Another bad pet store experience..

Princess_Harriet

Princess_Harriet

Junior Guinea Pig
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I stopped shopping at Petsmart and Petco because of where they stock their animals from, and started shopping at a small family owned pet store not too far from me.
Today I walked in there and they had baby guinea pigs for sale (they get them from a local breeder)
I inquired about the gender and was told that “the males and females are mixed together, since we can’t tell their gender yet and because they don’t reach sexual maturity until they’re older”
Well, they just lost my business. Does no pet store actually know anything about the animals they sell? I prefer not to buy from pet stores that profit from selling animals anyway, but this one seemed ok.
I hate to think of all the young guinea pigs that are already pregnant because of the lack of knowledge of the workers :(
 
😕 well that sucks.

I was going to say this would be quick to Google this, but actually, if you Google "how young can guinea pigs breed" and "how young can guinea pigs get pregnant", Google pulls out answers from actual vets' websites saying 3-4 months!

So this nonsense is troublingly widespread, and it's actually hard to blame pet shops when vets are spreading this sort of misinformation.
 
Cheekypigs said:
😕 well that sucks.

I was going to say this would be quick to Google this, but actually, if you Google "how young can guinea pigs breed" and "how young can guinea pigs get pregnant", Google pulls out answers from actual vets' websites saying 3-4 months!

So this nonsense is troublingly widespread, and it's actually hard to blame pet shops when vets are spreading this sort of misinformation.
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Just to note that Wikipedia has the correct information (3-5 weeks for males, 4 weeks or less for females), so how on earth are vets spreading nonsense on this point?
 
Cheekypigs said:
Just to note that Wikipedia has the correct information (3-5 weeks for males, 4 weeks or less for females), so how on earth are vets spreading nonsense on this point?
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That's still incorrect. It's 21 days or 250g whichever comes sooner. It's not common but a big baby boar can impregnate earlier than 3 weeks
 
We have one of those pet stores near me too. They had all of the guinea pigs together (including one rabbit as it was in "time out", all the rabbits were in another cage all together, and all of the syrian hamsters were kept in another cage all together! I mentioned to the manager that they would have a ton of pregnancies with all of the animals, but they said it doesn't happen....but if it did, they would just keep the animal till it gave birth. I tried talking with them about other concerns I had about the animals and I just had to give up. It just wasn't worth trying to argue with idiots.
 
How on earth would they know? Baby guinea pigs don't always show their pregnancies. They're famous for just popping them out with no warning.

Happened to a friend of mine just recently, as a result of a classic pet shop mis-sexing. The pig must have been pregnant when they got her, and unfortunately, thinking she was a baby boy, they had housed her with an older boar, who grasped his opportunity after the tiny fuzzballs appeared (while the owners were out for all of two hours) and whoops! A second unexpected pregnancy, and now they're 4 guinea pigs up on where they expected to be.

Luckily they're very committed and have room to keep all of them, but this is a constant issue with guinea pigs, and pet shops not taking it seriously is totally irresponsible.
 
i believe it depends on the pet shop.some seem to have great depth of knowledge at some shops.I believe the main problems is selling small animals in pet shops is the downfall.With recommended rescues you usually get pets that are of a good standard,and lifetime information support.Some others sources can be of a good standard,but just there are too many unwanted pets.
 
The worst I ever saw was when I went to a pet shop where hamsters were kept together in a shoe box sized tank with nothing but bedding in it. These poor animals were fighting and climbing all over each other there must have been 10 in there. They were really aggressive with each other none of them would be able to eat or sleep like that and i dont see that many would have survived for very long. When I informed the lady behind the desk she dismissively informed me that they just play fight when they're little so I put back all the piggie supplies I was going to buy and I just left.
 
