gallery- it looks awesome, I bet your new baby loves it!

Jarbax gave you some wonderful information and a very important nutrition link. I really hope you will explore these, as I think you will find the info very helpful.

Maybe there were pellets, maybe there was hay, - I'm not sure it really matters. It is enough that whatever you saw at the breeders made you feel that conditions were horrific. And although I can understand your desire to buy and remove one of the babies from those conditions, I do hope you will consider rescue the next time. There are moral and practical reasons why rescue is a better choice.

Buttercup- While it is true that both breeders and rescues can exist in "dire" conditions there is one vital difference. A breeder chooses and creates their own conditions, and is working toward making a profit. A rescue on the other hand, is non profit, operates from donations and is trying to repair the conditions for the poor animals who have been abandoned. Hardly the same thing.

[buttercup06]

How can people make a profit from breeding Guinea Pigs is beyond me, I agree though its not the same thing and I wasnt saying it was.

And as I previously said this is not what was being discussed

CavyMartin
I dont know your background or why you chose a breeder and personally its none of my business. I adopted 7 out of the 9 of piggies and dont regret anyone of them they have a happy life they are well fed pampered and thoroughly spoilt and I am sure yours will be too.

[cookie_gal]

She/he chose a breeder because she/he does not disagree with breeding.

[kathrynj]

I just got to add, that the vitamin B deficiency the breeder talked about sound suspiciously like a fungal infection, which typically shows around the eyes, top of the nose, sometimes ears and often patches on the tummy and else where.

[sihschris]

prev poster, I was going to suggest a fungal infection. My Izzy had one when I bought him from the Local Pet Store. He had creams for that and an eye infection.

I don't think those conditions are acceptable, but that's my opinion.

[HowietheGreat]

To breed a guinea pig is self serving, and not in the best interest of the animal. Rarely are they taken to the vet, and rarely are they properly taken care of. Of course they are making a profit or they wouldn't do it. My Teddy came form a terrible breeder who was ready to turn him over for snake food because she couldn't sell him. No breeding of guinea pigs is good, so they are all the same in my eyes. Either their looking for their own glorification in the show ring or breeding irresponsibly for profit. Either way it is appalling. To compare them to the rescues that struggle to help them is ridiculous.