Im soooo sorry!

[LuvMyPiggers]

I mentioned earlier that I bought my guinea pig from Petco. Well thank god my next is going to be rescued anyway. I asked a new employee today and instead of the reply "We get them from rescues" I got "We got them from mills and breeders". I huffed and cried and puffed out the store. Im really sorry to anyone in the Petco VS. Petsmart board. =( I get my paycheck this weekend so this will be my first official "Online shopping" trip. The other place I could go is the local Feed store which doesn't sell animals..... descisions... Ill update you later!

Sorry!
Best Wishes,
Moomoo

 

[Slap Maxwell]

I know. My first two pigs were from Petco as well. I can't believe I didn't know better.

 

[wuany]

I agree. I learned my lesson the hard way.

 

[LuvMyPiggers]

It's a funny thing. I got thinking: Why the hell am I on here making people feel bad when I'm the one who made the mistake?!? The good news is I might be getting a rescued pig soon :-D *Does a little dance*

 

[VoodooJoint]

Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to learn from them. You are learning and now you get to go out and try to make a differance.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I 100% agree with voodoo. We all make mistakes and we all have to learn from them. At least now you know the truth, that the store you work at gets them from mills and breeders. Maybe you can now also understand where a lot of us come from concerning the poor conditions of said pigs that come from mills and breeders. I am really glad your going to adopt!

 

[CavyMom]

I have a similar story. Got a piggie from Petco for my son (then 8), bought the biggest cage they had (which looked pretty big when T.J. was a baby) along with a care book. My husband and I had no illusions that our son was going to be the sole caretaker of course, but we thought it would help teach him responsibility (which it actually did- he's a great "daddy").
I had done much research on the pet subject, therefore thought we had made an informed decision. Boy, were we in for a rude awakening!
Luckily, my husband and I continued to do research (as the book didn't answer all my questions) and found this (and several other good ones) site!
Our (not so little) boy now has a 2x5 C&C cage - big enough for a buddy -which of course, we are planning to adopt (On the pretense that our daughter gets a pet).

 

[Cavykid14]

My first piggie was from a breeder who had to many and was going to give them to the humane society because they weren't "Perfect". My oreo has a little brown patch under his chin and a few single brown hairs on his back and on top of his head.

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

My first 2 pigs came from pet stores. In the first year of Charlie's life, he lived in a wooden hutch the size of a 1x2 C&C. Then, due to a lip infection from splinters from the wood, he moved into a plastic hutch the size of a 1x2 C&C. He lived like this with a number of different friends - Choccie was his first buddy who bullied him to the extreme after 3 months; Honey who was only in the household for a few hours because Charlie bit her ears and was bullying her; and finally Tuppence, who he still lives with today.
I found Cavy Cages in March 2005. At first after I joined up, I only browsed through the galleries dreaming of a C&C cage for my piggers, and then my mum found the cubes and coroplast within a week, so we built our first C&C (2 level enclosed). It kind of went on from there, and 6 months after joining Cavy Cages, I have 4 pigs (2 from a rescue) in a 4 level C&C cage, on a much healthier diet (plain pellets, only the best salads!) and more loved than ever. It's scary how much you get converted by joining up to this site!!

Edit: I just noticed this is an old thread...it's only when I saw VJs post that I realised (I thought it was odd that she managed to get on here to offer advice after the Hurricane)!

 

[CavySpirit]

That's okay. It's a good old thread.

 

[Cavykid14]

My pigger just gets some Fiesta food that has a source of Vitamen C and also timothy hay. Sometimes i'll go get romane lettuce but its a lot of work taking care of a pig (According to this site) because you always have to make sure there food and water is fresh, they get the right amount of the right foods, and some of it is overwhelming. My friend has had his adopted 3 week old piggie for 2 years (He's now 2 yrs, 3 weeks old ) and he hasn't fed it anything special, just what I feed mine. I wonder if its dangerous to Not feed them everything that is listed on this site and whatnot.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Kaytee Fiesta is one of the worst food availible. It is like feeding a kid a diet of doritos and twinkies.

Switch to Oxbow or KM pellets.

Lettuce is not NEAR enough. Read the nutrition page at www.guinealynx.com and start feeding at least on cup of fresh veggies per pig per day.

What kind of hay are you feeding? I hope it isn't Hartz or L/M. Switch to Oxbow or KM hay.

 

[mom to cujo]

I am sure the majority of us have made many, many mistakes regarding our babies. Buying them instead of rescueing, feeding the wrong food, not enough hay and not knowing the importance of hay and other foods and veggies in their diet. But the important thing is we all made our way to this site and most of us have turned our pigs' lives around and now they are happier and healthier! I started with an aquarium and cedar chips with my first piggie, 9 years ago. Now I have 4 out of 5 adopted, all in huge cages eating great hay, oxbow pellets and the largest assortment of veggies that there is no room in the refridgerator for people food!