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Nymphae

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Hello everyone! I'm a new member here at Guinea Pig Cages Forum..
I'm from the Netherlands, living in a large town close to the sea.
I'll dive in strait away.. no, not in the sea, and confess that I used to be a Guinea Pig .. well, not hater, but I thought they were annoying.
I always used to have Rabbits, and I sort of, missed having one since the last one died.. rather tragically.. However, my parents, who I still live with, didn't want a new one. At some point my father offered a compromise. I could have a new pet.. but it had to be a Guinea Pig. I immediately agreed, thinking I could change his mind later. However, once I looked up information about Guinea Pigs, and watched a few really cute videos' on Youtube, I realised they were actually a lot more fun than Rabbits! :eek:hmy:
I kept on studying every piece of information I could find, and practically fell in love with them.. so here I am!

Now I take care of my own Guinea Pig, named Nymphae. (The name used to be a UserName of mine, but it fitted her perfectly, so yeah..) She's a 5, nearly 6 month old, tri-colour, short haired Cavy. Instead of the black, she has a chocolate brown colour. People who see her for the first time often tell me she's very pretty and she has a beautiful shiny coat. So I'm a proud Cavy-owner indeed! She'll be turning 1 on the 25th of April.. or so I calculated..

I bought her from a Petstore in the village I live in, where she lived with a slightly older Guinea Pig and 2 young dwarf Rabbits. The cage was about half the size of the minimum cage size for a single Guinea Pig, however she was fed well and given preventative medication for things like fleas, mites etc. Also her bedding looked clean, and she had plenty of hay available, so I guess the Petstore wasn't that bad.. At that time she was 10 weeks old.


I was just looking around, trying to find an appropriate cage at first. But then I noticed 2 tiny Rabbits and a young Guinea Pig in one of the cages, so of course I had to look :love:.. I mean, you understand right? Baby animals!
After some staring, we went to exit the Petstore and ran into a saleswoman, who asked what we're looking for. After hearing our story and us telling we saw 1 Guinea Pig we might like, she told us there were 2 instead of one. So we went back, the saleswoman moved aside some hay, and there lay the cutest bundle of Guinea Pig joy to ever walk the earth.. :tearsofjo Well.. you can probably guess where this goes next. She was adopted and we welcomed her in our home the same day!

At this point she's grown to be a healthy young Guinea Pig, she's got a great appetite and I give her as much variation in her food as possible to stimilate her. She still disliked being picked up, even though I'm gentle with her, but she loves to cuddle and spends a lot of time tucked into a fluffy bathrobe I wear, 'cause the weather is so freakishly cold here. She makes a lot of purring sounds when I pet her, and even though I find droppings in my bathrobe every time, it simply doesn't matter when you see she has curled up and fallen asleep in it.:heart:

She's a bit shy, but she's also very curious. At times she can be very brave .. She once took a jump from my sisters' shoulder to mine, because she prefers to sit with me! She wasn't in any real danger though, because we were sitting on a soft bed. She hates it though when you restrain her for nail-clipping or when you touch her belly. So I'm still working with her to get her to accept that. I can't have her bite the vet. And she doesn't just threathen, sometimes she bites me to the point of bleeding, when I've startled her. I hope I find a better way to handle her or that she'll grow out of it.. Anyway, I'm really happy with her, and even though she bites me sometimes, I know she's happy here with me too. :D
 
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AnimalHouse36

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Hello and welcome! Your guinea pig sounds adorable!

She would be much happier with an adopted friend! If you look on craigslist or something like that I'm sure ou'll find plenty! Petstores are a very bad place to buy from. THey add to over population and even if the store looked clean they probably buy from mass breeders where they were kept in HORRIBLE situations! Of course you probably didin't know that!

She might be biting because of mites. Ivermectin can cure it and if she doesn't have mites, no harm done!

We LOVE pigtures by the way!
 

