Help!

[Penron]

I recently made a post about getting a guinea pig. I am very pleased with the feedback and figured out that an Abby is right for me. Now comes the hard part- adopting. I know I should adopt from a shelter (and want to), but there aren't any shelters around here. The nearest shelter is around 12 miles away and am accepting the fact that I need to adopt my first piggy at a pet store. This leads me to the main question- How can I tell if guinea pigs are pregnant or sick? I know that apparently a lot of pet stores have sick and/or pregnant piggies and I want to avoid that. I was wondering if I could get pointers on all of this and if you guys could suggest something, I don't know. But I do need help, so thanks for reading and feedback would be very appreciated!

[Crazy Cavies]

It's best to avoid pet stores altogether. They are cruel to their animals, and it's really hard to tell if a guinea pig is sick, unless they're really, really sick. As prey animals, they hide their illnesses really well. Have you checked on Pet adoption: Want a dog or cat? Adopt a pet on Petfinder? Or maybe on craigslist.org? These sites have lots of piggies up for adoption, just watch out for breeders on Craigslist.

[PigPandemonium]

Have you tried craigslist and such? In my opinion, it'd be better not to get a pig at all then to get one from a pet store. Reason being is because when buying from a pet store you are actually promoting all the horrible things they do, so it would be better just to not get a pig. Though I'm sure you can find a place to adopt, such as craigslist, ect. You may have to wait some time but it's worth it in the end knowing you saved a life and didn't sentence others to a cruel fate.

Though I know it's hard to wait, in the mean time, you can stick around to learn more and more about guinea pigs, and make sure you're ready for every thing. You can never be too prepared. I know when I first got guinea pigs, I thought I had known everything there was to know from this site, but later found out I was doing some things totally wrong (Such as feeding them mixed pellets) So I know if I could go back I would have waited a while before getting them so that I had more time to prepare and read up.

On a note about wanting to know how to tell if a guinea pigs is pregnant or sick, you also have to make sure they are the right gender, you don't want to get two "Girls" and it ends up being a girl, boy, and shortly tons of babies. This can be done by simply checking their gender. Though for the other two, it's hard to tell if a guinea pig is pregnant until she's quite far into it, and guinea pigs are masters at hiding illnesses until they are almost too far gone, so it's likely that even if the pig at the pet store looks fine, they could still be sick, or pregnant.

[Penron]

I forgot to mention that I live in Europe.. sorry. I guess that would've been helpful.. I should've mentioned that.

[mufasa]

12 miles doesn't really seem that far to travel to adopt. I traveled an hour each way to the humane society to get Borat. How will you get your piggy to a vet if you can't get to the shelter to do the adoption?

Anywhere there's a pet store, there are guinea pigs in need of adoption because people buy them on impulse and dump them. I don't know if you have classified ads similar to Craigslist where you live, but that's a great source.

As for pet store pigs, see that cute little piggy in my avatar? I bought him at a pet store, and he seemed happy, healthy, and chipper. He was dead of a URI within 15 days. That's why I'm totally against pet store purchases and a tireless adoption advocate. I got three more pigs after him, and every one was adopted, including two that involved long drives.

[Lp333]

Try finding guinea pigs that owners can not take care of anymore and want to give them away that is how i got my guinea pigs and if you are lucky they might be free they will also come with a whole bunch of supplies

[iamsnape]

I forgot to mention that I live in Europe.. sorry. I guess that would've been helpful.. I should've mentioned that.

There are plenty of adoption websites for Europeans. Are you from the UK? Try pets4homes.co.uk, rspca websites, local shelters, and even facebook. There are many facebook groups for specific areas that advertise animals needing new homes.

[iamsnape]

I recently made a post about getting a guinea pig. I am very pleased with the feedback and figured out that an Abby is right for me. Now comes the hard part- adopting. I know I should adopt from a shelter (and want to), but there aren't any shelters around here. The nearest shelter is around 12 miles away and am accepting the fact that I need to adopt my first piggy at a pet store. This leads me to the main question- How can I tell if guinea pigs are pregnant or sick? I know that apparently a lot of pet stores have sick and/or pregnant piggies and I want to avoid that. I was wondering if I could get pointers on all of this and if you guys could suggest something, I don't know. But I do need help, so thanks for reading and feedback would be very appreciated!

12 miles is really nothing at all. It's a very short distance by car. Please don't go to a pet shop if there's a shelter that close.

