sad about pet shops here and what they say

[cavypaulita]

Hi..
Just needed to vent! today I went to try to find hay. It is very difficult to find Hay here where I live. I went to several places, and I can't believe what some people told me.

I went to one place where they had some guinea pigs outside.
When I asked if they had hay and they asked me how many piggies I had and I said two, they looked at me as if I were crazy. And the worst thing is that they told me that guinea pigs should eat *only* pellets, that veggies are bad for them!!! I said Oh Well, and just left. It is unbelievable that he can say that veggies are bad for guinea pigs and that they should eat pellets alone. I feel sad for the guinea pigs he had there, if they have this diet...and the people who'll buy there and receive this advice!! When he asked me what I fed them and I told him about the vegetables, he said that it was wrong of me.
I just left.

Then in another store, the guy there didn't know what hay was!! and then he told me that guinea pigs should only eat rabbit pellets.
This store also had guinea pigs outside for sale.

The bad thing is that they are confusing...I went with my boyfriend, and he does believe me, but these kind of things make him doubt about the right thing to do. Fortunately he hears me and believes me and I'm in charge of our piggies care, but it enrages me that these people can give that kind of advice just like that.

Just needed to vent here...
Thanks for listening
Pauli

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Pet stores care more about the selling of animals and supplies and most of the employees don't have a clue when it comes to proper care.

 

[sunflowergirl]

I was at one of our local petstores a few weeks ago with my mom and happend to see a Gunea Pig giving birth.She was in a small cage with a male.I assumed he was the father.I noticed that she had 4 babies.She was cleaning off the 4th but had totally pushed the 3rd off to the side and was kicking at it!It was very small compared to the other babies.I went and told the cashier.They were totally surprised and told us thanks and told the customers to stay out of that area....I asked if they were going to take the male out because the mom pig seemed very upset with him!They said no that they should be fine.We left and came back the next day to see them.The mom had bitten the male(father)badly and they had finally seperated them.The mother gp had wanted nothing to do with her 3rd baby and the cashier had taken it out and was feeding it.We asked if we could help and they were more than happy to SELL us the little pig.We should have walked away but I honestly had no clue!I had fostered kittens in the past and thought we could help the pup.It wasn't easy!My mom took him home and fed the pup every 2hrs.My mother has cancer and is in treatment so she was able to care for the pup 24/7.We contacted a local Gp rescue thru the internet and were given care instuctions and told the pup had a slim chance of making it and that the pestore shouldn't have sold us the pup.The pup thrived for 2 1/2weeks.It was very happy and doing well and one morning my mom awoke and the pup was dying.She called me frantic!Within minutes the pup was dead...We returned the heating pack the petstore had let us borrow and my mom fell for the little pups two brothers.They had taken the babies away from the mom and put them in with larger rabbits!My mom decided that she was going to get the boys.After they took the boys out their sister began to sqeal and ram into the wall.I felt awful leaving her all alone with the rabbits so stupidly I bought her.I have learned a lot from this situation!I will not buy from a petstore again and I will try to go thru rescue.I had gotten my first two pigs several years ago from my local humane society.I hadn't planned to get more!I was going to the pet store for dog toys....It makes me sad that people workink in petstores most the time either don't care about the animals or are clueless!I guess me being clueless I expected them to know and give me good info,my mom and I are building C&C cages for our pigs.I have to keep the little female seperate from my 1yr. old male though.I am glad I found this site.I have learned sooo much.I had no idea! The guinea pigs have been wonderful,my mom lives alone and has cancer they have been companions and friends to her I have promised to care for them when she has surgery.Sorry so long

 

[Funnygpigs]

That is sad! I can not believe some people. Cavypaulit, I would have asked for the manager and made a big stink about the info the sales person was giving out (in a professional manner). I would have gave them proper care info. I know that sometimes it is easier to just leave and ignore the problem, but if you really want to do something about it and make a difference, well, then sometimes you have to make a slight stink!!. lol

 

[Myspoiltpiggies]

I would definately go back and tell them what is right and wrong to feed>(

 

[sunflowergirl]

I have already gone back and had heated words with the manager.They could careless.I will not be going back.I regret getting the female.I felt so guilty hearing her squeal like that!I had wanted to get a male companion for my GP so I woulnd't have to neuter or put them in seperate cages or worry about accidental breeding...I am really angry at myself.