Nymphae

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AnimalHouse36: I appreciate your concern, but this Petstore is known for keeping its' animals in good conditions. I only had concerns for the space she had back then. If you read closely, you'll find I mentioned she recieved medication to prevent her of sustaining fleas, mites etc. Beside this, I check her coat and skin regularly, and I haven't seen anything suspicious.
Also, I know you mean well and it's good you try to educate people. But please don't try to push me into adopting another Guinea Pig. At some point I may get another one, but not this soon after getting this one.
It's kinda funny though that you should mention Guinea Pigs from a Petstore were treated horribly in the past.. 'cause when you adopt one from a Rescue Organisation, you know they've been abused or neglected previously. I'm not saying it doesn't matter, because I know it does. I just thought the way you put it, was a bit awkward.
 

AnimalHouse36

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I don't wish to get in an argument but I tried to put what I said in the nicest way.

I did see that in you post but you don't know what they treated them with oor even if it is ok for guinea pigs. Mites aren't visible to the naked eye so flicking through her fur wont really help. :)

Here is one link to a mass breeder who "shiped their product" all over. (broken link removed)

Here's another to one that happened in california. https://cavyspirit.com/hollister.htm

If your store doesn't buy from mass breeder maybe they get them from a backyard breeder who wants some little babies.

When you adopt from shelters usualy they come from people who grew tired of them because they didin't really think about the long term of caring for guinea pigs.

You shelter may look nicey nice from the outside but I don't think you understod what I said. As nice as a petstore looks or how nice they treat them doesn't change where they bought them from.
 

Nymphae

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AnimalHouse36: Well, let me put it like this.. I have full faith in the Store I bought my Guinea Pig from. Also the store is a member from 'Dibevo', an organisation that accounts for good treatment and trade of the animals in question. So it's impossible the animals came from abusing/neglecting mass breeders.
 

dra&pigs

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Hi, and welcome to the site! See, I'm sure the store looks like a reputable place, but, there is no way of knowing exactly what each guinea pig was treated like from birth to being sold. In my opinion, a store that sells animals is not a good store at all. While their lives may have not been horrible before, has it occured to you that just anyone can walk in, drop a certain amount of money, and take this guinea pig home and treat it anyway they like??
Anyway, I'm not going to really argue, because I just want your guinea pig to have the best possible care. What cage is your little girl in right now? Have you seen this site's cages page? It offers the correct cage sizing for different amounts of guinea pigs. And like Animalhouse said, adopting another friend for your girl will make her tons happier!
 
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Janelle

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Hi and welcome! I triple the fact that adopting your pig a friend will make her much happier.

As far as pet stores go, I wouldn't put much stock in one that's keeping 2 guinea pigs in the same cage as 2 rabbits, and all in a cage less than 1/2 the minimum size for a single pig.
 

AnimalHouse36

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This is an Anti-Breeder/petstore and pro-rescue site.

If your store is so great why were they housing rabbits with guinea pigs when rabbits could kill the guinea pigs and they have two completlely different nutritionl needs. Of course I doubt they were feeding either of them the right things.
 

Nymphae

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.. Okay, that's it. I'm out of here.
You guys are obviously just a bunch of Green Peace idiots.
 

AnimalHouse36

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.. Okay, that's it. I'm out of here.
You guys are obviously just a bunch of Green Peace idiots.

Thats a shame. You really had a chance to better your pigs life. f I'm a green peace idiot at least I'm a happy one. lol
 

Nymphae

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Thats a shame. You really had a chance to better your pigs life. f I'm a green peace idiot at least I'm a happy one. lol

I told you and everyone here, that I don't want to adopt another guinea pig at this time. So quit nagging to me about it!
 

Janelle

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If you join a forum to make a better life for an animal, and then you're told how to make a better life for your animal, and then you say "But I don't want to," what's the point?
 

Nymphae

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If you join a forum to make a better life for an animal, and then you're told how to make a better life for your animal, and then you say "But I don't want to," what's the point?

Okay, that's it. I'm taking this up to the admins right now.
 

dra&pigs

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This forum is a pro-rescue, anti-breeding, anti-petstore forum. I don't know what you will take up with the admins, all of them will only second what AnimalHouse and Janelle and I have said. I will do everything I can to ensure your animals will get the best care possible, but if you come here asking for advice, and then we give it and you call us green peace idiots, then I really think your missing the point. If you truly wanted whats best for your piggies...you would listen.
 

sdieffen

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welcome nymphae!! I purchased mine from a pet store too... i know it wasn't the best way, but i didn't have any other open options at the time. The closest rescue to be is about 7 hours away!