it really is sad when I walk into the local petco or petsmart here. they treat the guinea pigs okay, (although sometimes they'll keep one on their own because they seem to think that skinny pigs cant be kept with other breeds) but the hamsters are kept in teeny cages, with at least 2 in each one, and all they have is one tiny hidey, one saucer wheel, (not even a real wheel!) and one food bowl and one water bottle.
all the hamsters there are going crazy, climbing up the walls and desperately trying to get out. they also never correct new hamster owners and it broke my heart one time to see a large family buying a hamster in the teeniest cage i've ever seen. It was barely bigger than a carrier, without enough space for a proper wheel or anything else. I really try not to go there anymore but unfortunately in my area, its that or amazon and sometimes I dont have a choice if I need something right away... I sincerely hope that the family I saw realized how unhappy it was and got it proper supplies.
it feels so good to vent about this in a place where people understand! everyone i expressed my frustrations about this to completely brushed me off unfortunately... I dont have too many pet lovers in my family:(
 
aleeza said:
it really is sad when I walk into the local petco or petsmart here. they treat the guinea pigs okay, (although sometimes they'll keep one on their own because they seem to think that skinny pigs cant be kept with other breeds) but the hamsters are kept in teeny cages, with at least 2 in each one, and all they have is one tiny hidey, one saucer wheel, (not even a real wheel!) and one food bowl and one water bottle.
all the hamsters there are going crazy, climbing up the walls and desperately trying to get out. they also never correct new hamster owners and it broke my heart one time to see a large family buying a hamster in the teeniest cage i've ever seen. It was barely bigger than a carrier, without enough space for a proper wheel or anything else. I really try not to go there anymore but unfortunately in my area, its that or amazon and sometimes I dont have a choice if I need something right away... I sincerely hope that the family I saw realized how unhappy it was and got it proper supplies.
it feels so good to vent about this in a place where people understand! everyone i expressed my frustrations about this to completely brushed me off unfortunately... I dont have too many pet lovers in my family:(
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We all love our animals here and want the best for them, you are with like minded friends 😊
 
I had a heated discussion with a staff member in our local large pet shop last year over the advice they were giving people. I think I'm sort of banned! As I hardly ever buy anything there it's not a problem, everything they sell is cheaper online.
 
piggieminder said:
I had a heated discussion with a staff member in our local large pet shop last year over the advice they were giving people. I think I'm sort of banned! As I hardly ever buy anything there it's not a problem, everything they sell is cheaper online.
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I’ve had similar experiences, once I was escorted out because I informed a customer who was buying one piggy that guinea pigs can’t be kept alone and it’s better to look in a reputable rescue instead of a store anyway. (which was contrary to what the pet store employee said)
 
Harriet's Herd said:
I’ve had similar experiences, once I was escorted out because I informed a customer who was buying one piggy that guinea pigs can’t be kept alone and it’s better to look in a reputable rescue instead of a store anyway. (which was contrary to what the pet store employee said)
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Escorted out?! For suggesting something as simple as getting the pig a friend and looking into rescues! How rude can they be? They clearly felt you were threatening their bottom line. 🙄
 
Harriet's Herd said:
I stopped shopping at Petsmart and Petco because of where they stock their animals from, and started shopping at a small family owned pet store not too far from me.
Today I walked in there and they had baby guinea pigs for sale (they get them from a local breeder)
I inquired about the gender and was told that “the males and females are mixed together, since we can’t tell their gender yet and because they don’t reach sexual maturity until they’re older”
Well, they just lost my business. Does no pet store actually know anything about the animals they sell? I prefer not to buy from pet stores that profit from selling animals anyway, but this one seemed ok.
I hate to think of all the young guinea pigs that are already pregnant because of the lack of knowledge of the workers :(
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Sadly far too many places don't - and that includes especially backyard/commercial breeders. It can be very disheartening. Cheap small pets are the lure to gain repeat custom; but animal welfare and species knowledge sadly take far too often a back seat. Apart from mis-sexing, health is also all too often an issue. :(

I re-started my adult piggy career here in the UK with a pet shop pregnancy and have gone rescue ever since. Although they can be a minefield in themselves as well.

Here is a bit of a practical overview with an eye on the various pitfalls: Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs
 
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