General Help with Siblings guinea pigs

[blueboyai]

Im not one to usually speak online, but I feel really bad about this. My sibling is very young (10-12) and they have had guinea pigs for over a year now. It started when I got my two guinea pigs, and then they bought three. At first they took great care of them (they lived in a 4x8) until they didnt have enough space, so they separated them. They all had their own cage (2x1) until i gave them one of my old cages (2x3) for two of their piggies. The other one still lived in a 2x1. They would ignore their guinea pigs for days, sometimes they wouldnt feed them until I reminded them. Recently its gotten worse, the cage hadnt been cleaned for almost a whole month (they use paper bedding). On friday, one of the guinea pigs named kai died from dehydration. This hurt me a lot because I had just visted two weeks ago, telling them how they were very underweight. I honestly cant help but to be upset at them. I would buy them everything they needed so they could take care of their pets. I wouldnt taken care of them but I cant because i dont live with them. I have told my dad about this and how their guinea pigs should be put up for adoption, and that they are definitely not living the best quality life. Sadly he cant do anything about it because he wasnt the one to buy them, it was my stepmom. Now my sibling is nagging their parents to buy them a new guinea pig. I was so upset after hearing this that I started baling my eyes out. I dont even know what I can do at this point, I would only have space for one of them because they are the opposite gender of my guinea pigs. Is there even anything I can do? i cant call an adoption center or else i would be painted as the bad guy. (i forgot to add that the wooden houses seemed to have mold growing on them)

 

[bpatters]

I'm sorry, both for you and the guinea pigs.

It sounds like your best bet is to talk to your dad again. He should be the one to negotiate with your stepmom about the situation.

They're teaching the kid that neglecting animals is OK, and I can't imagine that's something they want to convey. I also can't imagine living with the smell of all those uncleaned cages.

Is it lack of space, or lack of supplies that keeps you from offering to take them all? If it's supplies, this is an election year, and coroplast is everywhere -- it's what most political signs are made of. Grids aren't all that expensive, so you might be able to put together enough cages to house them.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

 

[4boipigs]

Do you all live in the same house? Anyone else know about the guinea pigs? Maybe drop an anonymous tip to animal control. That may sound scary, but ultimately the pigs need to be taken care of, which isn't happening.

 

[blueboyai]

I'm sorry, both for you and the guinea pigs.

It sounds like your best bet is to talk to your dad again. He should be the one to negotiate with your stepmom about the situation.

They're teaching the kid that neglecting animals is OK, and I can't imagine that's something they want to convey. I also can't imagine living with the smell of all those uncleaned cages.

Is it lack of space, or lack of supplies that keeps you from offering to take them all? If it's supplies, this is an election year, and coroplast is everywhere -- it's what most political signs are made of. Grids aren't all that expensive, so you might be able to put together enough cages to house them.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

Thank you honestly, the thing stopping me from taking the piggies in is my landlord, i have a restriction on how many pets i can have. Thankfully my guinea pigs are aloud because they are my emotion support, but otherwise i wouldnt be able to have them. i think i'll try talking to my dad again, because he genuinely seems to feel bad for the animals. fingers crossed they'll consider it.

 

[blueboyai]

Do you all live in the same house? Anyone else know about the guinea pigs? Maybe drop an anonymous tip to animal control. That may sound scary, but ultimately the pigs need to be taken care of, which isn't happening.

No, i live with my mom by ourselves. no one seems to care enough about these animals to take their time to research a thing or two. I think im going to talk to my dad again, he's the more open minded when it comes to animals. if it doesnt work I think i'll have to take your advice, i'd feel horrible if something happens again and i can't help prevent it

 

[bpatters]

You could also talk to your landlord. Since piggies are caged pets, they might make an exception on the limit.

 

[blueboyai]

You could also talk to your landlord. Since piggies are caged pets, they might make an exception on the limit.

yeah i was thinking about making a stacked cage, since it would take up any extra room.

 

[CavySpirit]

Another avenue is to help rehome them, now or later. My website www.GuineaPigFinder.com is designed to help people help themselves responsibly rehome guinea pigs. If your sister or your Dad would let them go to a better home, that is. If you take them, you might also consider this avenue, as adding more pigs may not seem like a big deal but it significantly increases your workload and funds needed to get new cages, more bedding, more supplies, more food, more potential vet bills, etc. You could consider yourself to be 'fostering' your sister's pigs until you find a new home for them.

And that might be more acceptable to your landlord as well.

 

[blueboyai]

Another avenue is to help rehome them, now or later. My website www.GuineaPigFinder.com is designed to help people help themselves responsibly rehome guinea pigs. If your sister or your Dad would let them go to a better home, that is. If you take them, you might also consider this avenue, as adding more pigs may not seem like a big deal but it significantly increases your workload and funds needed to get new cages, more bedding, more supplies, more food, more potential vet bills, etc. You could consider yourself to be 'fostering' your sister's pigs until you find a new home for them.

And that might be more acceptable to your landlord as well.

its not the work that would be difficult, as i am in summer break at the moment. Last year one of my owe guinea pigs had went to the vet, and the vet bill was over $500. I have looked into the website before and was thinking that could also be a possibility. Fostering them until they are in good health to be brought into their forever home would be a great idea. Thank you!