The other posters are right though, about having a friend for your cavy. Most, by nature, are social creatures. I have heard of those that like to live alone. But if you don't want a second one, just make sure you give your little guy lots of love and attention and i'm sure he will be just fine!!
 

Nymphae

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I can't take on another guinea pig at the time. Now drop the subject!
And even if I could, I live in the Netherlands, I checked and there aren't many Guinea Pigs in the shelters. And even if there were some that would be compatible with mine, I don't have a car! So I couldn't get one even then.

Also, I'd like to point out that there's nothing here saying this is in fact an Anti-Breeder/petstore and pro-rescue site. It only says Guinea Pigs should have bigger cages, hence the name 'guineapigcages.com'.
And even if you were right. I think it's important to respect someones' wishes and opinions, even if their care for their Guinea Pigs isn't 'perfect' in your opinion. 'Cause the only thing you're doing now is patronizing and criticising me. Which in fact brings you further from your goal, as you're setting me up against what you believe in.

Also I believe you're misunderstanding me. I do want to give my Guinea Pig a better life, it just takes time as I'm not the one making the 'family-decisions' here. I'm already looking for things to make a bigger cage, the rest will undoubtedly come later.
Now can we all get along?
 

AnimalHouse36

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Also, I'd like to point out that there's nothing here saying this is in fact an Anti-Breeder/petstore and pro-rescue site. It only says Guinea Pigs should have bigger cages, hence the name 'guineapigcages.com'.

This forum is run by a guinea pig rescue and is a RESCUE-FRIENDLY board.

This is an anti-breeding forum

See. We are anti-breeding. Breeders sell to petstores therefor we are ant-petstore.

'Cause the only thing you're doing now is patronizing and criticising me. Which in fact brings you further from your goal, as you're setting me up against what you believe in.

Yet your the one calling us green idiots? Are you not?

Also I believe you're misunderstanding me. I do want to give my Guinea Pig a better life, it just takes time as I'm not the one making the 'family-decisions' here.

If you still live with your parents why don't you print out some testimonials and show them what a bigger cage would do. Print out some proper nutrition sheets from here and show them what should be fed.

I can't take on another guinea pig at the time. Now drop the subject!
And even if I could, I live in the Netherlands, I checked and there aren't many Guinea Pigs in the shelters. And even if there were some that would be compatible with mine, I don't have a car! So I couldn't get one even then.

You said there aren't many. That means there are some. You could always borrow a car. Compatable is eay. Get one dominet and one submissive. No one was pushing another guinea pig on you. We were only saying how getting another would change your guinea pgs life for the better. We are here to educate. You just have to be willing to learn. :eek:
 
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starshine123102

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Talk a walk on over to the Kitchen forum and you will see at the very top of the page what animalhouse said about this being a anti-breeder/petstore forum.
 

Nymphae

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I don't CARE you're an anti-breeder/petstore site. I am entitled to my own opinions. I just got my guinea pig a bigger cage, so stop assuming I'm not working on making her life better. If you had actually READ all I said, you would have seen that. Now I'm asking you all, especially AnimalHouse36, to stop posting here, 'cause this 'discussion' is over.
I can't adopt a Guinea Pig at this time, period.
 

starshine123102

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We aren't telling you that you have to get a second pig right this instant. What the members are trying to tell you is that having two pigs is better than just one since they are social creatures. They are merely suggesting that when you are able to get a second pig it would be in your current piggies best intrest.

And yes, you are entitle to your own opinions about pet stores and breeders, but the members on this site are adament about not using these places becasue of the way they treat their animals. We believe that the minute a store starts supplying animals they stop caring about the welfare of the animals and start caring about their bank account.

If you don't like the fact that we don't support these practices then just ignore that little piece of the forum and continue to look through things about bedding, toys, medical advice, diet and such.

There is no reason to get so defensive about this, we were not attacking you, just informing you of the best possible way to give your piggie the life he deserves. If you are unable to get a second pig at the moment just make sure you give plenty of love and attention to the one you have and that she gets ample floor time for exercise and exploration.
 
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