Little Ones
Forum Donator 2023/24
That is one cute piggy, but then if you’re looking at breeders that’s what you’re likely to see. Most piggies you see for sale by breeders are specifically bred so that they look cute (usually a fluffy breed rather than an American for example) and draw the most customers. Even though you do see some cutie pies, I think it would be too against my morals!
As a forum, we’re against intentional breeding for several reasons. There are already too many piggies needing homes in rescues (the longest I travelled to a rescue was almost 4 hours one way). Intentional breeding disregards guinea pig welfare, piggies getting pregnant too young or too many times or too often, etc - basically health not being taken into account along with stud guinea pigs who are usually condemned to a life alone once the breeder is done with them at about a year old as they can no longer live with males. A lot of the time, appearance is the most important factor and piggies are purely seen as profit. Guinea pigs in these environments can be stressed the entire pregnancy and nursing period and in return produce babies who inherit this fear and never lose it so will resort to their prey animal instincts at the first sign of uncertainty.
I understand getting piggies off of free ads - you’re not buying directly from the breeder and you’re giving a home to an unwanted piggy. I have one like that myself, though he wasn’t unwanted. His family wanted a better life for him as he had lived alone for 5 years.
If you can’t get from a rescue or free ads, pet shops are the next best bet. I had to get a pet shop piggy, much against my morals, as I had a newly single pig who wasn’t eating properly and the rescue close to me could offer no help (I also was unable to travel to rescues further afield at that time). I believe pet shops (at least in the UK) use breeders who follow certain welfare procedures which makes it slightly more ethical/moral. In my case, there were 3 left at the pet shop and I needed one which then felt even more moral as one would be going as a single or all three as a trio (boar trios don’t usually work out).
Anyway, the point of what I’m saying is be careful buying from online breeders. I know they look cute, but it’s important to consider where they come from. In my hunt for a single pig, as I mentioned above, a vet receptionist put me in contact with someone they knew who had guinea pigs. Anyway, turns out they were a breeder - one who entered piggy shows and was interested in breeding satin guinea pigs and satin carriers. This is a condition which makes the fur look glossy but in turn can give the piggies osteodystrophy. I was never planning on buying from a breeder, but to me that summed up everything I needed to know. A vast majority of breeders don’t care about the pigs and their health, just how they look.
You’ll always see breeders selling cute pigs, but they only carry on breeding because people are buying and they’re making profit - even if the piggies suffer because of it. You’re obviously free to make your own choices and without judgement, but it’s just some food for thought
With our BB, he was paired with our senior piggy, Little. They were bonded at a rescue but BB was petrified, as he came out of his shell he decided he wanted to be in charge so he started bullying Little quite badly. Little is also very special needs so an easy target. We ended up splitting them, it was such a shame because they do really care about each other but just couldn’t make it work. The splitting made BB so upset, stopped moving, barely ate without encouragement, had no will to live really. It was like he was in acute pining, as yours was, but no one had passed away just been separated. It’s so sad. We haven’t had baby pig long, less than a week, but BB’s perked up massively, back to his old self and then some. It’s amazing what a new and compatible friend can do for them!
