Craigslist Guinea Pigs

[BadRobot389]

I found a listing for two female guinea pigs one craigslist and I'm seriously considering it cause it's only a $25 re-homing fee but I was wondering is getting guinea pigs from craigslist OK? I mean is it reliable? That and what's the difference between craigslist and the PetStore or a shelter? I'm just curious and I wanna make sure that if I do get guinea pigs from craigslist I'm making the right choice

 

[cfoster1966]

Make sure they aren't a breeder but, other than that, I don't think there is an issue with craigslist piggies. Just a hint. Unless you are in a hurry or pigs are rare, write to them and tell them you don't need any accessories and will take the piggie off their hands if they let it go for free. I got 4 of my pigs this way plus some rescues. It might take them a week or so before they reply but if they get desperate, you will hear from them again. Good luck!

 

[mufasa]

I got my guinea pig Amy on Craigslist and would definitely use it again. You have to be careful to make sure the pigs are not missexed or weren't with males so you don't have to deal with potential pregnancy, but that can happen anywhere other than a cavy savvy rescue (I got a missexed pig at a shelter). You can usually tell the breeders from the people legitimately rehoming a pet. It's true adoption because you're getting a pig that needs a home and not enriching pet stores or breeding mills.

 

[Cavy Treenie]

Carmelle came from Craigslist. Sometimes if you are looking for a cheap "rehoming fee" then your local humane society might have some good options. The humane society near me usually has quite a few and their adoption fee is $10. Usually you should be able to go to where they keep the pig and see it. If you aren't 100% on the pig you find on Craigslist then check your local humane society or even better, a guinea pig rescue.

 

[mufasa]

Often the Craigslist rehoming fee includes a lot of extras because the owner isn't planning to have any more pigs. I adopted Borat at a shelter for $10 vs. $25 for Amy, but that included a cage (although I only used it for quarantine), water bottles, hay, a bunch of grids, pellets in a storage container, and other misc. items. I probably could have negotiated it, but my husband said, "We'll take her!" the moment he picked her up. He's a sucker for cute piggies.

 

[HelloKittyLover]

As mentioned above, just make sure they aren't breeders. I adopted Poncho off of Craigslist just 2 days ago. I actually almost felt like it was fate because just when I decided to adopt and gave up on Petfinder because everything was too far, I checked Craigslist and someone posted THAT day about a guinea pig. I thought it was a definite sign that I had to adopt him.

However mine did not require a fee. But I think it's because she was desperately trying to get rid of him, she even gave me all his supplies and cage.

But it was just fine. Everything went great. We picked him up at the house, kept constant communication with the previous owner. I read somewhere on here that it's ok, because Poncho was actually from PetSmart, but it's still different from buying from PetSmart because you're not currently supporting buying from PetSmart even though the previous owner already did. Something like that, I read that somewhere around here. c:

 

[Lucille]

I got my piggies from CL, the pigs were free and I got their cage & stuff for $50. The Mom in the family had just had surgery, and I think the family was overwhelmed. They wanted to do right by the piggies so decided to adopt them out.
I definitely think CL can be a way to really help piggies that need it. But you do have to be careful, there are breeders that sell pigs on CL. Just read the ad, ask questions, and see what you think when you go to look at the pigs. In my case, it was pretty clear that this was the right thing to do: the Mom was sitting on the floor when I got there because it was hard for her to move around, the family was very nice and was glad that the pigs were going to a good home.

 

[mufasa]

But it was just fine. Everything went great. We picked him up at the house, kept constant communication with the previous owner. I read somewhere on here that it's ok, because Poncho was actually from PetSmart, but it's still different from buying from PetSmart because you're not currently supporting buying from PetSmart even though the previous owner already did. Something like that, I read that somewhere around here. c:

Here's the way it works: when you buy a pig directly from a pet store, you support the business of breeding because the pet store makes money off the sale and then buys more pigs from the breeder to fill the empty slot. The breeding mill produces more pigs from the poor overbred sows to meet the demand.

When you adopt a pig from a shelter, rescue, or Craigslist, it does nothing to create more demand in the pet store/breeding mill cycle. On the contrary, because you got your pig elsewhere, the store doesn't sell a pig and therefore doesn't order more from the breeder, who then has less incentive to breed. You also open a space at the rescue or shelter or, in the case of Craigslist, get a pig that the owner might otherwise have taken to the shelter if he couldn't sell it via CL.

That's a simplified explanation, but hopefully it makes sense. Oh, and it's pretty easy to tell it's not a breeder on CL when they give you all the supplies with the pig and breathe a sigh of relief as you walk out the door.

 

[Paula]

A lot of times CL pigs are pigs that are destined for the shelter unless their owner can find someone else to take them, or in many cases the owners posting on CL are in such a desperate situation they don't care what kind of home their pigs go to, or if they go to snake/reptile owners (of course any reptile owner who actually cares about their pet wouldn't be looking for meals on CL, either) or other bad situations. Acquiring a pig from CL is always a good thing as long as it's a private rehome and not a BYB. One downside of CL and other similar classified sites is that you are usually in direct contact with the negligent and dimwitted owners, but it's almost always a very good thing for the pig(s) if you can stomach it.

Let us know what you decide and please post pics of your new additions when you get them!

 

[2198lindsey]

I almost got a couple of pigs off of Craigslist. It ultimately came down to paying 25 dollars for two girls off of Craigslist or paying 30 $ for two at a local and privately owned rescue. I went ahead and paid the extra 5, only because I had the option and thought that it would be a better use of my money. After all, the pigs on Craigslist ended up in the shelter anyways.
Long story short, the shelter was surrendered 15 pigs at once (my 2 included) and then didn't seperate the males from females, saying that they just "weren't in heat".
So, I ended up tending to 2 pregnant pigs, and 2 healthy litters, 5 babies total.
Anywhere you get a pig there will always be a risk for things to happen such as pregnancies, illnesses, and missexing.

 

[BadRobot389]

A lot of times CL pigs are pigs that are destined for the shelter unless their owner can find someone else to take them, or in many cases the owners posting on CL are in such a desperate situation they don't care what kind of home their pigs go to, or if they go to snake/reptile owners (of course any reptile owner who actually cares about their pet wouldn't be looking for meals on CL, either) or other bad situations. Acquiring a pig from CL is always a good thing as long as it's a private rehome and not a BYB. One downside of CL and other similar classified sites is that you are usually in direct contact with the negligent and dimwitted owners, but it's almost always a very good thing for the pig(s) if you can stomach it.

Let us know what you decide and please post pics of your new additions when you get them!

I think for now I'm going to wait until I can get all the supplies I need for the Guinea Pigs that way they'll have everything they need and be happy. And I'm gonna keep trying to see if any local shelters or human society has any that I can adopt.

 

[BadRobot389]

Thanks for all the replies it really helped me understand more about CL and what to expect from it. Like I said in my reply to Paula I'm just gonna wait until I can get all the supplies and I'm still holding out hope for getting one from a shelter or a humane society that's close by, but if I can't I now feel much better about getting two from CL :]

 

[KaileighRussell]

All three of my girls were Kijiji (Craigslist) type thing and were rehomes. Gatsby and Ophy were picked up from an owner who had bought them from a pet store and decided they were too much work. Callie was picked up from an owner who said he was going to drown her if nobody took her because he didn't like her. In future I'm going to be going to a rescue as my next ones will be a pair - and Craigslist owners have a habit of putting girls with boys.

It's hit and miss and honestly with Craigslist - and a ton of the rescues pick up bad cases from Craigslist.