Anyone here buy there Guinea Pig from a pet store?

[Gorklan]

Anyone here buy there Guinea Pig from a pet store?

On that Cavy Spirit stie it said don't buy them from pet stores but the ones at the pet stores by me look happy and are healty. And I was gonna buy one form there. It isnt like a PetSmart or PetCo its kinda like those Family pet shops that sell all kinds of pets.

 

[lchap87]

Yeh

Yeh i did buy my guinea pig from a pet store. He is happy and healthy. I dont think its so bad to buy them from a pet store but now that i know more i dont think id buy another one from a pet store. But thats my oppinion.


~Laura & Buster

 

[CavySpirit]

Re: Yeh

- Exactly how much experience do you have in recognizing guinea pig illnesses?

- Do you know how to properly sex a guinea pig? About 9 times out of 10 a pet store employee doesn't.

- If you do just a LITTLE searching on the internet (sites and forums), you will read STORY AFTER HEARTBREAKING STORY from people who thought they were buying a healthy, non-pregnant guinea pig from a pet store.

- The information and warnings on my web sites is not there for me, it's there for you. If you choose to ignore it and not make an effort to save a guinea pig's life by adopting, rather than contributing to the pet overpopulation problem, then that's your call.

 

[SuperCavyLover]

Re: Yeh

Teresa pointed out some good tips. And even though I don't totally disagree with buying from a pet store, I believe if you are, then you need to talk with someone who seems knowledgeable about them.

 

[Falcon The Lancer]

Re: Yeh

i got mine at one of those mom and dad family petstores and he had lice, so i had to treat him for that but for the rest he was fine

 

[cali2481]

well....

both friskit and missy are from a family owned pet store, their pigs were handled everyday by the store owners only they are kept behind a glass in a seperat room so they do not get sick, the pigs got hay every day , and had unlimited pellets of a good quality, we checked them over to make sure they were healthy, we have had zippo trouble w/ them and they are very healthy, we did go to the shelter first, but for those extremly close minded people that seem to think their is an over population problem everywhere I suggest you rethink your ideas cuz it aint true. ate our shelter it is EXTREMLY rare to get a small animal in and when they do show up they are the first to be adopted.

 

[CryptoBrian]

Re: Anyone here buy there Guinea Pig from a pet store?

[I posted the below before realizing that you had already bought your GPs from a store anyway, so this response (and your original post) is pointless realy .. but here it is nonetheless.]


I bought our first GP from PetSmart. I knew *nothing* about them. I truly did just about everything wrong, and really so did they, from selling us a tiny cage (perhaps 1.5 sq. feet) to getting the sex wrong (it turned out to be a female despite PetSmart policy of selling onle males) to telling us the GPs don't need to see the VET!

Luckily, the GP was healthy. We've had her about 3-4 months now and she is doing great. So health wasn't an issue for us, however, as I did more research (starting with CavyCages!) it became obvious that the pet store route wasn't a good choice. I learned *so* much from this site and others and I eventually built a two-level c&c cage for her, got her to the vet, on a good diet, etc. And importanly, I decided to get her a companion. This time, however, I looked into adoptions. I was suprised by how many rescue agencies are around and that even the local SPCA, humane society had GPs for adoption. There are so many GPs out there that need a good home that it just didn't make sense to support the pet stores and the breeders that contribute to the problem of unwanted GPs.

I would encourage you to find a way to adopt. Even if your local shelter doesn't have any GPs available TODAY be willing to wait a few weeks. You'll feel better for it and it will give you time to do your research, learn more about these fascinating animals, and build a good (big) habitat for them!

 

[fcarr]

pet store guinea pigs

Even if you buy a GP in perfect health from a pet store, it's going to encourage breeders to continue breeding. I know first hand the sad tales of abandoned and neglected guinea pigs that end up in shelters. Many have to be euthanized because the shelters can't handle the numbers. The SPCA in my State takes in 15,000 animals a year! (dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs an others). If your local shelters don't have a lot of guinea pigs, be patient and take the time to find other sources of adoption.

 

[SuperCavyLover]

Re: pet store guinea pigs

Everyone takes the same chance buying a sick or flea infested, etc. guinea pig from a breeder as they do from a pet store.

If you feel more comfortable buying your guinea pigs from shelters or breeders, go right ahead! But DON'T go into shock if they have something wrong with them.

 

[bebegrl7]

Re: Anyone here buy there Guinea Pig from a pet store?

<span style="colorurple;font-size:medium;">cosmic sans</span><strong>bold</strong>
i bought my piggy from a pet store and he is just fine! i got him when he was very young and have had him for about a month and hes great

 

[tggdan3b]

Re: Anyone here buy there Guinea Pig from a pet store?