[Penron]

Would it be okay if I bought a guinea pig from a pet store and on my way home dropped in through the vet? Just curious.

[iamsnape]

Would it be okay if I bought a guinea pig from a pet store and on my way home dropped in through the vet? Just curious.

To get checked over? Yes, although you'd have to make sure it's a cavvy savvy vet, as guinea pigs are pretty good at hiding illnesses at an inexperienced vet may not be as helpful. Out of curiosity, if you really want to resort to a pet store, how much further away from you is the pet store from the shelter? :/ It takes a very short amount of time to drive 12 miles...

[ThePigAlchemist]

The problem with the pet store, along with the fact that you're likely to get a sick or missexed piggy, is that by buying you would be condoning horrific breeding conditions. I got a couple of pigs at a pet store just a year ago, and one died within a month, and his cagemate got very, very sick right afterward. One vet visit later, I learned that my surviving boy had coccidia (and I think that's what my other boy had died of) and I spent another month on pins and needles as I medicated my poor boy. He did recover, but my poor boy who died could not.

If the shelter 12 miles from you has pigs, then I don't think that's a bad ride either. It would be only 20-30 minutes, and I know some people have driven 4 hours or more to adopt. Even if you don't have access to a vehicle, could you ask for a ride?

[Penron]

As everyone kept suggesting the shelter, I looked into it more closely and realized something that made me sad as well- I was pretty surprised- the pet shelter 12 miles away only has dogs, cats, one parakeet and three ferrets. No guinea pigs.

[iamsnape]

As everyone kept suggesting the shelter, I looked into it more closely and realized something that made me sad as well- I was pretty surprised- the pet shelter 12 miles away only has dogs, cats, one parakeet and three ferrets. No guinea pigs.

Are there not any more around? Or you could look for people that have had unplanned litters and the babies need new homes? The reason most people on here are so against pet stores is not only because of the poor conditions in the stores/lack of knowledge of employees etc, but the horrible breeding process that goes on with the suppliers.

[Penron]

I'll check for families with guinea pig babies. As for the shelters, I've researched the whole top half of the country (you'd be surprised at how small my country is) and there are none with guinea pigs under the age of 7. There are bunnies, ferrets, rats and even a chinchilla- which is very surprising, seeing as though guinea pigs are much more common than chinchillas. But, yes, thank you for suggesting families with new litters, I hadn't even thought of that.

[PigPandemonium]

Again, I still think you shouldn't get a pig from a pet store, I'd just not get a pig at all If that's really your only choice. Not only are you likely to get a sick pig, but you are also profiting and promoting them to do more of the horrible things they do. It's not just the issue of them possibly being sick or pregnant.

[Penron]

Okay. Thank you everyone! After going over all of your suggestions carefully, I've decided to completely eliminate the idea of buying a guinea pig from a pet store. I'll find a family that's selling a litter of Abyssinian piggy babies from their household.

[kananaka]

I'll check for families with guinea pig babies. As for the shelters, I've researched the whole top half of the country (you'd be surprised at how small my country is) and there are none with guinea pigs under the age of 7. There are bunnies, ferrets, rats and even a chinchilla- which is very surprising, seeing as though guinea pigs are much more common than chinchillas. But, yes, thank you for suggesting families with new litters, I hadn't even thought of that.

Why not get one (or even better 2 ) over the age of 7? You could still have a few years of love with the pig(s). And giving the elderly animal(s) a much needed loving home.

[Penron]

I think that that is a logical, valid, respectable and noble point. However, as I mentioned, this is going to be my very first pet ever, and I'd like to adopt it as a baby and have it for a full piggy life. After I'm more experienced- maybe even right after my first guinea pig- I'll totally try that. It's a great idea and I hadn't even thought of it. But again, this is my first time, and before I start caring for the elders, I'd like to start off with kids.

[kananaka]

We got my daughter her first pigs which are 4 and 5 (almost 5 and 6) just this year. They are her 1st pets ever. We had less complications then some because they were/are already bonded, no puberty, and not overly active (chewing like crazy, etc..). Just because the pet is younger really wont make it better. Young pigs come with their own mess off issues just as old ones do.

[iamsnape]

I'm glad you've opted out of getting a pig from a pet store. Best of luck adopting one. An up side of adopting an older pair is that they will already be bonded. I know several people trying to rehome their adult guinea pigs because of the current economic climate, and it's worked out good for them because they're already tame and happy and have gone through puberty. You may also get some supplies thrown in too.