New guinea pig
- Thread starter brina
- Start date
Welcome to the forum
Due to the fact we are a pro rescue and anti-breeding forum, we do not have recommendations or details of any breeders.
We would encourage you where possible to rescue a pair of bonded guinea pigs from a reputable rescue centre as a preference to pet shops or breeders.
There are so many piggies who need a loving home.
Rescuing will ensure your piggies are healthy and vet checked prior to rehoming, properly sexed, not pregnant and properly bonded and stable together. If you are a new owner they will also ensure you are supported and receive helpful advice on your new piggies. The rescue will also ensure your set up is suitable for your piggies.
Not everybody has the option of rescue though so if you do get from a breeder or shop then do ensure you are prepared and have back up plans for the potential issues that can occur since breeders are unregulated.
Issues such as the piggies harbouring illnesses and parasites (have a vet fund saved up and ensure you get vet checks done within the first few weeks of you bringing your piggies home); they may not be properly sexed (make sure you check the sexes of piggies yourself before bringing them home) and if you get sows that they may not have been properly separated from boars in time thereby risking you unknowingly bringing home pregnant piggies (the ability to increase cage size to accommodate any extra sows to be kept together, and the ability to have other cages to house any any baby boars following separation appropriately) .
They are also just put together for sale rather than being character matched so there is a risk that the bonds can fail due to incompatibility as the piggies get towards the teens (16 weeks of age onwards) and then need to be separated permanently (two separate but side by side cages of minimum size each or bigger).
Now, of course these issues don’t occur in every case but you do need to be aware of them as we unfortunately do see new owners finding their way to us for help with exactly these issues.
As an aside, do note that if you are planning on your piggies living outside, that it is now too cold and too late in the year for piggies to move outside if they have only been inside until now.
The guides below will help further.
I have also linked in our rescue list - these rescues are approved by the forum and can be vouched for
Due to the fact we are a pro rescue and anti-breeding forum, we do not have recommendations or details of any breeders.
We would encourage you where possible to rescue a pair of bonded guinea pigs from a reputable rescue centre as a preference to pet shops or breeders.
There are so many piggies who need a loving home.
Rescuing will ensure your piggies are healthy and vet checked prior to rehoming, properly sexed, not pregnant and properly bonded and stable together. If you are a new owner they will also ensure you are supported and receive helpful advice on your new piggies. The rescue will also ensure your set up is suitable for your piggies.
Not everybody has the option of rescue though so if you do get from a breeder or shop then do ensure you are prepared and have back up plans for the potential issues that can occur since breeders are unregulated.
Issues such as the piggies harbouring illnesses and parasites (have a vet fund saved up and ensure you get vet checks done within the first few weeks of you bringing your piggies home); they may not be properly sexed (make sure you check the sexes of piggies yourself before bringing them home) and if you get sows that they may not have been properly separated from boars in time thereby risking you unknowingly bringing home pregnant piggies (the ability to increase cage size to accommodate any extra sows to be kept together, and the ability to have other cages to house any any baby boars following separation appropriately) .
They are also just put together for sale rather than being character matched so there is a risk that the bonds can fail due to incompatibility as the piggies get towards the teens (16 weeks of age onwards) and then need to be separated permanently (two separate but side by side cages of minimum size each or bigger).
Now, of course these issues don’t occur in every case but you do need to be aware of them as we unfortunately do see new owners finding their way to us for help with exactly these issues.
As an aside, do note that if you are planning on your piggies living outside, that it is now too cold and too late in the year for piggies to move outside if they have only been inside until now.
The guides below will help further.
I have also linked in our rescue list - these rescues are approved by the forum and can be vouched for