I got 2 of my pigs from meijers, and I adopted 2 from my neighbors who got hers from meijers too, and all 4 of them all seem happy and healthy, and together they've given birth to 4 happy and healthy children.

We got another one from a pet store after that, and she seems happy as well.

 

[chrissyhodge]

sick gp

I bought my gp from a pet store and all he will do is sit in the corner and eat. But it seems like he hardly drinks. And when we put him on the floor in his ball all he will do is sit there and wont move. Anybody know anything about how i can help him?

 

[michaelince]

Re: sick gp

Chrissy, You don't say how long you've had your Piggie or what sort of environment he's living in.
If you haven't already done so it would be good to have your boy checked over by a vet in case he has any mediacal problems.
Guinea pigs are quite sociable animals and like the company of others of thier kind, failing that they also respond well to thier human slave's company. They are fairly nervous animals so may take some time to get used to you. They also like a good sized cage with plenty of room to run around, places to hide, stuff to play with and good food to eat.
They do not like balls - even though they are sold as suitable for Guinea Pigs they are very bad idea - Guinea Pigs backs don't flex the same way as hamsters and they could hurt their feet.
Look at some of the excellent web sites on GPs, I'm sure you'll get some ideas on why your piggie seems sickly. e.g. www.cavyspirit.com/ , guineapigcages.com/ or guinealynx.info

Mince

 

[lchap87]

SRY

i guess i should have said Buster seems healthy to me. The vet checked him out and said he was healthy. Sry again.

~Laura & Buster

 

[janiexo]

NO! NO!

never put a piggy in a ball, they are not suitible!<img src=(broken link removed) ALT="">

 

[HugEmLots]

adopting

I agree about rescue pigs not being as readily available in some areas, but I bet if you were patient you might find one. Try asking at vet offices, leaving your name there, or leaving your name at all the shelters you can find in your area. Ask everyone you know to keep an eye out for you, you may end up w/ more than you bargained for!
I was checking around for a rescue boar companion for my male~ closest I came was the adoption coordinator at the shelter wanting to gift me her own personal pig (after I showed her pics of our cool CC cage). By the way, I bought two pigs from a mom and pop store, both were pregnant and I just treated them for mites. Fortunately they both had healthy deliveries and pups.
Since I stopped looking for another boar (will neuter instead) I have had many offers of pigs.

 

[pregasaurus]

Re: adopting

Both of my babies are from Pet Stores. Fred had lice when I got him, and Chip was fine. But this summer I am thinking about getting another one. It will not be from a pet store this time for sure. I have read too many horror stories. My ex for example bought his girlfriend a chinchilla at the same place I got Chip. Everything was fine for the first 3 weeks, then they noticed that she was not eating. And her mouth was bleeding. So they took her to the vet and she had some kind of mouth disease. And died shortly after. The pet store apologized and said they would give them a new one and that was 6 months ago and they keep avoiding their calls, and complaints. This is not an isolated incident either, I hear about such things all the time. FYI - This too is a family owned pet store. Put it this way... A staff of maybe 6 ppl can only care for so many different kinds of animals. And... the staff are usually only high school kids that care little about the animals, they just want a pay check.

 

[cavylover16]

Re: Anyone here buy there Guinea Pig from a pet store?

which store did you get him from??? i got my oz from petco, at a young age too. at petco.

 

[tinahagar]

Re: Anyone here buy there Guinea Pig from a pet store?

i got my two piggies from a pet shop. they were perfectly healthy and happy. they keep their pets in good conditions. although they have had a few poorly animals, but that can happen to anyone. i'm not against pet shops but i'm careful when i buy.
i just got a male piggie from a breeder in my area who takes her piggies to shows and he's quieter and seems more afraid than the other two from the petshop were when i got them. i suppose no matter where you get them from you don't really know how they've been treated. big clean cages and shiny coats don't mean they're not neglected does it.
tina x

 

[Creative622]

Re: Anyone here buy there Guinea Pig from a pet store?

I got Pudge from a petshop as well. She looked healthy but when I got her home I found out she had an upper respiratory infection. Plus all of the g.pigs at the store were kept in tiny glass aquariums that were too small for even 5 fish to fit into. There were about 4 or 5 pigs to a cage thing. They had this hard gray pelleted bedding, hamster food (mixed seeds and things) no hay, and dish of water that had poop floating in it. They had nothing to hide in because it wouldn't fit. Plus some of the other pigs were scratching and had ragged looking ears. The other day I was in there and I loudly pointed out everything that they were doing wrong for the pigs (the manager was in earshot) to my mother. Then a few days later I was back in there and they had moved them into larger cages (not big enough but better) they had carefresh bedding for them, water bottles, tubes to hide in, pelleted food, and timothy hay. Although they got the pigs in better conditions I would still not buy another guinea pig from there. I know better now.