How Did You Know?

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loveanimals

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Sorry i know i'm asking a lot of questions.

How did you know guinea pigs were right for you, and that you could look after them well?

Did you have experience of other small animals, or go somewhere to spend time with guinea pigs in a rescue or something?
 
I have grown up with a succession of first family and then our own piggies, and have then come back to them as an adult again once the conditions were right, so it has always been a no-brainer for me and my sister! .
 
I came to piggies as an adult. I'd had cats, dogs, bunnies, birds but never, hamsters and gerbils but never piggies. Then, I came across various adults who kept piggies and I fell in love with their chatty behaviour. I wanted small animals that I could keep indoors and who would be ok while I was out at work. So piggies fitted the bill. I found out what I could from friends, other keepers and then took the plunge. I've never looked back.
 
Had them as a kid, daughter had one and given a guinea pig cage that I was gonna adapt for a hamster but came across some girls that needed a home
 
I also had some when I was a kid, and one day I just kinda woke up and realised how I missed the beautiful noises they make. I wanted to make 100% sure that I could give them the best life and care so I researched it til I could repeat it in my sleep! Got all the supplies and made sure I was prepared, so I looked to adopt. Now I'm planning on expanding my herd at some point this year, so I think I'm addicted!
 
My best friend had them when we were growing up and I remember they kept us entertained for hours :)
 
I've had a lifetime of small animals- starting with mice in childhood. Before our first pair of guinea pigs, I had hedgehogs for 12 years (three different ones over that course of time.) Our final hedgehog, Thistle, had been neglected as a baby and was a far from ideal pet. She really never got comfortable being handled and was a 'look but don't touch' pet. I had my three kids during the 6 years that we had Thistle, and they obviously wanted to interact with her, but she obviously wanted nothing to do with them! Once Thistle died, my husband really did not want another hedgehog and I thought it would be better to have something that the kids could interact with. I've had a lot of rodents of the years (including a guinea pig back in childhood) and my two favorite rodents are guinea pigs and rats. Ultimately I decided to get guinea pigs as they have a longer average lifespan and that was appealing to me, as I think I'm getting to the point of bereavement overload, because when you consider that I'm in my thirties and have owned small pets since I was about nine and have loved them all, I've lost a LOT of pets over the course of twenty years or so, so potential longevity is a selling point for me! I ended up really loving the pigs and have had female pairs of varying pigs for seven or so years now, with plenty more in the future as our youngest piggie is only one and hopefully has a lot more years ahead of her!
 
I've been with piggies since I was 2 years old so I've never known different than having piggies around the place.! I' never grew out of them as I got older like a lot of my friends and my sister and just as I left uni and found myself with disposable income my piggy family quite literally exploded... 23 years later and I'm well on the way to becoming the crazy guinea pig lady, if I'm not there already!
 
I had cats as pets as a child.I was very busy with my career for along time.i suffered with depression.my friend kept guinea pigs.I loved the way they communicated,seemed gentle animals!so i had two guinea pigs and got hooked three years ago.Now have 14 cavies.I have done research and still do,its a passion.!
 
I need a pet that suited my life style, I work a lot so wanted an animal that could keep each other company. I've had many small pets but Guinea pigs are by far the best. They have such sweet nature's.
 
:D I have had all sorts of pets in the past, from hamsters to horses! I had a guinea pig when I was a teenager, although I was more of a rabbit person at that time. But, as an adult, after owning a territorial biter of a rabbit, I decided that I preferred piggies. I should have stuck with them all along!
 
When I was younger we had a family cat, and I always hoped to convince my husband to get something furry but it never happened.

Fast forward many many years and we have 2 daughters (10 and 11) who have been pestering us for at least 2 years for a pet. We finally agreed to getting them goldfish, went to Pets At Home to enquire about them and got sidetracked by the guinea pigs :whistle:

The lady told us all about them and all about their care and we were kind of sold. We went away and I researched for a good month, during that time I thankfully found out about c&c cages (at PAH even my husband who isn't particularly an animal person said 'are you sure that cage is big enough for 2 guinea pigs?'), and rescue centres so we ended up getting our 2 boys for a local rescue.

I'd never held a guinea pig before and will say I was probably as scared of them as they were of me at first but we're all a lot more confident with each other now. When I say scared, I don't mean like phobic, but I was scared to handle them in case I got it wrong.

They're so lovely, I may be guilty of being a little obsessed!
 
I basically went in blind and did so much research that now I feel comfortable and confident. I modified what I was doing wrong if anything fixed it to make it better.
 
ghostbusterbunny said:
I've been with piggies since I was 2 years old so I've never known different than having piggies around the place.! I' never grew out of them as I got older like a lot of my friends and my sister and just as I left uni and found myself with disposable income my piggy family quite literally exploded... 23 years later and I'm well on the way to becoming the crazy guinea pig lady, if I'm not there already!
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My goodness! How many piggies do you have? I love their names...
 
I've always had cats around since my childhood and a couple of hamsters. Once I left home and had my own income, I went onto rats (love them but they are smelly and don't live long enough!). I then fell in love with ferrets and kept them for around 13 years - my last little old lady passed away 2 years ago. We currently have 2 cats and a dog but I do love a rodent. Have never wanted rabbits but my close friend has rescued a variety of piggies over the years. I persuaded my hubby that we were lacking in small pets in the house and much to my daughters' delight, we found a fantastic rescue and brought home Primrose and Jambo. We all totally fell in love with them and I decided to take on a Gumtree piggy. Margaret was pregnant (thanks for that) and we now have her 2 daughters, Flora and Tiger Lily - love them all! :luv:
 
Well I had a bunny when I was little, but I always have got on very well with most animals, so that would extend to guinea pigs. I love how animals like to cuddle and play.
 
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