Joy Guinea Pigs, nice, cheap pets...

[sstressed]

Hi.

I have yet to get my pigs but I'm about $500 in. :lol:
I went into this thinking it should be a pretty cheap hobby. duh.

I have read and watched many videos and I'm as ready as I can be.

I got a 10.5 sq ft cage from guinea pig cages, some accessories, hay (10 lbs each, both 2nd and 3rd cut) , Vit C tabs and drops, a new table to put them on, bins for storage, toys, tunnels bedding and a few other things... i think i'm ready. I need to buy the pellets, veggies and whatever catches my eye at the pet store or online. i didn't spend this much on my last girlfriend.


Now all I have to do is find a pair of females. I'd like to adopt but i've never owned piggies before and I think I'd like some younger ones. I've had dogs, cats, fish, birds.

There is one adoption place in the Phoenix area. they have 6 males or females available, all older... I don't know, i'm flipping a coin as to what to do. Filling out their 50 question (?) adoption form made me less interested. I realize their concern but I want to purchase a couple small pets, not a house.

I fell in love with the round faced pigs but the one mom and pop store I called only had a few of the more pointy noses (mousey). The other mom and pop only have one 4 month old female and 2 males. I don't want to get a pair that i won't love the look of. I guess that's shallow but that's the way it is. I'm thinking of petsmart as they have a few. Supposedly some with short coats, and some with longer coats.

I'm thinking that after I get them home and settled a bit, I'll take them to the vet for a checkup. I assume it would be too much stress to take them straight to the vets from the store.

I checked out some local ads from people but they are either too far away or I'm not interested.

Sorry to ramble but It's a relaxing Sunday morn.

I'm looking forward to this new adventure. I'm retired and mostly putter about the house so they'll have me around a lot.

I'll have to cut back on my dinner's out if this keeps up.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Well, the first thing I can definitely tell you is that guinea pigs are NOT cheap pets. In the last year alone, just on vet bills I have spent over $1000 and that's spread out over a year. Another member here spent over $1000 in ONE VISIT just this past week, and that was on one pig.

Please be prepared for this, and accept it as gospel if you plan to get a pair of pigs. And please, adopt. Don't go the pet store route. They are raised in horrible, cramped conditions, similar to a puppy mill. They are often sold missexed, have genetic defects due to inbreeding, or are pregnant already. By purchasing from a pet store, you are helping to perpetuate that vicious cycle. The kindest thing you can do is to adopt pigs that are in desperate need of a home.

That said, pigs are amazing animals who always have a personality all of their own. As far as I am concerned, and most of the members here are as well, they are worth every nickel and ounce of effort put in and more.

Do keep us updated on how you make out. Other members here in your area can certainly help you find shelters to adopt from, as well as cavy savvy vets.

 

[CavyTV]

If you'd really like baby pigs, wait until the shelter has them. You can also check Craigslist, tons of guinea pigs on there, guineapigfinder.com and petfinder.com. If you're lucky, someone may even be able to give their pigs to you for free. Some people only say they want money because they don't want to attract people who are looking for free snake food... as long as you prove that you have everything ready to go for the pigs and you know what you're doing... they may give the pigs for free or at least lower their asking price. Just make sure to ask LOTS of questions. Ask for pictures of the pigs if they're not in the ad; ask for pictures of their cage, ask about how they've been cared for, etc.

There's no reason you can't wait if that's what needs to be done. Just be patient and the time will come. I can guarantee you will receive much healthier, happier piggies if you adopt them rather than skip off to the pet store to buy them. Pet stores... they either don't notice that the pigs are sick or they don't care. Shelters care tremendously and they won't let you go home with a sick pig. I think you could save a lot of money by adopting rather than buying from a pet store... you may end up with sick pet store piggies and then what will you do? You'll have to take them to the vet right off the bat.

The reason for their long adoption forms is because they wanna make sure the animals are going to a good home. Pet stores don't give a sh*t where they end up.

Best of luck

 

[Shieme]

There was some things you could have saved money on, vitamin drops, don't use them. Having toys (too many) then to find out your piggie won't use em. You could have waited on those and bought them the next day after getting the babies. You can return them to pet stores when they don't play with them. What kind of tunnels, not plastic I hope. I'm not fond of skinny pigs but I bet if I saw one, my heart would break. I love the YouTube on Calvin. I never heard of a pointy nose. I think rats and mice have those but to me piggies have flat ones. The more fuzzy piggies faces look a little more round in the face. Guinea pigs are fun but costly. They are so worth it. I will sit for an hour just watching my Shiemi and Zoe. It relaxes me.

petsmart only sells males now. But that's just FYI. Please adopt. I adopted my Zoe and she is so friendly. Both my piggies are but Shiemi was from a breeder but I found out she stop breeding them because of the cost. Guess she had an issue. I'm thinking of finding a way to start an adoption place here for small furry animals. I'm from a small town but hour away are bigger towns.

peace, love and potato chips (don't feed piggies potatoes, LOL)

 

[sstressed]

Thank you all. I appreciate the input and advice. I just started looking at craig's list from the above advice. There are about 10 different folks wanting to re-home. I'm definitely leaning towards this. The average age of these pigs are 1 year.

Do you folks think that a Mom and Pop Pet store would have pigs that didn't come from those nasty small animal farms i read about? I would think it would be in their best interests to have pets that are in good condition. It's the stuff i buy after the purchase of pigs where they will make some profit.

Most of these folks have their pigs in smallish cages. i figure if they are friendly, they will love their new home.

i read about the vit C drops not being good after i ordered them. i ordered some tablets for them to chew on. i always go all in and a little over board when i do a new hobby. Any toys i don't use will go into the very large box of unused stuff that may be useful in the future.

I have checkout out various setups. i'll keep it simple and classy at first. I know they love color so I'm thinking of putting up a bright print fabric on the back wall. I'm not keen on using that material so many people use so i'm hoping the stuff I got (it was recommended) and some hay here and there will be good.

I got the hay yesterday. Love the smell. It takes me back to simpler times.

The tunnel i got is a Living World product. it's maybe 2.5 feet long, a few straps to, i guess tie it down to something. it's made out of a light fabric with covered wire holding the shape. Is this OK? if not, It goes in the box.

edit - and the local rescue doesn't have a long questionaire. I rechecked it and it's pretty reasonable actually. I was thinking of another place. duh.

 

[Shieme]

30 years ago I worked at a mom and pop pet store. They did their own breeding and they breed their animals with moms and sons or daughter to father. So no, I wouldn't get from there either. Best pet store might have fish and lots of pet supplies. Maybe training classes and adoption fairs. Maybe, also, host vet clinics. So no, I believe if they re not breeding the nimals, they are buying them from a warehouse as well. Both still bad.

fabic tunnels, from what I seen, are fine. Just use them mostly for floor time so they don't get smelly from poops and urination (misspelled).

 

[CavyTV]

The only time it would be okay to buy guinea pigs or any other animal from a pet store is if there is an adoption event going on, meaning a shelter or rescue has their animals in the pet store and are looking for people who can adopt.

Ditto Shieme, it wouldn't be any better even if the pigs were bred by the owners of the store. There are countless homeless guinea pigs and there really is no point of breeding more. I think you'd be doing a great thing if you adopted those pigs from Craigslist that you're interested in.